PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION:
POLICYMAKING ROLE OF
ADMINISTRATORS
Maung Tawthar
SGPA
POLICYMAKING ROLE OF
ADMINISTRATORS
QUESTIONS?
Are public administrators value neutral? Are
Burmese public administrators value netural?
Should they be value neutral? If not, what
values should they promote/uphold?
QUESTIONS?
How do public administrators contribute to
policymaking? What should their role be in
policymaking?
QUESTIONS?
How do public administrators make decisions?
VALUES, DECISIONS, AND DISCRETION OF
ADMINISTRATORS
Public administration goes beyond rigid principles and scientific
management of public organisations (Simon 1946, Waldo 1948)
It is intimately concerned with politics – through values, decisions, and
discretion.
Public administrators must promote democracy, equity, and social justice,
including racial equity, beyond merely efficiency (Waldo 1948, Gooden
2014)
In the US context, public administration is a constitutional actor and must
promote such constitutional values as rule of law and justice (Bertelli and
Lynn 2006)
BUREAUCRATIC DECISION-MAKING
Comprehensive rational decision-making
impossible (Lindblom 1959, Simon 1946)
In contrast, administrators only have bounded
rationality and must “satisfice” (Simon 1946)
Policymaking process as incremental and
limited comparisons (Lindblom 1959)
DECISIONS AND DISCRETION OF
ADMINISTRATORS
Administrators participate in policymaking using expertise,
interpretation, and discretion (Lipsky 1980, Meier and
O’Toole 2006, Peters 2001, Waldo 1948, )
They influence policy outcomes through policy advice,
agenda-setting, interpretation, and discretion
At the street level, bureaucrats influence what policy is
implemented by how they interpret and utilise discretion
Bureaucrats are shown to influence policy outcomes ranging
from education and health policy to economic policy
POLICYMAKING ROLE OF BUREAUCRATS IN A
COMPARATIVE CONTEXT
However, the policymaking role differs by regime types (Bertelli
and Lynn 2006, Meier and O’Toole 2006, Peters 2001)
In democracies, balance between political accountability and
bureaucratic autonomy crucial
Political accountability achieved through such mechanisms as executive control,
legislative oversight, and judicial review
In autocracies, public administration is a tool for state control. However,
some autocracies achieve substantial state capacity through professional
and technocratic administrators
In developing countries, public administration plagued by political
patronage, corruption, and inefficiency. However, reforms can help
improve them.
POLICYMAKING ROLE OF BUREAUCRATS IN A
NETWORKED GOVERNANCE CONTEXT
Modern policymaking is no longer just the iron
triangles of congressional committees, public
agencies, and interest groups (Heclo 1978,
Kelman 2022)
It increasingly involves academic expertise and
media
Increase agility of public organisations and
public participation in governance increasingly
needed
WHAT POLICY INSTRUMENTS ARE AT THE
DISPOSABLE OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATORS?
POLICY INSTRUMENTS AT THE DISPOSAL OF
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS
Traditional policy instrument: legislation backed by state
sanction/authority
Nodality, Authority, Treasury, and Organization (NATO)
(Hood 1983)
Heuristics and nudges (Kahneman and Tversky)
Nudge Nudge, Think Think (Peter et al. 2020)
EXAMPLE: TURKEY’S POPULATION
Is the population of Turkey greater than 35
million?
What’s your best estimate of Turkey’s
population?
TURKEY’S POPULATION
Is the population of Turkey greater than 100
million?
What’s your best estimate of Turkey’s
population?
BEHAVIOURAL BIASES
Anchoring bias
Confirmation bias
Framing bias (Loss aversion)
Sunk-cost bias
Status quo bias
Optimism bias
Prudence bias
WISE DECISIONS
Widen (Diversify teams and structures)
Interrogate (Red teaming, consider premortem and opposite)
Simulate (Reference class and two estimates)
Enable exits (Breakpoints and feedback)
THE CASE: THE MUSKRAT FALLS
PROJECT
WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES?
The need to diversify Newfoundland
and Labrador (NL)’s economy
The need for more power generation?
Geographical dependency on
Quebec for market access & the
history of mistrust
WHAT WAS THE MAIN APPROACH TO THE
PROJECT AND WHAT PROJECT WAS PROPOSED?
Political platform/promise by Premier Danny
Williams
Going alone strategy
The development of the Lower Churchill
hydroelectric resources
WHAT WERE KEY EVENTS IN THE PROJECT
DEVELOPMENT? (1 OF 6)
2003
Oct 2003
Jan 2005
May 2006
Nov 2006
Sept 2007
the Progressive Conservative Party
released “Our Blueprint for the Future”
the Progressive Conservation Party won elections
& Danny Williams became premier
GNL’s call for EoI
GNL announced go-it-alone
decision
NL Hydro’s submission of a
project description
GNL released its energy plan &
initial criticisms
WHAT WERE KEY EVENTS IN THE PROJECT
DEVELOPMENT? (2 OF 6)
Oct 2007
GNL created Nalcor Energy with
Edmund Martin as head
Nov 2010 Premier Danny Williams’
announcement of $6.2 billion deal
(DG2 gate passed: alternative
options) & more criticisms
WHAT WERE KEY EVENTS IN THE PROJECT
DEVELOPMENT? (3 OF 6)
Nov 2010
July 2011
March 2011
Kathy Dunderdale replace
Williams as premier
GNL’s question to PUB for
alternative options
PUB’s report refusing to endorse
the project and Dunderdale’s
attack on PUB
WHAT WERE KEY EVENTS IN THE PROJECT
DEVELOPMENT? (3 OF 6)
August 2011
Oct 2011
April 2012
the Joint Review Panel’s critical
report & the lack of its adoption
by GNL
GNL issued a commitment letter
to Nalcor
GNL and Nalcor hired Manitoba
Hydro International for DG3project sanction review and MHI
endorsed the project
WHAT WERE KEY EVENTS IN THE PROJECT
DEVELOPMENT? (4 OF 6)
December 2012
Nov 2013
GNL sanctioned the project
passing DG3 with $7.4
billion cost estimate & the
report of favorable public
opinion. P50 instead of P75 used in
cost estimate. P1 schedule information
not shared with GNL.
Financial documents signed:
point of no return. Several
civil servants’ awareness of
cost overrun.
WHAT WERE KEY EVENTS IN THE PROJECT
DEVELOPMENT? (5 OF 6)
Jan 2014 Premier Dunderdale resigned
Sept 2015 Cost estimate at $9 billion. Delayed
completion by well after 2018.
Nov 2015 the Progressive Conservative Party
lost election to the Liberal Party &
calls for quitting the project
WHAT WERE KEY EVENTS IN THE PROJECT
DEVELOPMENT? (6 OF 6)
April 2016 Nalcor CEO Edmund Martin resigned
with a generous severance package
June 2017 Estimated cost now at $12.7 billion
and project completion way after
2019
Nov 2017 GNL announced a public inquiry
QUESTIONS?
What were the governance arrangements for
the project? What was the role of public
administrators in the project’s governance?
What factors contributed to the project
failure?
What would you have done it differently if
you were:
Kathy Dunderdale?
Edmund Martin?
TRANSLATING TO THE MYANMAR CONTEXT?
What is the role of public administrators
in policymaking in the Myanmar context?
In your contexts?
What changes are desirable in their role?
How would you change them?