QUESTION A: One of your old English Lit professors has been elected governor of Baxter, a cute little New England state located between New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The governor has appointed you and various of your close personal friends to the newly established Government Oversight Commission.
The GOC is charged with reviewing the biggest issues within the State and proposing legislation to address these issues. Show two issues that have to be addressed and provide examples of how others States have had similar issues and tried or proposed to address them. Consider the subsequent:
- From what sort of people or interest groups will your major support come? From what sort of people or interest groups will your major opposition come? What will you do to increase the chances of getting your legislation passed? In this discussion, meditate at least in part on the question of the proper involvement of public administrators in formulating and advocating specific public policies.
- In addition to the two government issues you addressed in part 1, the Governor also needs you to review the budget for the State. What budget format will you recommend, and why? Think at least partly in terms of how the different budget formats channel thinking-that is, toward policy, or management, or control.
QUESTION B: The Governor is very impressed with what a nice job you did in solving the last problem. She needs to know what she can read to be as smart as you, but she is very busy and can only read two articles from Shafritz and Hyde. Which two should she read, and why? These should be the two that you found most helpful in making sense of the field of public administration