The article under consideration is called The Present and (Normative) Future of Public Administration and Implications for ASPA taken from the journal of Public Administration Review. Eikenberry (2009), the author of the article, believes that the ASPA future is closely connected with recent institutional tendencies in public administration that are formed by contemporary network governance. In this regard, the future implications for ASPA’s activities are quite significant.
The work in question is a theoretical analysis of problems in the sphere of public administration dedicated to the problems of morality and ethics. It is based on empirical and theoretical studies where the author attains significant attention to normative theory.
In particular, the author puts forward the idea that government authority is necessary for establishing and proliferating democratic processes and regimes. This encouragement will consist in an attempt to renew moral and ethical values of social equality and fairness. However, the contemporary government fails to understand those concepts using them for their own purposes.
Living in a post-traditional society, hence, there is a growing necessity to develop new social and political governance skills contributing to maintaining openness and transparency in society.
According to Eikenberry (2009), ASPA should focus on enhancing social and democratic equity within the government institution. In order to support this standpoint, the author forecasts the major benefits of introducing this reform to the field of public administration.
Hence, democratic orientation entails that ASPA and related associations will have greater opportunities to take part in the process of policy-making and develop political and governance skills. In addition, the author believes that encouraging democracy will lead to political fairness in decision-making.
The arguments presented in the article to support the major thesis are quite persuasive and provide a broader outlook on the current state of affaires in the American society. In order to prove the appropriateness of shifting from government to network governance, Eikenberry (2009) presents an original view on the government authorizes and contributions to the development of the contemporary society.
While exploring the problem through the prism of normative theory, the author researchers the importance of questions related to the transparency and democracy within the public sector. In particular, Ekienberry (2009) seeks to identify the method for maintaining the public’s perception of morally justified actions.
While analyzing all controversial standpoints of the article, it should be stressed that the author has approached to the problem very subtly, with full comprehension of existing problems. In general, the article is well-structured and organized as the author applies effective techniques and theories to support each component of a hypothesis.
In particular, Eikenberry (2009) begins her investigation with historical aspects of government formation and ends with viable and pivotal solutions to the challenges connected with the introduction of new democratic values and strategies. Being logical and consistent in building the arguments, the article enables readers to track the main essence of the problem throughout the article.
The article under analysis is of great value for practitioners as it presents clear information about the contemporary aspects of governmental polices with regard to existing public professional associations, such as ASPA.
It enables to understand the role of democracy and social equity in building transparent relations between people and the government. What is more important is that the article displays effective solutions for improving the field of public administration from the theoretical and practical viewpoint.
Reference List
Eikenberry, A. M. (2009, November – December). The Present and (Normative) Future of Public Administration and Implications for ASPA. Public Administration Review. 69(6), pp. 1060-1067.