2.  Power is the capacity or potential top influence another person  Politics is the struggle for power

3.  Position power (authority)  Control of rewards  Control of and access to agenda  Coercive power  Expertise  Reputation  Personal power  Alliances

4.  Do public administrators need to understand and use power?  Classic literature did not pay much attention to power and politics.

5.  Norton Long said power is the lifeblood of government  Without power, nothing will get done  In the U.S., power is diffused  Federal regime: Federal and state governments  Three branches of government, checking and balancing each other  There is not a hierarchical relationship between the three branches  All three branches share and use power

6.  Party discipline is very weak  Compare this system with the strong parliamentary system in Europe (Prime Minister)  In the U.S., all three branches of government try to influence public administration  Public administration is subordinate to which one, the President, Congress, or Judiciary, or Citizens?

7. In 1915,the U.S. National Tax Association Committee addressed what it perceived as a major problem: A fundamental defect is found in the diffusion of power and responsibility. The people elect a legislature to carry out their will and then ordinarily split it into two parts in order that the one may check the other. Executive officers are then also elected, taking their mandate from the people to check and to be checked by legislative houses. Above all the courts and a constitution often operate to further check the others. This is government for impotence, not for results—if the people want little done, in an expensive way, we have developed a marvelously effective way of satisfying the people’s desires. (quoted in George, 1916, p. 80)

8.  It is clear that the American system of politics does not generate enough power at any focal point of leadership to provide the conditions for an even partially successful divorce of politics from administration. Subordinates cannot depend on the formal chain of command to deliver enough political power to permit them to do their jobs. Accordingly, they must supplement the resources available through the hierarchy with those they can muster on their own, or accept the consequences in frustration—a course itself not without danger. Administrative rationality demands that objectives be determined and sights set in conformity with a realistic appraisal of power position and potential. (p. 258)

9.  Public administration functions in a political context  There are political pressures on public administrators from all sides  They have to fight for limited resources  They have to advocate policies and persuade their political superiors for continued support or policy change (iron triangles and issue networks)  They will use their discretion and make critical decisions as a result of “vague” legislations

10.  2010 City Manager Survey in the U.S.

11.  2010_CM_Survey.docx 2010_CM_Survey.docx