The Role Of Public Administration

The role of Public Administration has had to greatly evolve and come to terms with the ever changing role of state especially from the nineteenth century to the present day and more. The role of public administration has had to evolve with the time and many events have brought about reasons for change for example world war one and world war two, numerous economic downturns and the development of technology such as computers and Wi-Fi. The traditional Model of Public Administration has certainly help to shape our image of the system and it is therefore easier for us to notice the change and adaption that occurs. The rise of the welfare state has brought a huge change in the role of public administration since the late nineteenth century but

Technology has been a catalyst for changing government processes and actions (Quinn 2015). In 1964 Marshall McLuhan said that Technological innovation was the engine of change (The Global Village) then came The Network Nation (1978 ) followed by The Electronic Cottage in the Info sphere (1980) (Quinn 2015). In the Last twenty years or so wireless internet connection or Wi-Fi as some like to call it has pushed governments and the citizens it rules in a technological revolution, now a lot of information that government shares with the people is through Wi-Fi on various devices that have also changed the dynamic of how Public Administration is put in view of the citizens, a paper is no longer required due to the availability of e-newspapers online on laptops, tablets and smartphones as well as many more. There have been four stages of E-Governance, Presence, Interaction, Transaction and Transformation (Hughes 2012).The argument that E-Governance is the path Public Administration should follow is slightly misled. There are many benefits that come with this change but many downsides as well. Information Communications Technology is a medium to provide more efficient services to citizens (Quinn 2015). ICT has its advantages; it contributes to reform, reduces carbon use and ensures sustainability (Quinn 2015). This is all well and good until you look towards the

In some ways it has dealt well with the development of the traditional model and emerged into a more sophisticated model, the civil servants are more skilled and professional in the last sixty to seventy years than they were in the late nineteenth century. It has dealt somewhat well with the rise of the welfare state from the early developments in the nineteenth century to Von Bismarck’s reforms in Germany, the Wall Street crash, the development of the trade union movement and introduction of welfare programs. While the system has coped well in the aforementioned areas I don’t believe it has fully adapted to the technological revolution. In reality E-Governance is a lot quicker and much easier to deal with than the age old letter, personal meeting type administration but it still has its severe downfalls, elderly people and those who suffer from poor broadband reception and effectively cut off from using any type of online service. There are also issues surrounding data protection and security which can never really be achieved unless governments work hard to achieve something they are not doing at this present moment. The role of public administration has not just change but has transformed since the late nineteenth century and will continue to grow and it is our job as citizens who are ‘customers’ of the administration to adapt to