Chapter One, describes mainstream American view of government and how its negative perception kept contributing to the enduring crisis in public management. It is ingrained in the American’s political culture to see their government as: ineffective, corrupted and wasteful. Americans perceive their government as creating rather than solving public problems (Hetherington, 1998). Chapter two will argue that even though the public managers ‘image of perennial incompetence still emerge, that image can still be countered.
Although some of these perceptions are sometimes justified and despite the mistrust from the American people towards their government (Jones, 2011). Americans still expect to see public services provided to them as: “rural electricity, food stamps, interstate highways, education, crime reduction, and many other endeavors,” and count on the same government to enhance their quality of life. Some would argue that the private sector could do it, better and cheaper. Nevertheless, private management is not a cure-all answer. Just take a good look at the “Wall Street and housing finance crash of 2008.” Some others would argue that “government does more harm than good in regulating
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This management methods prescribes a reduce hierarchy, “focus on quality, customers, teamwork, and creative entrepreneurship.” Consequently rethinking how basic government works, manages, and fund is public programs. The key points of this first chapter would be for future public leaders to be more “aware of the culture, standards, and institutions,” and the three basics practices to reinforce “effective but honest management: hold managers accountable for their performances, hold agency chiefs responsible for fair procurement and hiring rules, strengthen inspector generals and enforcement and empower