PADM 700 Discussion Module 6 Reply 2
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Apr 3, 2024
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In his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump, not only ran upon the MAGA slogan but
upon the “drain the swamp” mantra. His position was that government in America was too big and that the government would function better if in were run like the private sector. This speaks to the concepts of culture and structure discussed in this week’s materials.
Fischer lays out some historical information regarding four major perspectives that have been evidenced in American government over the past five decades. While today there are strong elements of the human relations model and human resources approach, the Federal, State, and local
governments in America are still largely bureaucratic. (Fischer, 2010) Shafritz and Hyde state that bureaucracy typically involves “the suspicion and criticism of interest groups, who regard the administration as designed to serve them or at least not to interfere with their group purposes.” (Shafritz
& Hyde, 2017). The more interest groups are involved in lobbying and other self-intended practices the bigger and yet less effective government becomes. In the introductory lesson for this week, Dr. McDaniel says, “strong culture removes the necessity for rules because it means that people
are internally motivated there's intrinsic motivated going motivation going on if you will care about one another, they're willing to work hard to get things done and you have less need to have a thick rule book.” However, because American culture lacks in this area of strength we have exactly the opposite, we numerous rule books with volumes of regulation that most do not know, have never read, and if they have, they do not fully understand. The result is more bureaucracy.
As a Federal government employee with over 20 years of experience, I have witnessed a sort of ignorance of policy that has fueled the need for general counsels within each agency to interpret policy for practitioners.
Trump’s “drain the swamp” mantra sounded good, but in practice his aim focused on reductions that would free up the Country’s budget. His proposed forms failed to concern the gross “polycentricity” where there is significant overlap in functions across the landscape of the Federal government. (Amsler, 2016). Seeking only a reduction in force, as Trump did, left the Country as the boundaryless vacuum it always was. The Department of Justice, alone, has over 42 offices and bureaus. Many work together because their functions overlap. This could be construed as collaboration assuming the rules Amsler discusses are met, namely that clear boundaries are set. However, Trump’s focus, in order “to minimize the size and scope of government activities” should have been more extensive than a simple downsizing. (Vigoda, 2002). It should have involved a larger focus on changing business practices, privatization, and most importantly restructuring rather that merely reducing government.
Let’s not ignore the fact that while Trump’s aim was to allegedly reduce the size of government, the Federal government actually grew by one percent,
and the only agencies that experienced losses were those aimed at least partially at ensuring protections for employees; namely, Department of Labor, Office of Personnel Management, National Labor Relations Board, Federal Labor Relations Authority, and Corporation for National and Community Service.
The U.S. government is in need of an overhaul. There are nearly 450 federal agencies and sub-agencies employing over 4 million individuals (civilian employees, annuitants, and DoD staff). While that number only represents about 1.5 percent of the U.S. population, the excessive functional crossover points to a waste of government resources and makes accountable practices an impossibility.
References
Amsler, L. (2016). Collaborative Governance: Integrating Management, Politics, and Law.
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND THE DISCIPLINES, 76
(5), 700-711.
Fischer, K. (2010). ABiblical-Covenantal Perspective on Organizational Behavior & Leadership.
Faculty Publications and Presentations
, 523.
Shafritz, J., & Hyde, A. (2017).
Classics of Public Administration.
Boston: Cengage Learning.
Vigoda, E. (2002). From Responsiveness to Collaboration: Governance, Citizens, and the Next Generation of Public Administration.
Public Administration Review, 62
(5), 527-540.
Reply:
Hello Quentin!
Thank you for your post this week, and for picking such a bold topic. Regarding the “Drain the swamp” Mantra: it showed a lot of the public from the start the lack of political experience that he held as a candidate. One of the most unique and worrying aspects about Donald Trump’s campaign was that he wasn’t a politician. This made a lot of the public see him as a modern-day Ronald Reagan (Smith, 2021).
However, many might say this is the reason why he was not able to see the intricacies of running government, like you mentioned. A less politically experienced candidate could also mean even less knowledge of laws and regulations. Such laws and regulations are imperative for a smooth-
running government, and elected officials should be well versed in them (Amsler, 2016).
It is not plausible to get rid of so many members of government without completing thorough analysis of who is needed for what. President Trump was not a president for all of the public, and
catered to his supporters and the laws and bills that affected them. It is important for all of the public to feel that elected officials are looking out for their interests, even if they do not belong to
the same political party (Shafritz & Hyde, 2016, p. 101). A futuristic look at politician’s relationships with the public is where it should be treated as a business and client or human resource manager and employee relationship, to show the utmost support and collaboration (Vigoda, 2002, p. 357).
No doubt, presidency is a hard job for anyone to be well rounded in, due to how the government branches and candidacy are set up. It would be hard for a person to run with the agenda for half the country and, after winning, develop an understanding and passion for supporting the other half. In our government, religion is recognized and admired in the public eye (Ongaro & Tantardini, 2023). While some might not agree with that, I think it’s important that we have people being led by God in the white house. This would at least speak towards their conviction of honesty and forgiveness. So many people and processes being involved in government creates a lot of red tape (Zahradnik, 2022).
References
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Amsler, L. B. (2016). Collaborative Governance: integrating management, politics, and law. Public Administration Review
, 76
(5), 700–711. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12605
Ongaro, E., & Tantardini, M. (2023). Religion, spirituality, faith and public administration: A literature review and outlook. Public Policy and Administration
, 095207672211468. https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767221146866
Shafritz, J. M., & Hyde, A. C. (2016). Classics of public administration
. Cengage Learning.
Smith, R. C. (2021). Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and the future of the Republican Party and conservatism in America. American Political Thought
, 10
(2), 283–289. https://doi.org/10.1086/713662
Vigoda, E. (2002). From Responsiveness to Collaboration: Governance, Citizens, and the Next Generation of Public Administration. Public Administration Review
, 62
(5), 527–540. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3110014
Zahradnik, S. (2022). Red tape: redefinition and reconceptualization based on production theory. International Public Management Journal
, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2022.2063462