Problem 1: Can you find how many governments and governmental subdivisions: school districts, cities, counties, water and fire districts and so on exist in the Bronx New York, United States Why is this large/small?
Problem 2: Frederickson and New Public Administration school of thought look to add social equity to the classical objectives of efficiency and economy. Administrators are sought to ask themselves -- does this service offered enhance social equity? The premise for such change in objectives is based on the fact that public administrators are not neutral in service creation and delivery. Do you agree that administrators are unable to be neutral in service delivery? (As was the school of thought with the birth of public administration scholarship - Wilson, Taylor, etc.)
Problem 3: If classic federalism continues to erode, do you ever see it potentially being re-written - where states regain powers/responsibilities? How?
Problem 4: Stone, in Chapter 2, outlines the complexities of Equity. After our discussion of federalism, where there is an inherent basis for two governing centers -- how can we begin to reconcile the need for public administration to be equitable in policymaking? We recognize the various views for which equity may mean different results from different entities - when we have two governing centers, state and federal -- then we have established the potential for contention, even when both governing bodies aim for equality.
Problem 5: Stone, in Chapter 3, discusses the concepts of Efficiency and of course, no one knows the cost of any governmental service. Are small classrooms more efficient than large ones? What gets measured to make any such determination? Is there an efficiency - equity trade-off: the more we have of one the less we have of the other?