The Virtuous Citizen, the Honorable Bureaucrat, and "Public" Administration

Abstract

WORTHLEY: My first comment is in reference to Dwight's example from health care. Public servants have a lot to learn from what has happened in health care. Health systems agencies frequently have a citizen participation structure, and in some instances there is a requirement for 50 percent consumer participation in planning processes and administrative decisions. I am aware of some terrible difficulties administrators and doctors have had in dealing with consumers who may not have had a high school education but who know something about going to a hospital. Your comment, Lou, about good government not being an acceptable substitute for self-government is something administrators and doctors have had to face head on. Is good medicine a proper substitute for participatory medicine? Some planners I have dealt with are beginning to believe that good medicine requires participatory medicine. The second thing I want to comment on is your profound point, Lou, that public service administration should be interesting. That is the key to promoting citizenship. When occasionally I have the thrill of teaching an undergraduate public administration course, I require my students to attend public hearings and interview public administrators. Inevitably they come back and tell me how boring the public hearings and the administrators were. The message I get from all around is that if we as professors, administrators, and consultants are not interesting, we cannot promote citizenship. Finally, in thinking about the role of universities, there are few public administration programs which actually market their courses to ordinary citizens. We ought to educate people, and help people educate themselves, about how administration works. We have neglected citizens.