Test 2

Q: Explain why collaboration is important for effective public management in the 21st century?

Collaboration is becoming an imperative for public managers.  Devolution, rapid technological change, scarce resources, and rising organizational interdependencies are driving increased levels of collaboration.

Q: Define public service culture and explain if public service motives are exclusive to the public sector?

Public service culture can best be described by an ideology that it is your duty as a citizen to provide some type of public service in order to serve your government in a useful capacity.  This type of ideology is not necessarily exclusive to the public sector, nor is it necessarily a common virtue of all civil servants/ government employees.

Q: Identify the key decision makers in public agencies and explain why political appointees are interested in decisions that yield short time results or outcomes?

Some key decision makers in public agencies can be generalized by administrators (deciders), and budgeters (payers). Decisions that that yield short time results of interest, for often times they require small/incremental changes in a collaborative effort.  Decisions that have potentially long-term results are considerably more difficult to get all internal and external interest groups to come to a collective agreement.

Q: Briefly explain the concept of incremental choice as a core feature of decision-making by public administrators?

Incremental choice is a core feature of decision-making for it requires small changes/concessions from the various decision makers in a group. On a larger view, public administrators solely depend on decisions that were previously made. This pertains to the pre-approved day-to-day activities, functions,

programs, and projects that were already documented and approved collectively.

Q: What is public interest and how can public interest be achieved by public administrators?

Public interest refers to the overall well being of the masses.  Public interest can be achieved to some

degree by providing services, regulations, doctrine that affects the majority in a positive manner.  There is no foolproof plan in public interest, nor can every individual person or group be appeased in this process.