The Government as Catalyst - Essay Example

Public Administration: Concepts and Cases Chapter 10: The Government as Catalyst The internet is becoming an important component in the global economy as the people will have access to the necessary tools and information that will enable to access the educational and social opportunities that will enable them to better their lives. The government plays an important role in the provision of the internet services in any community as this will help in boosting the living standards of the people. The “Government as a catalyst, can it work again with wireless internet access?” is a case study that seeks to find out the effectiveness of the government in providing internet services the city of Philadelphia which has a population of approximately 300,000 households and that 40% 0f these people do not require to access the internet. In the year 2004, the government announced its intentions of building a Municipal Wireless Network in order to meet the need for the internet services in the city. Governments have always been the catalyst in the bringing in of innovations and ensuring that such innovations are implemented for the benefit of the local citizens (Stillman, 2010). The case of the “Government as a catalyst” contradicts the arguments of Thompson-Perry since the government has been viewed as ineffective in providing services to the people. Thompson-Perry views that the development of the internet access in Philadelphia should have been left to the private entities instead of monopolizing it. The Philadelphia case study offers some of the most important insights in to the dangers and risks of concentrating on the digital divide since the provision of the internet services usually require a champion who can handle the various stakeholder views and is able to strike a balance between the private and the public sector (Morrison, 2005). Thompson-Perry’s argument is that there is a failure in the initiatives that are generated by the government and the existing fiscal debt makes the government unable to complete its projects. He argues that there is a potential for the market based mechanisms that help in ensuring that the projects are completed and that it can stimulate economic growth as well as raising the living standards of the citizens. It is of paramount importance for government to intervene in the provision of services rather than making it a monopoly (Morrison, 2005). The various stakeholders came together and discussed about the government’s intention of providing the MWN. Some of the stakeholders view that it was important that the government be the only player in the provision of the internet while other stakeholders were for the view that the MWN should be owned by the private sector. Some stakeholders argued that the low-income citizens should be allowed to access the internet services for free (Stillman, 2010). The collaboration process can be defined as a process in which autonomous actors interact through formal and informal negotiations, jointly creating rules and structures governing their relationships and ways to act or decide on the issues that brought them together, thus the process of collaboration involve shared norms and the mutually beneficial interactions (Stillman, 2010). The main actors in the case of Philadelphia were the government, the local citizens and other private practitioners. This collaboration could ensure that the projects are implemented effectively and the various stakeholders would help in incorporating the necessary innovation into the system thus the production if internet services that are effective to the users. In 2004, the state of Philadelphia was struggling with the state policy on whether the state should be allowed to install the MWN. In March, 2004, the Supreme Court made a ruling that supported the involvement of the Municipal in MWN. The project in Philadelphia was one of the biggest in the world and the government’s intervention to provide a low cost internet service was a great step in making the citizens independent. For the success of the implementation of the wireless internet to be achieved, various factors must be taken into account like the management of various stakeholder views, taking the interests of the private as well as the public sector into consideration and the identification of the municipal Wireless Network (MWN) (Morrison, 2005). The case offers a different model called the hybrid model that was basically a cross between the wholesale cooperative model and the non-profit model. The wireless in the city of Philadelphia would be built by the government through the investment of approximately $10 million while the tender of building of this wireless network would be awarded to a private entity and the ownership would entirely rest on the non-profit organization. The role of the city authority is to guarantee a cheap line services for the operation of the wireless like the cheap credit in the operation of the wireless in Philadelphia and in the light of this, the network capacity could be transferred to the private sector Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) through a wholesale basis. Consequently these ISP’s would sell the network access to the retailers. The government’s role would be to educate the population of Philadelphia who had little about the internet and give them the knowledge on the importance of the internet in their neighborhood. These people will be able to make use of the internet services and being part of the stakeholders the citizens will be able to improve on their socio-economic well being (Stillman, 2005). In conclusion the government can play an important role as a catalyst in the development arena since it can offer its citizens free or subsidized services that can help the citizens to improve their living standards. The government involvement in the provision of services can lead to the development of monopolies which greatly hinders the development of high quality services in a certain area. When monopolies are created then competition is lacking and the therefore implies that the local citizens can be easily exploited. In the provision of services various stakeholders should be allowed to participate in the provision of services as this encourages innovation and the improvement of services. Chapter 15: Administrative Responsibility Apply In The Case Of Torture Chapter 15 of the Public Administration: Concepts and Cases is a case study that examines the torture that was inflicted to the prisoners in Abu Gharib, Iraq, in the year 2003. The United States military men used torture on the prisoners and the research that was conducted reveals that the torture was not as a result of the inexperience and sadistic military men but it was as a result of a written out memoranda as well as the operational decisions and commands that resulted to the change in the form of interrogation (James, 2005). The torture of the Abu Gharib took different forms which involved thumping, slapping, lashing out on the prisoners as well as taking naked photographs of both the female and the male detainees in the prison. Several videotapes revealed MP guard having sexual intercourse with a female prisoner. In some extreme cases the military dogs were used to terrorize and frighten the prisoners. Prior to these incidences of torture the president of the United States of America at the time, George W. Bush stated out that the freedom from any form of torture is a basic human right and that the U.S.A is committed to ensuring that torture is eliminated in the world at large. However, prior to his speech, the president had already set out in action some series of events that resulted in torture of the Abu Gharib prisoners. Torture can be defined as the act of inflicting extreme pain as a way of gathering some important information from an individual or making someone confess to a certain action as well as a way of punishing an individual for a wrong doing (James, 2005). Friedrich and Finer both agree that torture is useful in the case of a “ticking time bomb” scenario where a captive might be aware of a planned attack in a certain area and that torture is the only available means of making the captive reveal about the planned attack. Torture in this case is meant to make the prisoner open up and reveal the crucial information in good time to be stopped before it inflicts harm to the innocent civilians. In contrast however, the use of torture in extracting information is not justified since the human conventions do not support it and it views it as the violation of human rights. The person being subjected to torture might not be having the crucial information that is required by the intelligence or that the person might decide to lie in order to reduce the amount of pain the he or she is feeling. The practice of torture only serves to brutalize the victims and in the case of a “ticking time bomb” scenario, the chance of success is very uncertain (Stillman, 2005). The ideas of Friedrich and Finer were applicable in solving the apparent dilemma of administrative behavior in the torture of Abu Gharib prisoners. Though not effective the ideas were the justification of the torture of the prisoners was from the standpoint that the U.S.A military personnel believed that the prisoners were involved in insurgency and that the information obtained from these prisoners would aid the United States of America in tactically suppressing such insurgent forces. However the ticking time bomb case did not apply in the case of the Abu Gharib since the most of the detainees in the prison were Iraqis who did not have prior knowledge about the planned attacks on the United States of America (James, 2005). The actions of the president of the United States of America triggered action among his officers to use all means in acquiring information about insurgency and the likely future attacks to the United States of America. However various courageous individuals in the George W. Bush administration objected the policies that led torture of the Abu Gharib prisoners. The Secretary Mr. Powell objected the idea of excluding the prisoners in the Geneva Conventions claiming that it was inhuman and unrightfully justified (James, 2005). The public interest can be secured if the governments follow the directives of the various conventions like the Geneva conventions which state clearly that torture is inhumane and should not be incorporated in dealing with people either in making them reveal some crucial information or in making them suffer for their actions. The government should set out clear policies that can be clearly understood and followed by different individuals. In the case of the Abu Gharib torture, it was difficult to justify the United States President ordered for the torture of the prisoners but his actions clearly stated that the commanders and other offices in his administration acted due to the United States of America’s stand on zero tolerance to corruption. In the case where an officer is found torturing his or her subject the officer should be tried in court and if found guilty he or she should be subjected to the right form of punishment. Education is also very important in making people understand the dangers of torture. Through education, people will learn to respect one another and adhere to the set out policies that protect people against torture (Stillman, 2005). In the case of torture as explained in Case study 15 concerning the government’s responsibility in the case of torture it can be concluded that torture is against the human rights and each and every nation should strive to eliminate torture in their administration as this serves to dehumanize people and deny them their basic rights. The governments should set out clear policies that aim at upholding the dignity of every citizen and the administration should not contradict themselves in the rightful position of the government as was the case in the torture of the prisoners at Abu Gharib. References James P. (2005). Torture and Public Policy. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Morrison, S. (2005). High-speed internet access for all? Not so fast municipal broadband: The city of Philadelphia plans to address the digital divide by offering wireless internet as a low-cost public service. However, writes Scott Morrison, the private sector is up in arms. Financial Times, pp. 14-14. Viewed on 7th May 2012 from http://search.proquest.com/docview/249568130?accountid=45049 Stillman, R. J. (2010). Public administration: Concepts and cases. Boston, Mass: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Read More