government roles
In the establishment of government, roles are distributed between different arms of the government. The operations of the government are in such a way that a hierarchy of orders is established. This implies that orders mostly come from up in the hierarchy. The establishment of a hierarchy creates a unity of command. People who are higher up in the hierarchy generally have ore authority. A subordinate has to accept the decisions made by those who are up in the food chain. The systems created by the government have met challenges due to the politics that are involved in public administration. Public administrators’ acts are supposed to be based on the needs of the people. The government is usually selected by the people and should therefore always work to better the lives of the people. An example of such an instance is the development of technology which has increased the machinery which can replace manual labour. However, the adoption of such machinery implies that a lot of employees would have to be laid off as their labour has been replaced. For a public administrator who is expected to choose from the purchase of the machinery which will increase production but reduce the number of employees, this would be a very challenging situation. Morally, the adoption of the machinery is wrong because it harms the people. However, from an economic point of view, the idea of using machinery is viable as it increases production at a lower cost. The governments elected are composed of politicians. This implies that they are biased. This may influence the decisions they make when holding public administration posts. Naturally, while working for the people after being elected to a public administration post, the public administrator should work together with all people despite their political or religious views to better the community.
The approach to these challenges by the public administrator determines whether the term of the public administrator will be a success or a failure. Statesmanship is not determined by the quality of a person but the deeds. The approaches taken by the public administrator to come up with solutions for the challenges determine the statesmanship of the individual. Statesmanship encourages the public administrator to act in such a way that they are benefiting the society directly. Although the public administrator may identify avenues that are likely to be highly beneficial, they have to consult the people to get alternative views and to ensure people satisfied. In instances where the decisions made are made for economic purposes only, ethics are affected as an economic goal is affected. When public administrators come up with policies, they have to consider all the people which is a long and challenging process. The public administrators have a difficult task in striking a balance between economic benefits and social benefits. A balance on morality influences the statesmanship status of a public administrator (Sharfritz & Hyde).
A covenant is a binding agreement between different parties. The organization of the government should be hierarchical and unity of command be established. Decisions are made by the public administrators who are the highest ranking. The public administrators are expected to be highly ethical in their practices. The public administrators on election enter into a covenant with the people. This covenant binds the administrators to the will of the people. Public administrators often act as the image of the community to other people. Public administrators are open to scrutiny by the public. The involvement of the people in the covenant creates non-centralization. Non-centralization implies that all the people have a role supporting the public administrator to ensure they succeed. This creates a sense of teamwork, empowerment and collaboration which are positive traits in the society. The covenant established between the people and the public administrator should provide a basis for accountability, mutual care and empowerment. The nature of covenants does not allow them to be coerced (Pava, 2001). The establishment of a covenant requires trust among all the engaging parties. No matter the opposition that the public administrator may face, all the people should be treated equally. An example of such a case is in the Bible where Jesus loved all people equally despite there being people who wanted to betray him. The covenant between the public administrator and people is embodied in the people. Political standings of the people elected to the public administrative posts should not determine their effectiveness. In the covenant setting, no individual is above the law. The position of the public administrator should not be permanent to set an environment where different techniques of leadership can be employed. People have varying leadership abilities which lead to varying success (Walzer, 1965). If the public servant acts in a way to suggest that they are not working for the benefit of the people, there should be a protocol to eliminate the person from the position.