Teaching Public Administration - Beyond Balzac

[IamMe90]

On 6/2/2018 at 4:55 AM, dmc515 said:

That sounds like a lot of work.  And I'm not entirely sure what it means.

The EPA didn't exist Nixon. It had to be created. I assume he means have the students pinpoint some societal need that is under served by the current administrative agencies and create a new agency as a solution. 

I agree that it would be overly complicated to actually make a good project out of it, though. 

As for suggestions... well, there's always the tried and true Jeopardy with candy as prizes approach. I don't know why everyone still seems to like this as an adult, but hey, pretty much all of my TAs used it at one point or another. 

[DMC]

On 6/2/2018 at 3:05 PM, The Grey Wolf said:

I'm not a humanities major but here's my two cents from when I was an undergraduate TA (which wasn't too long ago just to be clear). Humor and the ability to relate material to the RL concerns/culture of your students goes a long way towards improving the quality of the class itself. Also, don't be afraid to be opinionated.

Political science may be a soft science, but do not equate us with the humanities, good sir!  As for the rest of the advice, yeah, that's why they like me in the first place!

On 6/3/2018 at 9:11 AM, OldGimletEye said:

Honestly, the course actually sounds interesting to me. 

You're one of the few!

On 6/3/2018 at 10:02 AM, horangi said:

As a manager for a federal agency, I'd suggest giving the class a scenario to develop a policy response to.  This could be a quick response FEMAesque type issue (chemical spill, earthquake, etc) which would probably be fun, but for better insight into PA, I'd suggest a slower moving issue such as addressing the opioid crisis or reducing car accident fatalities.  If you really wanted to something fun- how about "NASA detects a comet that has a trajectory with a 2% chance of impacting Earth in 5 years.  As government agency representatives X,Y,Z, how do you respond."

Divide the students into manageable groups and have each tackle the same scenario to see the diversity of responses.  Have each group member represent a stakeholder (federal/state/local agencies, impacted public/industry, congress, etc.)  Have them research the applicable CFR and agency enabling legislation/appropriations mandates, then develop responses within the boundaries.  The idea being to have the students recognize the limitations of individual entities, the need for cooperation, and most critically- the understanding that effective public policy doesn't have an ideal solution. 

I'm not gonna have them do the bolded, that's not bureaucracy, it's hollywood bureaucracy.  But, in general, this is a great idea, thanks.

On 6/3/2018 at 9:38 PM, Dornishen said:

Have them read Kafka.

NO!  I'm trying to encourage student enthusiasm, not discourage.

On 6/4/2018 at 5:47 AM, Isis said:

Getting people solving problems, either individually/small groups/big groups is a good way to get people to apply 'rules' and see how they work in practice. Also, get them to do as much work as you! They are going to learn much better from doing presentations etc than you just telling them shit. Lectures can be dull in general, but surely they are going to be even more dull when it comes to bureaucracy. Presumably you already do a variety of teaching methods and not just 'lecturing'?

Sure, this is the best idea.  How to execute and design it is the question, and hard work.  But point taken.

On 6/4/2018 at 6:12 AM, Mentat said:

As a bureaucrat (though not based in the US, so some of this might not be applicable...), this topic is of interest to me. The course seems targeted to address both why bureaucracies don't work as they should and why sometimes public expectations aren't realistic.

As to the first, analysing some anecdotal bureaucratic horror stories seems useful (these usually involve some unfortunate citizen trying to obtain a permit/subsidy/other and being blocked by an obnoxious system that demands they produce an interminable number of documents or refuse their petition for ridiculous reasons). What went wrong? Who was to blame? What improvements could be made to the system to ensure such things don't happen?

Yes, this is part and parcel of the existing curriculum.

On 6/4/2018 at 6:12 AM, Mentat said:

An analysis of regulations (the soul of bureaucracy) also seems interesting. Finding regulations that are archaic, nonsensical, unintelligible or that were passed for completely spurious reasons should be possible. What is the objective of the regulation? How can the regulation be improved to better serve said purpose? Why was the regulation passed in the first place? Why hasn't it changed or disappeared?

This kind of seems superfluous, no?  The text will identify and detail poor regulations, I don't see how searching for more would make the class particularly interesting to your everyday undergrad.

On 6/4/2018 at 6:12 AM, Mentat said:

How are bureaucrats selected? Can they be removed? Who supervises them and how effective is said supervision? How does said process ensure an independent and professional bureaucracy and how could it be improved? Many bureaucracies have systems and regulations set in place to ensure the welfare and job security of the bureaucrats themselves rather than to serve the public and to ensure the quality of the public service that constitutes their raison d'etre. This also ties into the relationship between the decision makers (politicians) and the bureaucrats. How might their interests diverge? [...]

The second target (public expectations about bureaucracy) should address the cost of maintaining a bureaucracy and how it is funded. Have your students go back to all the possible solutions to the problems from the first part and examine how cost effective they are. It could also examine why public perception of bureaucracy might be distorted. How much does the common citizen know about bureaucracy and how it works? How much do they trust it to help them?

Yes.  These, again, are part of what they'll be learning.

On 6/4/2018 at 6:12 AM, Mentat said:

If you haven't seen the UK series "Yes, Minister", I consider it a must. The episodes "The compassionate society", "The greasy pole" and "A question of loyalty", from its second season, are all personal favourites of mine, and each highlight different failings of bureaucracy and how and why they come about.

Thanks, I'll take a look.  You clearly have a decidedly negative perspective though.  That's not what I'm going for.

On 6/5/2018 at 12:52 AM, Yukle said:

Possible Real World Intro

As an early introductory explanation, you could pick a very normal and real-world scenario and explain how it works. An interesting hook might be, "How I got out of a speeding ticket." This is made up, but it's an example (although I have done this).

For this, I'd introduce what law I had broken (I was speeding) and the process that went into how I was detected breaking the law. [...]

Yeah this is a little rudimentary from what I'm looking for.

On 6/5/2018 at 12:52 AM, Yukle said:

The Dark Side

When it all goes wrong

These are interesting, thanks.

On 6/5/2018 at 4:04 PM, Maithanet said:

I would use clips from The Wire to demonstrate institutional dysfunction.  You could just splice together a few Carcetti scenes if you're trying to be quick about it, although police dysfunction is covered in far greater detail.

Then you could talk about how these shortcomings happen and why government agencies with good intentions so often fall short (or are vilified for only half-solving problems). 

No Wire!  And definitely no Carcetti.  Feels like a crutch.

On 6/5/2018 at 4:38 PM, Mlle. Zabzie said:

Have them participate (really participate) in the notice and comment process on regulations (really comment).  That would be a hard, but worthwhile, project on a number of different levels.

Also, have you thought about tapping state and local agencies for guest speakers/examples?

Using/understanding notice & comment is an awesome suggestion, thanks!  And yes, I've considered local speakers.  That's an ongoing discussion with a lot of people.

On 6/5/2018 at 5:15 PM, Tywin et al. said:

Out of curiosity, what is the size and structure of the course? Is it mainly a lecture hall course or are there small group sessions. What academic level is it? How many credits and the expected workload for your students? Information like that can really help shape what you’re going to need.

ETA:

More questions. How much of the course work is online? Are the students grades going to based off of essays, tests, projects or some combination of the three? If there are projects, are they individual or group projects? And maybe the most important question of them all, how much with this course affect your students’ degrees and their post-graduation life? Is it a throwaway class where you learn something that is a small aspect of your overall studies or is it a class that has a level two, three etc. follow up course(s)?

It's an upper-level undergrad course, they're usually capped at 35, although that's at the instructor's discretion.  Who knows what I'll get come late August, but I doubt it'll be at capacity - I'd bet it'll be more like 20.  This class is only given once every two years for a reason.  The structure of the course is whatever the fuck I want it to be.  That's kind of an exaggeration, but not really.  And that basically answers all your other questions.  I'm not really sure yet how I'll evaluate the course - that's why I made this thread - just started with preps.  As for what it means for the students?  I honestly don't know, you'd have to ask them.  I know it's important for my career, so I'm trying to create the best course possible.

On 6/5/2018 at 5:39 PM, IamMe90 said:

As for suggestions... well, there's always the tried and true Jeopardy with candy as prizes approach. I don't know why everyone still seems to like this as an adult, but hey, pretty much all of my TAs used it at one point or another. 

Heh.  Yeah, I've done the Jeopardy type review thing multiple times for review.  It always helps.

 

Overall, thank you all very, VERY much for all the input!  I'm being totally serial.  You guys are the best.  It's so much appreciated - and I'll refer back to this thread as I prep for the course.  

[DMC]

The primary text, for those that are interested, is the following:

Wilson, James. 1991. Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do And Why They Do It.

It's an outstanding book, and accessible, but I've already been editing the supplementary readings for updating and..challenging the course to a higher degree.

[The Grey Wolf]

1 hour ago, dmc515 said:

Text

Sorry. I don't know under what category Political Science falls so I just guessed.

[DMC]

Finishing up the syllabus/class schedule - about to activate the Courseweb aspect - and have most everything prepped (except for the final week, which is supposed to be "Bureaucracy in a Comparative Perspective"..I don't do well with comparativist perspectives).  Thank you all so much for your input - the advice given here helped immeasurably in updating a course I suspect has been handed down without many substantive changes for about a decade.

[Iskaral Pust]

Best of luck.  Similar to @OldGimletEye, I thought the course as described in the OP sounded interesting and would have been enough to grab me.  I enjoyed MBA classes about how to build/lead/change effective organizations.  The strategy class is the sexy one, but then you hear that 80% of strategy change initiatives fail because the organization (the people) cannot or will not do it. 

You’ve already got some good advice here on how to make it relatable and practical.  I’d also suggest posing plenty of Socratic questions like:

- Are public bodies any more or less effective or bureaucratic than corporate, charitable or volunteer bodies of similar size?  If so, why?

- Is there a gap between perception and reality?  If so, is it larger or smaller than for corporate, charitable or volunteer entities?  Why?

- At what size or structure type do organizations become bureaucratic and why?  How can we measure this?  What can mitigate this?  What is the tipping point or catalyst for a growing/changing organization to drift into inefficient bureaucracy?

- Is the problem “bureaucracy” (what is that?) or too many objectives/stakeholders/rules, or short term political tenures clashing with long term career tenures, or insider capture (the insiders run things for their own benefit), or something else?  If other sectors have less of this problem then how did they avoid or mitigate this?  Can that solution be available in the public sector?

- Who is accountable and how?  Are there appropriate incentives and punishments?  Is there an appropriate feedback and measurement system?  Is there a mismatch between control and accountability?

Since I’m in the middle of rewatching The Wire, that feels like a perfect example for your class. 

[Larry of the Lawn]

I think you should give out bonus points for the juiciest stuff revealed in a FOIA request.  

[DMC]

So the class got canceled due to lack of enrollment.  LOL.

[Ormond]

On 8/27/2018 at 2:41 AM, DMC said:

So the class got canceled due to lack of enrollment.  LOL.

So sorry! Also sorry I missed the thread the first time.

Were you really going to use a text with a 1991 copyright, or is that really the year the first edition came out and you are using a more recent edition? As a psychology professor I couldn't get away with using a main textbook that old unless it was specifically a course on the history of the topic.

[DMC]

1 minute ago, Ormond said:

Were you really going to use a text with a 1991 copyright, or is that really the year the first edition came out and you are using a more recent edition?

The 91 copy was actually Wilson's second edition.  I have his 1989 (!) book which is essentially the same.  And yes, that was the primary text that has been used in the class.  I updated quite a bit of the other readings, but Wilson does a great job, and if it ain't broke...

3 minutes ago, Ormond said:

As a psychology professor I couldn't get away with using a main textbook that old unless it was specifically a course on the history of the topic.

Understandable, but it's the closest thing to a textbook a bureaucracy would have.  It's not like most courses in which they produce texts every year.  Guess that's why it got canceled

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

On 8/27/2018 at 2:41 AM, DMC said:

So the class got canceled due to lack of enrollment.  LOL.

Lame. Does this impact potentially getting your doctorate this year?

[DMC]

12 minutes ago, SpaceForce Tywin et al. said:

Lame. Does this impact potentially getting your doctorate this year?

Nah - thanks for asking though.  All it impacts is instead of teaching (again) I'm working for a Vice Provost.  She's an old woman that I met this afternoon, and basically my duties entail helping her move from one office to another.  Getting paid less, but considering the anticipated hours worked versus what I would be doing it's very hard to complain.  Plus I have no leverage, and a recommendation from a Vice Provost would look pretty cool as I go on the market.  So all in all, I'm disappointed I didn't get to teach this class because it would have been a nice line on the CV, but the new DGS found me something that will keep me mollified - because a rec from a Vice Provost is probably better, even if all I do is move her shit.