THE BUREAUCRACY

Bureaucracy and Public Management in Democracy, Development, and Governance

in the Philippines
Overview of Western Influences on Bureaucracy and Public Management in
the Philippines
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.

concepts, theories, approaches from the social sciences are used to analyze
Philippine bureaucracy
theories to practice AND practice to theory shapes the bureaucracy
American colonization ushered application of Western theory and practice to
Phil. bureaucracy PLUS Filipino character
traditional public administration 1935 Consti
new public administration 1970s
development administration Martial law
new public management Post Martial law

A. Bureaucracy and traditional public administration

i.

Spanish colonization gave the Philippines its first experiences of centralized

bureaucracy and management which was later on thought by Americans
Bureaucracy
i.
structured hierarchy of offices vested with impersonal authority that engages
in carefully defined division of tasks (by virtue of rules) and renders rational
decision by application of rules on the situation Max Weber
ii.
rules(laws) and procedures instead of charisma, personal etc.
iii.
officials are recruited based on merit and competence
iv.
instrument of class oppression Karl Marx
v.
distinctive organization managed by national and local authorities to achieve
the states goals
vi.
civil servants are also referent to bureaucracy
vii.
in politics, administrative machinery of the state inclusive of hierarchy of
government offices and public officials (ranking) undertaking detailed task
Traditional public administration
i.
dichotomy of politics-administration that is aimed at administrative efficiency
and political neutrality
ii.
execution or implementation of law passed by the legislature by the
executive branch
iii.
political acts vs. administrative acts
iv.
consists of the structures of government, functions and interactions
B. Changing perspectives
i.
ii.

iii.

attention on private sector

stimulated by the inadequacy of the traditional public management to
contemporary scenarios such as democratization, globalization, urbanization
and development etc.
efficiency, effectiveness, economy

New public administration

i.
equity, access, participation and effectiveness
ii.
response to changing times and gap and problems brought about by TPA
iii.
responsive, accessible, affordable
Development administration
i.
different theories and approaches to achieve development (developing Third
World country)
Governance, democracy and decentralization
i.
during Aquinos administration, the bureaucracy was redemocratized
ii.
civil society groups, NGOs and POs was legitimized
iii.
bureaucracy faced the challenge of working with the civil society groups
iv.
influenced to consider other paradigms for the public sector (governance,
management)
v.
changes in the bureaucracy regarding civil-state relations and had also been
affected by the 1992 LG Code(participation of civil society)
New Public Management
i.
alternative that called for public sector reform(entrepreneurial) , public
accountability, empowerment, quality management and performance of the
bureaucracy
ii.
role in the political process of policy making
iii.
public management
iv.
there are bureaucracies in the 3 branches of government (managerial,
political, legal theories)
v.
post-EDSA bureaucracy development are focused on the executive (plus
quality improvement and productivity
Philippine Bureaucracy in Political and Historical Contexts
i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

the bureaucracy usually refers to the departments of the executive branch

under the President
locus of civil service
consists of professional-career officials and personnel selected by merit
dominant traditional public administrative model
implementation of laws and policies
delivery of services
post-EDSA
new paradigms
accomplish role in the state and political system
changes in political environment affect the bureaucracy (constitutions,
legislations, parties etc.)

A. Pre-colonial Philippines and Spanish colonization

i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

during pre-colonial, datu had the overall power as the head of the barangay
Spanish colonizers laid down the centralized system of government
laid down the norms, values etc. that defines the present Philippine politics
and public management such as kinship, family ties. utang na loob etc.
lack of access in many areas to the services of the people

v.