Introduction
Public administration is one of the governmental bodies, which study, develop, and implement different branches of government policy. Policy may be described as the things, which government does or does not do. Activities of government representatives are crucially important for society, its further development, and prosperity. Local government is a kind of administrative office that keeps order in certain districts and provides civilians with the necessary safety.
Different political processes lead to different policy decisions, their implementation, and administration. To get a clear understanding on how local government works, it is better to choose one concrete sphere and analyze its functions, identify possible problems, and study the necessary requirements for the position chosen. Prosecutors and attorneys are the people, who help to protect the innocents and blame the offenders.
It is not always possible to follow justice, and this is why the work of those people may be criticized a lot. With the help of the interview with one criminal prosecutor of Hillsborough County, Anthony Rickman, we have a wonderful opportunity to analyze the work of prosecutors and attorneys and get a clear understanding of how all this governmental policy influences the development of our society and provides with the necessary safety.
Discussion
Public Administration, Its Definition, Functions, and Role
The role of public administration and government policy is rather considerable. Public and private sectors play a very important role in the development of the conditions people live in. This is why public administration is considered to be one of the services to citizens and public, which help to regulate current conditions and improve them.
Public policy is one of the most complicated systems aims at solving societal problems. According to Stillman (2005), public administration may be defined as “the use of managerial, political, and legal theories to fulfill legislative, executive, and judicial mandates for provision of regulatory and service functions.”
With the help of such definition, it is not that difficult to identify the functions of public administration and clear up what the role of attorneys and prosecutors for society are. The functions of public administration should be formed according to the public interests because of the reasons of public administration existence is the security of society.
Without society, public administration has no sense to exist. However, at the same time, any public administration controls people and their behavior. If it is necessary, people are punished with the help of prosecutors. If it is necessary, people may find defense from the government with the help of attorneys.
The representatives of the sphere of public administration should gather and analyze the necessary information about people, find required evidences, prove or disprove their reliability, and develop policy.
Public administrators may perform numerous roles: border guards, auditors, analysts, and even managers of government agencies. Public administration should train analysts in order to use their analytical skills and help public servants solve policy issues and analyze programs. It is also necessary to teach public managers in order to implement and develop numerous public policy programs.
In order to make a clear definition of the functions of public administration, it is necessary to analyze all above-mentioned facts. As a result, we can see that public administration (1) aims to help society to solve their problems on a governmental level; (2) controls the behavior of society in order to provide people with proper conditions for living; (3) trains staff to analyze and improve people actions and explain that everything should be done in accordance to the laws, and (4) provides people with the necessary legislation.
The role of public administration is significant indeed. People should live according to certain rules in order not to disturb each other and be able to get the necessary help from the government side. This is why it is necessary to choose the best representatives, who will be ready to control the situation and improve living conditions day by day.
Attorneys and Prosecutors: The Way to Success
The profession of attorneys and prosecutors is not easy. It is impossible to become a sophisticated attorney/prosecutor in one day or even a week. This is why education plays a very important role in further development of society. It is necessary to inter for a certain period of time, get recommendations, enlarge obtained knowledge, and train skills.
With the help of different kinds of probations, beginners get opportunities to present qualified services and evaluate situations of different kinds. Anthony Rickman, in his interview, says that he has to pass several probations in order to become a professional attorney. First, he was an interne with Senator Connie Mack, then he was a clerk and a member of one mock team, finally he became a prosecutor, and now, he is known as a sophisticated attorney.
With the help of such practice, it is easier to analyze the work of different department and be able to evaluate the case from different perspectives. The relations between the representatives of different spheres of public administration play a very important role in different proceedings. In order to complete the work perfectly, it is necessary not to confuse personal relations with professional ones. If an attorney and a prosecutor mix up work and private life, the results of such mixing may be rather disappointing.
It turns out to be one of the most frequent problems if law representative cannot clear up where job affairs and personal life should be separated. However, good and even friendly relations between those, who defend and those, who prosecute may be rather beneficial. Anthony Rickman underlines that such relations may help to be honest to each other and get to know more about the strengths and weaknesses of the case under consideration.
Another thing that may improve court proceedings, as it was mentioned above, is people’s experience. First, Anthony Rickman works as a prosecutor. With the help of his numerous probations as an assistant of prosecutor, he got to know more about possible problems and shortages of this job.
When he became the prosecutor, he realized that money support and evidences played almost the major role. After the time to become the attorney comes, Anthony Rickman has solid background knowledge about the work of prosecutors and the difficulties they may face with.
His practice provides him an opportunity to treat prosecutors the way of how he wanted to be treated. So, the way to success in the field of public administration is good practice, abilities to analyze the gathered information, trust people and, at the same time, check the reliability of the information presented, and, of course, good relation to colleagues and other people around.
Problems, Attorneys and Prosecutors May Face
It is necessary to stay honest with yourself and people around, only this way people can live a normal life. Unfortunately, the conditions people live under are not quite optimistic nowadays. The bureaucratic system is still functional and dictates its own rules. Any government office is characterized by the presence of bureaucrats and their own laws.
Attorneys and prosecutors have nothing to do but work under such conditions and try to do their best to present really good services. Without any doubts, money plays a very important role. The point is that people of any profession try to find proper ways to earn more money and gain recognition. They may cheat, say not true words, and present false evidences.
Corruption is one of the things, which undermine government policy. People can easily take money and create the necessary verdict. The questions of race and ethnicity still bother lots of people. Of course, the questions of discrimination are not that evident, but if we look closer at the political system and public administration, we will certainly see that someone are still prejudiced against racial inequality and even gender issues.
Stillman (2005) considers that public administration is a kind of “accomplishing side of government.” This is why all actions, which take place in the governmental system should pass a kind of control within public administration. And if the representatives of public administration still lie and use false evidences, what can be said about the system we live in. In fact, nothing positive can be said. People live false lives, follow false regulations, and make false decision. Because of such unfair system, really innocent people may suffer.
There are so many cases when innocent people were accused of the crimes they did not make. Some people were also killed. Is it fair to follow such uncertain conditions? Hardly! People should have a chance to choose whether they should live normal true life with all its consequences both positive and negative, or they should live according to those rules, which rich people set.
This is why the role of prosecutors and attorneys lie in the following: they should be ready to use true facts in order to provide people with equal possibilities to solve their problems, be justified or punished.
Without any doubts, attorneys and prosecutors face so many problems in their lives and jobs. Lots of them are caused by false evidences and corruption. In order to extirpate these problems, it is better to start from the very beginning and re-organize government policy. Of course, it is not that easy to carry out such operations, however, certain changes may be done, and they should be done as soon as possible in order not to neglect the whole situation in the country.
Requirements to Become a Professional Attorney/Prosecutor
In order to become a professional and respected prosecutor or attorney, it is necessary to work hard and be aware of the cases, which really deserve attention and need to be analyzed.
People face so many injustice in this life that just have nothing to do but accept this as it is. Unfortunately, such injustice may cost some lives. For example, the case of Kristin Lardner, a girl, who was killed by her ex-boyfriend. Lots of public agencies had numerous chances to prevent that terrible murder, but still, did not use their powers in order to stop the crime. (Stillman, 2005)
Of course, after the tragedy, it is possible to blame the system because of its negligence. It is possible to blame society that cannot help the girl. It is always easier to find the guilty. And what is more terrible is the fact that after the girl was murdered, lots of people could find enough time to examine the situation and investigate where bureaucracy was born.
The question is why people did not pay attention when the girl tried to persuade them and explain that this situation may bring bad consequences. Why is our justice so blind when it is necessary to turn on all senses? Why do people not pay attention to the details, when they have the time? Such examples and many others, described in Stillman’s work, should be analyzed by all people, who want to connect their lives with public administration and be worth professionals.
People have a splendid opportunity to learn on the terrible mistakes made by the others, and they should not neglect it. Of course, our political system and public administration is not perfect, however, the time, when people may evaluate the mistakes, exists. So, future attorneys and prosecutors should pay attention to the cases, which lead to such tragedies, as the one, described in Stillman’s work.
Stillman pays attention to different cases connected to the mistakes or shortages of public administrations: war in Iraq, genome project, or shooting at Columbine High School. Such practice and this information may help and even improve the world we live in. Of course, it does not help to return those people to live, however, it may help to save numerous lives in future.
Learning the mistakes made by other public administrators is one of the requirements for future attorneys and prosecutors. However, it is not the only one. As Anthony Rickman mentions, another significant factor is worth probation. When beginners observe the work of other people, they get the necessary experience and even assist, if it is possible. Also, to become a good public administrator, it is necessary to get proper education and be aware of the law existed.
Conclusions
Public administration deals with numerous public entities and analyzes their relations with each other and the rest of the world. Public administration should be responsible for the development of government programs, which help to control society and decide their problems on the appropriate level.
The problems of bureaucracy, corruption, and personal relations between public administrators still exist in our every day life and stay on the way to fair verdicts. With the help of cases, described in the work by Stillman, it is easier to analyze the work of other public administrators and find out what kind of causes bring to these or that results.
Interview with an attorney from the State Attorney’s Office, Anthony Rickman, also helps to analyze what qualities and skills are necessary to become a real specialist in the certain sphere, in this case, it is a sphere of public administration.
People should not use personal relations in order to solve problems. They should better to use such relations in order to comprehend the essence of the problem and find out who is innocent and who is guilty. Our world needs worth and fair attorneys and prosecutors in order to save this world from a total collapse and give rise to its development.
Reference List
Rickman, A. Prosecutor in Hillsborough County for the State Attorney’s Office. Interview.
Stillman, RJ. (2005). Public Administration: Concepts and Cases. 8th ed. Houghton Mifflin Company.