Role as the dominant historical theory in public administration practice

by | Apr 14, 2023 | essay

 

The development of theories and approaches in public administration has largely been associated with the
socioeconomic and political conditions of American society over the last hundred and twenty years. In the
early 20th century, the emphasis in public administration was traditional, structural-functional, and
rationalistic. In most circumstances, the old public administration served its purpose well. Since the latter
part of the last century, we have seen the world transform through globalization, information technology,
and devolution of authority. Develop an essay considering the following three aspects—consider
Denhardt and Denhardt, Jun, Bolman and Deal, and other materials from the MPA program as you answer
this question.
You may apply your theoretical arguments to the practice of public administration by drawing on your
professional experiences and utilizing related examples and illustrations (including from health care, if
that is your option) to support your response.
Part One: Explain Old Public Administration in the context of its role as the dominant historical theory in
public administration practice. Elaborate on its major theoretical assumptions, identify the historical
framework in which it emerged.
Part Two: What are some of the major reasons for promoting New Public Management (NPM)? Discuss
some of its limitations.
Part Three: Describe at least two more recent (than the approaches in parts one and two) theoretical
justifications for developing responsible public administration practices in today’s political, social, and
governance climate. Include an evaluation of the New Public Service (NPS) with each of your chosen
theoretical justifications.
Resources:
1. Denhardt, J. V., & Denhardt, R. B. (2015). The New Public Service: Serving, not steering (4thed.). New York, NY: Routledge. [ISBN: 9781138891258] https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csueastbay/detail.action?docID=1987301
2. Jun, J. S. (2006). The social construction of public administration: Interpretive and criticalperspectives. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. [ISBN: 978- 0791467268] https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csueastbay/detail.action?docID=3407710

 

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

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