KLB 2213 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

STUDY QUESTIONS

MEMO: Students are required to participate actively in class discussion, exercises and other class activities. It is just not enough to read and study the lectures given by the instructor, or to participate mentally in the discussion without voicing out your opinions or relating your own experiences. As to facilitate the students understanding of the subjects, students are required to respond to these Study Questions based on the schedule below.

These questions are primarily opinion or short research questions, based on the ideas in the corresponding chapter. Submissions will therefore be graded for completion rather than accuracy. A brief document containing student responses should be prepared and submitted in class on the date indicated. These submissions are part of the participation grade for the course. Late submissions will not be accepted and will detract from the students participation grade.

Date 12 February 2014

Study Questions Consider any public administrative operation with which you have recently dealt or are familiar. List all their functions that (a) provide services, (b) enforce regulations, or (c) provide a mix of service and regulation.

5 March 2014

Some believe that Malaysia has too many governments in the sense that governmental authority is too fragmented and that the cost of redundancies and loss of coordination is too high. Would you favor abolishing any levels or kinds of government? Why or why not?

19 March 2014

Can you identify a case of public administration with which you are familiar where the official violated his or her public trust, in your view? If so, what seems to have been the cause? How was the breach of trust discovered, and how was the issue resolved? Do you believe the resolution was the best one possible?

30 April 2014

During the early and mid-1980s, many states raised their drinking ages to twenty-one, in response to federal prompting and as a means of promoting traffic safety. How would you go about analyzing the impact of this policy? What kind of approach would you take and what kinds of information would you seek and use? Suppose your analysis discerned no policy impact; how do you think different political groups react?

7 May 2014

Deregulation is currently an important political issue. Do you think Malaysia is overregulated in some areas of economic or social life? Underregulated in any? What criteria can you develop to help you decide?