Unit 3 Early Administration

UNI T 3
EARLY ADMI NI STRATI ON
SECTION A
A.1 Let's talk about the history of public administration!
Work in groups of four or five.
Knowing that the idea of public administration started with
the notions of government and rise of civilisation, try to
establish some important moments in the history of public
administration, using your background knowledge. The
following questions may help:
1. What were the first forms of administration?
2. When can we locate in time the beginning of public administration?
3. How important is administration in a society?
4. When and where can we place the first administrative systems in the
history of the world?
A.2 The following words expressions and statements refer to various
features of earlier forms of administration, existing in the Middle
Ages and the 19
th
century. Group the terms according to what you
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think was characteristic of administration in each of these two
periods of time.
Middle Ages 19
th
century
loyalty to the king "to the victor belongs the spoils"
A.3 Now read the text and make the necessary corrections in the
above table.
Unit 3 Early Administration
TEXT A
Public administration has a long
history, one paralleling the very notions
of government and the rise of
civilisation. Some form of administration
has existed ever since there have been
governments.
First comes the initiator or leader to
render society, then the organiser or
administrator to give it permanence.
Administration, or the management of
affairs, is the middle factor in all social
activity, unspectacular but essential to
its continuance.
Recognisable administrative systems
existed in ancient Egypt to administer
irrigation from the annual flood of the
Nile and to build the pyramids. China in
the Han dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD)
adopted the Confucian precept that
government should be handled by men
chosen, not by birth, but by virtue and
ability and that its main aim was the
happiness of the people.
In Europe, the various Empires -
Greek, Roman, Holy Roman, Spanish
and so on - were, above all, adminis-
trative empires, controlled from the
centre by rules and procedures.
In the Middle Ages, modern states
developed concomitantly with bureau-
cratic structures. But, although some
kind of administration existed earlier,
the traditional model of public admini-
stration really dates from as late as the
mid-nineteenth century.
Earlier systems of administration
were "personal", that is, based on loy-
alty to a particular individual such as a
king or a minister, instead of being
impersonal, based on legality and loy-
alty to the organisation and the state.
Early practices often resulted in cor-
ruption or misuse of office for personal
gain, although the very idea that these
are undesirable features of ad-
ministration itself only derives from the
traditional model. Practices we now
think alien were commonplace ways of
carrying out government functions
under earlier administrative
arrangements. It was once common for
those aspiring to employment by the
state to resort to patronage or
nepotism, relying on friends or relatives
for employment, or by purchasing
offices; that is to pay for the right to be
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a customs or tax collector, and then to
charge fees to clients. Both to repay
the initial sum invested and to make a
profit. In early colonial Sydney, the
customs officer personally received five
per cent of all duties collected and the
police were paid a shilling for
apprehending and lodging in jail any
sailor who may be found riotous and
disorderly. Key administrative positions
were usually no full-time but were only
one of the activities of someone in
business. The normal way for a young
man to gain employment (only men
were employed) was to apply to some
relative or family friend in a position to
help. There was no guarantee that
people employed by the system would
be competent in any way.
In the United States for most of the
nineteenth century, there existed the
spoils system of administration, derived
from the saying, to the victor belong
the spoils. After an election in which a
new party was elected - and this
applied to elections from the local level
to the Presidency - every administrative
job from the top to the bottom was
open to be filled by an appointee from
the winning party. This system reached
its nadir in the 1830s during the
presidency of Andrew Jackson. A
characteristic of this period is that
neither appointment to, nor
continuance in office is a matter of
right. There is no specific expertise in-
volved in public administration, nor is
there any reason that the administra-
tion of government should persist when
its political complexion changes. The
benefits of public office - patronage,
direct financial benefits - rightly belong
to the successful party in an election.
Jackson thought there were advantages
in making the administration more
egalitarian and democratic rather than
elitist: "I can not but believe that more
is lost by the long continuance of men
in office than is generally gained by
their experience." Presumably, there
would be greater benefit in changing
officeholders and by their loyalties
being quite clearly to the party, perhaps
even with reduced corruption. This
egalitarian philosophy fits well with the
American distrust of government but
had major drawbacks. Among the
consequences of the spoils system
were: the periodic chaos which
attended changes of administration
during most of the nineteenth century;
the popular association of public
Unit 3 Early Administration
administration with politics and
incompetence; the growing conflicts
between executive and legislature over
appointments, which led in l868 to the
impeachment trial of an American
president; and the almost unbelievable
demands upon presidents upon
executives of state and local
governments as well - by office-
seekers, particularly following elections.
Such a system was neither efficient nor
effective. Citizens did not know where
they stood when government
administration was, in effect, a private
business in which government
decisions, money and votes were
negotiable commodities.
Eventually, the inherent problems of
earlier forms of administration led" to
changes in the latter part of the
nineteenth century and to the reforms
associated with the traditional model of
administration. Pre-modern bu-
reaucracies were personal, traditional,
diffuse, ascriptive and particularistic
where modern bureaucracies were to
become impersonal, rational, specific,
achievement-oriented and universalis-
tic. Earlier practices now seem so
strange because of the very success of
the traditional model of administration.
Professional, non-partisan ad-
ministration is so familiar to us that it is
hard to imagine that any other system
could exist.
(Adapted and abridged from "Public
Management and Administration" by
Owen E. Hughes)
A.4 Vocabulary
Find words in the text that mean:
1. excellence; great merit;
2. increase in possession; acquiring of wealth;
3. to ask as a price (for)
4. moral instruction; rule or guide especially for behaviour;
5. unruly; running wild
English for Public Administration
6. support, encouragement; right of appointing somebody to grant
privileges;
7. something which makes progress less easy; disadvantage;
8. contrary or oppose to;
9. being true and faithful (to);
10. to supply somebody with a room or a place to sleep in for a time;
11. money paid for something, usually for work carried out by a
professional;
12. existing as a natural and permanent part or quality of;
13. money taken by the government or by an official body to pay for
government services;
14. person appointed to an office or position;
15. (legal) to arrest, to seize a thief;
16. being accused of wrong doing;
SECTION B
B.1 Interviewing and being interviewed: "Romanian
Administration Today"
Work in small groups (Groups: A1, A2, B1, B2).
Stage 1 Background information
All groups: Here is the last paragraph of the text, pointing out the main
characteristics of both traditional and modern administration:
Unit 3 Early Administration
" Event ual l y, t he i nher ent pr obl ems of ear l i er f or ms of
admi ni st r at i on l ed t o changes i n t he l at t er par t of t he
ni net eent h cent ur y and t o t he r ef or ms associ at ed wi t h t he
t r adi t i onal model of admi ni st r at i on. Pr e- moder n bu-
r eaucr aci es wer e " per sonal , t r adi t i onal , di f f use, as-
cr i pt i ve and par t i cul ar i st i c" whi l e moder n bur eaucr aci es
wer e t o become " i mper sonal , r at i onal , speci f i c, achi eve-
ment - or i ent ed and uni ver sal i st i c" . Ear l i er pr act i ces now
seem so st r ange because of t he ver y success of t he t r a-
di t i onal model of admi ni st r at i on. Pr of essi onal , non- par -
t i san admi ni st r at i on i s so f ami l i ar t o us t hat i t i s har d
t o i magi ne t hat any ot her syst emcoul d exi st . "
Task 1: Try to find out how many of these characteristics can be associated
with present Romanian administrative system.
Task 2: Preparing the interview
Groups A1 and A2 (interviewers)
Taking into account the points in Task 1, talk within the group and
decide what questions you will ask your colleagues in Group B1 and B2 in
order to get information about the present state of Romanian
administration. Make a list of these questions.
Groups B1 and B2 (interviewees)
Discuss the points in Task 1, focusing on changes that may improve the
administrative system of Romanian public organisations. Make a list of
the main changes.
Stage II : Interviewing and being interviewed Pair work
Student A (from A1/A2)
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Task 3: Interview a colleague in Group B1/B2, asking him/her the questions you
have made up in Stage 1. Write down the most important
points of each answer, so as to have a set of information
that can be efficiently used by you and by others in a later
stage of this activity.
Student B (from B1/B2)
Task 4: Be prepared to answer your colleague's questions on
the present situation of Romanian administration, mentioning
deficiencies and making suggestions for any possible
improvement. Use your own ideas and also the information
from the previous discussion.
Sketch of interaction:
Students in Group A1 will interview students in Group B2
Students in Group A2 will interview students in Group B1
Stage 3: Writing
Task 5: Using information obtained in Stage 1 and Stage 2, work out a
strategy/a plan to improve the administrative activity of Romanian
public institutions. Two strategies/plans will be obtained this way.
Group A1
Group B1
Group A2 Group B2
Group A1 Group B1
Group A2 Group B2
Unit 3 Early Administration
to be + going to
will + short infinitive
abc
Students in Group A1 will work with students in Group B1
Students in Group A2 will work with students in Group B2
Stage 4: Oral presentation - debate
Task 6: Name someone in each of the new groups (A1+B1) and (A2 + B2) to
present the strategy/plan to the whole class. Discuss each
strategy and decide which one should be adopted.
SECTION C Language focus
C.1 Expressing intentions
Read the dialogue below. Both Eliza and Sylvia speak about some future
actions. Is there any difference in what they say about their intentions? Give
your comments on this:
Eliza: "Do you know that there's only one week left until Ann's
birthday?"
Sylvia: "Yes. I've made some arrangements for this. I've also thought of a nice
bithday present for her. "
Eliza: "Oh, have you?"
Sylvia: "Yes. I'm going to buy her a handbag. I saw it in the shop next to my
office building. It fits her new pair of shoes perfectly. I'm going to buy
it this afternoon."
Eliza: Oh, good. I've been so busy in the last three weeks that I didn't
have time to think of it. What shall I buy her? By the way, you
know her better. Does she like classical music?
Sylvia: Oh, yes. Much.
Eliza: Good. I will buy her some new CDs.
Sylvia: Great. She'll like that.
C.2 Work with your deskmate. Make up short dialogues, on the
following subjects, using
to express planned intentions and
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for decisions made on the spot:
summer hol i day
next Chr i st mas
next weekend
your gi r l f r i end' s/ boyf r i end' s bi r t hday par t y
your car eer
C.3 Translate into English:
L-am ntlnit pe prietenul t!u la simpozionul despre "Strategii noi n
administra"ia public!", "inut recent la Constan"a. Am purtat o discu"ie
interesant! cu el, n timpul pauzei. Am aflat astfel c! #i-a f!cut planuri serioase
pentru restructurarea institu"iei sale. Inten"ioneaz! s! reduc! num!rul de
departamente #i s! introduc! managementul matricial. Mi-am dat seama c! s-a
gndit mult la toate aceste schimb!ri. Vrea, de asemenea, s! angajeze c"iva
tineri special instrui"i n probleme de management #i administra"ie public!
capabili s! dezvolte statutul func"ionarului public. Nu se gndise ce va face cu
cei care nu se vor putea adapta noii structuri. Vrea s!-i ajute, oferindu-le cteva
programe de recalificare, de#i crede c! mul"i dintre ei vor p!r!si ntreprinderea.
Totu#i, acest lucru nu va afecta imaginea institu"iei al c!rei prestigiu trebuie
men"inut. A fost o adev!rat! pl!cere s! vorbesc cu un om ca el.