Politics & Administration

Politics & Administration
Public Administration: Public administration can be broadly described as the development, implementation and study of branches of government policy. The pursuit of the public good by enhancing civil society and social justice is the ultimate goal of the field. Though public administration has historically referred to as government management, it increasingly encompasses non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that also operate with a similar, primary dedication to the betterment of humanity.
Versus

Politics: the process by which power and influences are acquired and exercised; not limited to political parties and elections. In the public sector, there are power clashes within and between administrative agencies as well as between administrative and legislative branches.

Sheer Political Partisanship

The great discretion wielded by elective and appointive officials enables them to reward their supporters and punish their enemies.
Examples:
¡ A mayor’s direct or indirect control over zoning is a strong power weapon
¡ Discretion to decide in which banks to deposit public funds
Efforts to Control the Bureaucracy
Relationships between top political policy-making officials and the career bureaucracy constitute another area in which the politics of administration takes place. Career officials develop strong attachments to existing programs and policies and to the legislators and clientele groups that support such programs and policies.
Malek believes that “the core of the problem [in making the bureaucracy work] is the typical failure of substandard political appointees to rise to the demanding challenge of providing genuine leadership to the careerists.”
The Politics of Organization
When the creation of new agencies or the reorganization of existing ones is proposed, the justification often is couched in terms of logic and sound principles of organization. Actually, the real reason often is to advance a particular cause or interest, such as better representation of consumers through establishment of an independent consumer protection agency.
The Politics of Termination
Because of slow economic growth, consequent declining tax revenues, and the increased costs created by inflation, governments now are reviewing existing programs carefully to determine which ones can be cut back or terminated. No matter how logical the desirability of ending a program in terms of costs and effectiveness, it usually is very difficult from the political standpoint to close down the activity.
Control of Public Information
Since control of information is power, it is not surprising that there are many protracted struggles in this area between the executive branch, on the one hand, and the legislative branch, the press, and various public groups, on the other hand. The criticism is frequently heard that administrative officials withhold information from legislators and the public because they want to hide mistakes and prefer to operate in secrecy.
Exemption: The government has a legitimate interest in preventing the disclosure of security and law enforcement information, as well as of confidential data supplied by private businesses in meeting government reporting requirements.
Executive Privilege (E.O. 464 in the Philippines)
This is the doctrine that the president has the constitutional authority to withhold from Congress, the judiciary, or anyone else, documents or information in his or her possession or that of the executive branch. An inferred power, not specifically stated in the Constitution, it has been interpreted by several presidents to justify their refusal to allow intimate advisers to testify before congressional committees.
The salient provisions of E.O. 464 are:
SECTION 1. Appearance by Heads of Departments Before Congress. “In accordance with Article VI, Section 22 of the Constitution and to implement the Constitutional provisions on the separation of powers between co-equal branches of the government, all heads of departments of the Executive Branch of the government shall secure the consent of the President prior to appearing before either House of Congress.
SECTION 2. Nature, Scope and Coverage of Executive Privilege.
(a) Nature and Scope. - The rule of confidentiality based on executive privilege is fundamental to the operation of government and rooted in the separation of powers under the Constitution (Almonte vs. Vasquez, G.R. No. 95367, 23 May 1995). Further, Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees provides that Public Officials and Employees shall not use or divulge confidential or classified information officially known to them by reason of their office and not made available to the public to prejudice the public interest.
(b) Who are covered. “ The following are covered by this executive order:
i. Senior officials of executive departments who in the judgment of the department heads are covered by the executive privilege;ii. Generals and flag officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and such other officers who in the judgment of the Chief of Staff are covered by the executive privilege;iii. Philippine National Police (PNP) officers with rank of chief superintendent or higher and such other officers who in the judgment of the Chief of the PNP are covered by the executive privilege;iv. Senior national security officials who in the judgment of the National Security Adviser are covered by the executive privilege; andv. Such other officers as may be determined by the President.
SECTION 3. Appearance of Other Public Officials Before Congress. – All public officials enumerated in Section 2 (b) hereof shall secure prior consent of the President prior to appearing before either House of Congress to ensure the observance of the principle of separation of powers, adherence to the rule on executive privilege and respect for the rights of public officials appearing in inquiries in aid of legislation.
SECTION 22. The heads of departments may upon their own initiative, with the consent of the President, or upon the request of either House, as the rules of each House shall provide, appear before and be heard by such House on any matter pertaining to their departments. Written questions shall be submitted to the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives at least three days before their scheduled appearance. Interpellations shall not be limited to written questions, but may cover matters related thereto. When the security of the State or the public interest so requires and the President so states in writing, the appearance shall be conducted in executive session.