Public administration plays a very important role towards the development of a country. Over the past four weeks we have been able to cover a great deal of issues revolving around public administration, issues which have proved to be important and very useful. From what we have been able to learn in the four weeks, we have understood that public administration itself will involve all the measures taken in a given country or economy towards the development, the implementation and execution of the government’s policies. Basically, the main agenda behind such a process is to improve the public good within the stated nation by increasing the participation of the civil society so that in the long run it can be possible to offer fair, well managed, and effective services to the public (Mikesell, 2007).
The other important thing that has to be noted with public administration is that it is executed by the public servants. The public servants usually work with the public departments or other government agencies in different levels of governance, and are expected to perform very many duties and tasks. The work of the public administrators might range from the collection and analysis of statistics or data, coming up with appropriate tools of monitoring the budget, draft workable within the country, develop appropriate policies and at times execute legal activities that have been mandated by the country’s government (Mikesell, 2007). It is necessary to analyze a current journal article and see how it matches with the issues that have been learned in the past few weeks.
Article Appraisal: Mozambique Better Budget Machinery – First Focus of Reforms
The journal article being discussed about here is on Mozambique, an African country that has been undergoing a tremendous number of reforms within its public administration. This has come along with a number of sectors such as the reforms in manner in which the public finances are being managed in the country (Mikesell, 2007). The journal article thus comes out with a thorough description of some of the previous scenarios before the current budget reforms, while highlighting some of the major weaknesses that had been faced with the country budget preparation and planning, and the eventual implementation. This was due to the poor oversight of the government and the Parliament’s roles. This article has thus explained how a legal framework has been realized in the country as the first place towards solving the major problems that have been faced in the country for the last decades (Sulemane, 2006). Basically, the article has been outlined for the study because it comes along with the appropriate discussions on the technical reforms that have been put in place in the country, and which appear to have a great correlation with what we have been learning for the last four weeks.
From the journal, I have been able to note that the recent failed financial shock has had a very great impact on the economy of the entire world, just as we have been discussing in class. The article from the journal has been keen to point out that there has been a decreasing amount of revenues with the strongest economies in the world with lesser and lesser investments taking place. This article has hence elaborated some of the issues such as debt management which can be a great approach towards improved economic performance (Sulemane, 2006). The article has been keen to mention that, today, it is the overall duty for all the economists, accountants and even the dealing with public administration, especially with debt management and forecasting to come up with better performances and approaches which can solve the problems faced in the country presently (Mikesell, 2007).
The journal article has been able to give appraisals on how issues of debt management can be addressed, and especially when dealing with public debt, user fees and forecasting. It has also given guidelines towards understanding the concepts to do with debts management and some of the choices the government has to make after a research were conducted in the country. Another important approach which I have noted from the journal is that it outlines some of the major weaknesses and strengths that come as a result of operations with debt management, and thus giving appropriate recommendations and approaches that can be applied. This has come up with ways through which informed decisions can be arrived at. This kind of approach would be necessary towards improving performance within the public administration (Sulemane, 2006).
With the journal article based much on a case study towards improvement in marketing, it has been able to show how budget preparations can be improved through using current technological advancements and engaging the government in the overall process in order to improve budget preparation and also it denotes the best approaches that can be applied in ensuring that a good budget is prepared which meets the requirements of the greatest majority of individuals in the country. It has also stressed on the great importance of budget regulations which have to be implemented so as to ensure that the budget favors the greatest majority. Basically, the main message passed across in this scholarly article is that different nations can have proper chances in adopting treasury solutions which will solve the issues of payments, management of cash, debt management, forecasting for long-term operations and compliances. There is also the need of adopting the best approaches and practices which will improve the forecasting and management of both cash and debts (Sulemane, 2006). This is the main reason why an overall treasury management will be necessary for any given nation.
In terms of management of debts, there should be proper mechanisms through which public debts can be managed. There should be an establishment of policies which will be applied in managing the debts so that a country does not end up into the problems of debts. This is something that can be achieved by seeing the government coming up with modalities of reducing its flexibilities towards the management of the short-term bills of the economy and especially when it appears that the disbursements of resources might not be predictable. Another important element that should be mentioned is on user fees although the article has not been able to mention much about them (Sulemane, 2006). However, although not mentioned, user fees can be an important tool as part of public administration for any given country. Basically, countries within the growing world cannot avoid the use of these fees as part of boosting the taxes being paid by different individuals within the country. However, the most important thing that has to be considered is the manner in which these user fees are managed and handled since they can play a great role towards economic development. It is worth noting that some of these fees can be accrued from the public when entering into public parks, swimming pools, into some areas like museums and so on. As experts argue, these fees are necessary because they can be applied positively towards improving the economy.
This article has described a number of elements revolving around debt and financial management as the right approach which this country can take so as to develop its economy. This brings in a similar application of the issues which have been studied in class as part of improving the economic performance. There is also a part where it mentions how the country will integrate user fees and taxation so that all the people in the country might stand to benefit from such operations. Having been affected by the present economic crisis, the African country has come up with this kind of approach so that it can manage its money and improve income sources towards a better economic performance. This article has thus been able to bring out an important issue which has direct similarities with what we have been studying in class.
Relationship with our Discussions
From our class discussions, we have looked at a lot of discussions with the issues of budget, the management of debts and cash, issues to do with taxations, and all the other things such as user fees as part of public administration. Looking from what we have been studying in class for the time, and looking at what is being presented in the journal article, it will be noted that there is a great deal of similarities. The fact that comes out from the journal article is that the facts and theories that have been discussed as part of the glasswork have been brought out in a clearer manner and in a much practical way (Sulemane, 2006). This means that there is a very big relationship between our class discussions and what the article brings out. This makes one understand how some of the relevant terms applied in class are applied in the public world and with management of cash and budgetary allocations. Therefore, I feel this kind of study and the comparison with real life application in different economic is the best approach towards improving the understanding of the topic.
Current example in the news recently related to the topic
It will be agreed that there are very many issues and events that have been happening currently in the news. For instance, with the current economic crisis, different nations like the United States have been coming up with modalities and reforms towards overall economic improvement and improve the quality of education, healthcare and all other services delivered to the citizens of the country (Mikesell, 2007). This has become a common chorus every now and then in the news in an attempt to bring reforms which improve economic performance while at the same time improving the quality of life. This has led the specific countries to come up with what is known as the ‘exit strategy’ as a way of improving budgetary performances and solving the problems that have come along with the current financial crisis.
The other important issues and elements that have been discussed frequently in the news is that, in order to effectively fight global financial recession, different nations have been using both the fiscal policies as well as the Monetary Policies as the right approach in ensuring that the economy is taken back to track (Richard, 2009). Although the correlation might be quite varied due to the nature of the different countries, it should be agreed that the procedures and terminologies are the same, and aimed for the same goal which is improving the economic performance and making life better for the greatest majority.
From the news, there have been discussions on how different economies are affected by the current economic bubble which has burst resulting to poor performances in the economy. Majority of the affected nations and societies have hence been putting in place relevant measures in addressing the issues. This has involved the adoption of new financial management techniques, management of debts and as well improving the revenues through taxation and increasing the amount of user fees. However, this has been done as a short-lived process towards economic recovery.
Conclusion
From what I have been able to learn from this kind of exercise, I am totally deemed that the use of debt and cash management can be a better approach towards having better economic performances. This means that a given country will be in a position of engaging all people in paying taxes and user fees which will be used and be part of the policies towards budgetary allocations (Richard, 2009). This will ensure that specific reforms are frequently arrived at so that it can be possible to promote the economic performance of the country thus improving the quality of life. Therefore, this practical application of what has been learned in class work is important and quite necessary in bringing theories and assumptions into real life applications.
References
Mikesell, J. (2007). Fiscal administration: Analysis and applications for the public sector, 7th Edn. New York: Wadsworth Press.
Richard, M. (2009). World economic Outlook, April 2009: Crisis and Recovery. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sulemane, J. (2006). ‘Mozambique: better budget machinery – first focus of reforms.’ OECD Journal of Budgeting, 6(2), 12-33.