The third part of this reflection on public service as perceived by an outsider is an executive summary of the way we are and that is what our leaders should focus on through public policy formulation
Our public schools are not attracting students whose parents have the resources to pay fees in the developing world. Our healthcare system is out of control. Our courts and prisons are so overcrowded that convicted felons are always breaking loose. And many of our proudest cities and states are virtually bankrupt. They can’t maintain public institutions and can’t pay for electricity. Confidence in government has fallen to record lows.
Just as Columbus never knew he had come upon a new continent, nay of today’s pioneers – from governors to city managers, teachers to social workers – do not understand the global significance of what they are doing. We are not inventing new ideas so much as synthesizing the ideas and experience of others when there was decentralisation of governance through federalism – even before 1960.
It is the way we provide services that benefit all our people: national defense, environmental protection, police protection, highways, dams, water systems. We have known thousands of civil servants through the years, and most – although certainly not all – have been responsible, talented, dedicated people, trapped in archaic systems that frustrate their creativity and sap their energy.
Say’s definition applies equally to the private sector, to the public sector, and to the voluntary, or third, sector. Dynamic school superintendents and principals use resources in new ways to maximize productivity and effectiveness. Innovative airport managers do the same. Welfare commissioners, labor secretaries, commerce department staffers – all can shift resources into areas of higher productivity and yield. When we talk about public entrepreneurs, we mean people who do precisely this.
Our purpose today is not to criticise government, as so many have been doing, but to renew it. We are as bullish on the future of government as we are bearish on the current condition of government. We do not minimise the depth of the problem, nor the difficulty of solving it. But because we have seen so many public institutions transform themselves from staid bureaucracies into innovative, flexible, responsive organizations, we believe there are solutions.
Once, the world of finance was a walled garden; its opportunities, a secret held close for women. Even after breaking the corridor that bridges her entrance, her appearance was often evaluated rather than her intelligence. She constantly encountered an uphill battle with unfavourable laws and policies, such as being legally fired for being pregnant. Her…
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