Decision Making

Decision Making

1. What does pluralistic decision making mean?

Ans. Pluralism is connected with the hope that this process of conflict and dialogue will lead to a definition and subsequent realization of the common good that is best for all members of society. This implies that in a pluralistic framework, the common good is not given a priori. Instead, the scope and content of the common good can only be found out in and after the process of negotiation (a posteriori).

Still, one group may eventually manage to establish its own view as the generally accepted view, but only as the result of the negotiation process within the pluralistic framework. This implies that, as a general rule, the "operator" of a truly pluralistic framework, i.e. the state in a pluralistic society, must not be biased: it may not take sides with any one group, give undue privileges to one group and discriminate against another one.

Proponents of pluralism argue that this negotiation process is the best way to achieve the common good: since everyone can participate in power and decision-making (and can claim part of the ownership of the results of exercising power) there can also be widespread participation and a greater feeling of commitment from society members, and therefore better outcomes. By contrast, an authoritarian or oligarchic society, where power is concentrated and decisions are made by few members, forestalls this possibility. (Lehman Brothers and George K. Baum 2002)

2. What is meant by the discussion within public administration that there exists a conflict; between democracy and bureaucracy?

Ans. Public administration is probably one of the noblest professions of all time if carried properly. It is there for the uplift of the masses and the society and the basic concern is to make the processes that much simpler and easier for the general public. One of the most important aspects of a public administration is to maintain a proper code that allows for the maintenance of the records of all criminal and judicial cases like that of Scott Peterson.

This codebook has got nothing to with the person being guilty or innocent but it is all about maintaining the things on records. The record should be mutually exclusive which means that the cases would be recorded by the code that will be assigned to the case and further extensions would also be stored. This would enable the people to make comparisons much easily not only for the administrators and lawyers but it would be easier to disclose the chosen material to the general public. This is very important in the sense that the cases would be available on the database and there will be a search engine form which these high profiles cases could be searched for easily.

This simple codebook may seem a small project but it is unique in the sense that it will allow for the accessibility to much higher. It will complement the usage and make the tasks easier for the people related to the field but the Public Administration would have to ...