Selected Aspects Pertaining to the Teaching of Public Policy in Public Administration Teaching Programmes
| Author | E.G. Bain,S.X. Hanekom |
| Published date | 01 September 1990 |
| DOI | 10.1177/014473949001000202 |
| Date | 01 September 1990 |
Teaching
Public
Administration:
Autumn
1990
vol.
X
no.2
pp.13-25
SELECTED
ASPECTS
PERTAINING
TO
THE
TEACHING
OF
PUBLIC
POLICY
POLICY
IN
PUBLIC
AD:MINISTRATION
TEACHING
PROGRA:M:MES
S.X.
HANEKOM
Department
of
Political
Science,
University
of
South
Africa
and
E.G.
BAIN
Potchefstroom
University
for
Christian
Higher
Education
1. INTRODUCTION
Governmental
activities
should
be
purposeful
-
in
other
words
there
should
be
clarity
as
to
what
ought
to
be
done,
how
the
activity
will
be
executed,
who
will
act,
which
resources
will
be
utilised
and
when
and
where
action
shall
take
place.
The
determination
of
the
what,
how,
who,
which
and
when
aspects
implies
that
decisions
are
to
be
made
and
that
an
action
programme
aimed
at
the
realisation
of
a
goal
should
be
operationalised,
i.e.,
a
policy
should
be
formulated,
made
known,
implemented
and
eventually
be
evaluated
to
determine
its
effectiveness.
In
general
the
task
of
political
representatives
(politicians)
and
appointed
public
officials
is
to
render
services
to
the
community.
This
implies
that
politicians
and
public
officials
ought
to
consider
the
what,
how,
who,
which
and
where
aspects
of
governmental
activities,
i.e.,
the
policy
aspects
of
governmental
activities.
The
making
of
public
policy
is
not
the
sole
prerogative
of
politicians
but
also
falls
within
the
ambit
of
the
functions
of,
especially,
leading
public
officials.
This
is
contrary
to
the
notion
which
held
that
the
only
role
a
public
official
had
to
play
in
the
policy
process
was
merely
to
execute
or
implement
the
policy
handed
down
to
him
by
the
political
office
bearer.
The
elevated
role
of
the
public
official
concerning
the
making
of
pu
blic
policy
calls
for
a
reassessment
of
the
teaching
of
public
policy
in
Public
Administration
teaching
programmes.
In
this
paper
an
attempt
will
be
made
to
highlight
the
importance
of
the
emerging
emphasis
placed
on
the
participation
of
public
officials
in
the
policy-making
process
in
Western
democracies
and
to
suggest
avenues
for
the
teaching
of
public
policy
to
practising
and
prospective
public
officials
-
suggestions
to
what
is
inevitably
a
complicated
topic.
2. PUBLIC POLICY -SCOPE
AND
COMPLEXITY
It
is
almost
sacrilege
to
attempt
to
define
public
policy
in
a
generally
13
To continue reading
Request your trial