The Character of the Institution

Abstract

how often political officials condemn the bureaucratic obstruction and describe the as the problem, not the solution, the public administration profession must devote its resources of intellect, energy, imagination, durability, and wit to progressive change to meet future needs. I have touched on many issues as I contemplated the future, but let me conclude with five specific areas for future action: First, there has been an absence of adequate management preparation for the execution of public policy. I look back on the legislative period of the 1960s as an example; every day was LBJ's day for a new piece of legislation. Not enough time was spent in the executive branch planning how to implement those imaginative programs-how states, localities, and local community groups would be able to administer them. Second, there has been a tendency to expand programs beyond the original intent. Professionals should have blown the intellectual whistle on well meaning expansionism, such as the inclusion of SSI in the security program or the expansion of certain regulatory programs in environmental areas. Third, there has been a toleration for growth in civil service overhead that never should have been permitted. Many staff services which are defined as a part of public administration have tended to generate that growth of overhead. We need a much more demanding evaluation of whether the results of those services have really been beneficial to the execution of programs. Fourth, there has been a tendency to use governmental mechanisms to perform functions that were beyond the capacity and purpose of the to perform. An old complaint of mine is the application of the phrase, government as the employer of last resort, to deal with unemployment and under-employment. We would have to confess that this was placing the in a position of vulnerability where it could not perform. Fifth, we were all too willing to utilize public service as an arena in which we could stage certain demonstrations for change. It was not inappropriate for the to proclaim itself as a model employer. But frequently used its own employment efforts as a means for achieving change or what the opposition now refers to as social engineering. I have offered you my identification of lessons we have learned in this profession through actual experience in the decades past, and some indication of the magnitude of the public responsibility for the future. I believe that our outlook must be global; all domestic programs have international implications. I believe that our outlook must be humane; the welfare of humankind must receive highest priority. I believe that the functions of must be more than national security, regardless of contemporary arguments to the contrary. I believe that there will be greater emphasis given to serving the citizen and that should be a beneficial consequence.