1. What does the often-repeated phrase “a government of laws, not of men” mean and how does it apply to bureaucratic accountability? What are the specific challenges of maintaining this principal in a democratic system like ours?  Can you think of any modern day circumstances where this concept might be applied?

2. The Roman satirist Juvenal asked two millennia ago: “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” or “Who is to watch the watchers”? Who is responsible for controlling administrators and how would they do so? Which of the measures of performance accountability—fiscal, process, or program accountability—do you think best keeps administrators honest? Do you think that any particular one has primacy over another?

3. The text outlines several scenarios where politics interfered with public administration. Outline just one of these cases and discuss why public administration will always be political in that it often forces a choice among competing values. Why do you think this is so? Do you think public administration has to be political or not?

4. Why are ethical standards maintained more rigorously in the public sector than in the private sector? Do you think this should be so—even with the potential hiring cost (sacrificing the very best people for the job who may be drawn to the less stringent and perhaps more lucrative private sector)?

5. Peter Self, British scholar, said “The tensions between the requirements of responsibility or ‘accountability’ and those of effective executive action can reasonably be described as the classic dilemma of public administration.” Respond to this insight. Do you agree? Are there other more insidious dilemmas within the realm of public administration?

6. Recent whistleblowing activities in the United States has come under scrutiny as because the whistleblower’s activities posed a threat to national security.  Do you believe that controllers always have a duty to report wrongdoing? Does whistleblowing have multiple standards?  Is one type better or more acceptable than another? 

7. The balance between bureaucratic power and accountability is one unpacked throughout the chapter. How do the three approaches to accountability tackle the issue of creating a system that makes bureaucrats powerful enough to do their jobs but not so powerful that elected officials cannot hold them accountable? How do you see this at work in the real world? What solutions can you offer? (Feel free to draw upon the case studies from the chapter.)

8. Read the following excerpt from the text and respond to the questions that follow.

“The story of both the Flint water crisis and the BP spill captures the essence of modern government: We the people identify problems that we expect the government will solve, to promote the general welfare. How does it do so? Government, on behalf of us all, sets goals, and then it creates complex organizations to meet those goals. And these tales also capture a fundamental challenge: Does government have what it takes to do what its citizens expect?”

This paragraph describes the “essence of modern government.” How does it strike you? Do you think it is possible for government to fashion organizations capable of addressing problems that are identified? Are tradeoffs inevitable?

9. Describe the differences between the three elements of accountability discussed in the text: process, procedural, and fiscal? Which of them do you think is the most difficult to enforce or to measure? Why do you think this is so?

10. In the 1940s two political theorists, Carl J. Friedrich and Herman Finer, debated a critical question of accountability in American public administration: whether professional norms or external controls were necessary to keep administrators accountable. In other words, how much can we rely on the laws to keep administrators in check and how much can we rely on the uniform training of our administrators? Reenact this historic debate. Which do you think is a better accountability measure, external or internal controls and/or the personal character of the administrator? How do you support your choice? As you know the text deconstructs both of these ideas saying that in the current policy environment neither are effective. Why is this the case? What do you think is the solution to keeping administrators accountable in the 21^st century?

11. Do you believe that most citizens today view public service as George H.W. Bush called it, “the highest and noblest calling”? Why or why not? If not, what would need to change for this to be the case? In 2008 President Obama said his goal was “to make government and public service cool again.” Has he been effective in reaching that goal? If you think yes, what has he done right? If you think no, what would have to happen in order for “government . . . to be cool again”?