CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
2.2 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CONCEPTS
Generally, public administration concepts are the building blocks of public administration theory. It is essential that the relevant public
administration concepts be explored as the whole study is located within the scope of public administration.
Recent political developments in South Africa indicate that the
"normalisation" of the political process in the country is similar to that of a developing African country. Incremental adaptation of apartheid policies is increasingly being replaced by drastic policy changes leading, one hopes, to more feasible policies designed to take realities more accurately into account. Top-down reform is gradually being replaced with bottom-up change (Cloete, in Theron and Schwella, 2000:24).
2.2.1 POLICY LEVELS
According to Cloete and Wissink (2000:15) recent paradigm shifts in management, institutional development and development management have shed new light on our understanding of certain policy issues. Policy worldwide can be examined on the basis of levels. The levels of policy can be approached in two ways: The first is related to geographical levels; for example, local or district policy (eThekwini Municipality), provincial policy (an intermediate level) and regional policy between national units e.g. the South African level and international levels. The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) is typical of policy at national level in the case of South Africa.
The second relates to levels of policy within the private sector or organisations (e.g. board of director's policies, executive policies, etc.). Hanekom (1991:10) argues that it is important to
acknowledge the multi dimensional nature of policy levels and proposes four public policy levels as reflected in figure 1:
Figure 1 Policy Levels Source: Hanekom, 1991:11
Political policy (or political party policy) {general and idealistic)
Government policy (somewhat more specific than
political policy)
Executive policy (more ' ' specific than government
policy)
Political policy (or the policy of political parties), which originates within a political party and is the policy advocated by a particular political party regarding specific issues.
Government policy (national policy), which is the policy of the political party in power. It is a translation into practical objectives of the ideas of the party on how to govern the country and focuses on the direction in which society is to be steered. Government policy is therefore more specific than a political party policy.
Executive policy (or implementation policy) is determined by political office-bearers, assisted by, or working in conjunction with, high ranking public officials and is concerned with the
setting of priorities and with the compilation of the budget.
Executive policy, again, is more specific in nature than government policy.
• Administrative policy pertains to various aspects of a policy, such as the income and expenditure of a particular government department, inclusive of the provision for development, utilisation and maintenance of personnel and other factors.
The policy levels as indicated by Hanekom are applicable in the South African Government setting including all the three spheres of government. For example, the Health Policy framework to be developed or proposed at the end of this study falls within the Executive Policy (implementation policy) within the Local Government setting.
2.2.2 POLICY-MAKING VARIABLES
According to Cloete and Wissink (2000:81), the contents of public policies, as well as the actors concerned and their efforts to influence policies, are normally affected by a variety of situations, conditions, developments and circumstances that can be systematised as variables in different ways. They propose the following developmental variables in the lesser-developed states (like South Africa):
> Socio-cultural Variables
Cloete and Wissink (2000:83) argue that less-developed states normally have much larger numbers of illiterate or badly-educated people and, on average, a much younger and less-mature population. The populations in these states have relatively short life expectancies, with high incidences of infant mortality and poor health services that struggle to cope with ballooning populations.
> Socio-political Variables
Chronic political instability, changes of regime and a tendency towards bureaucratic authoritarian rule by a combination of military and civil elites normally lead to a desire for regime survival. This typically translates into governing leaders enacting policies with visible, short- term pay-offs to a few favoured groups, even though the eventual effect may be negative for development, according to Cloete and Wissink (2000:84).
> Socio-economic Variables
Lesser-developed countries are found mostly in lower per capita income categories. Abject poverty is widespread and endemic, with a great dependency on families because of huge unemployment. International debt is typically high; this reduces the decision-making autonomy of the
government in favour of international aid agencies such as the World Bank.
On the whole these developmental constraints influence public policy negatively in lesser-developed countries, thus policy makers and researchers need to take them into account in health research policy processes. eThekwini Municipality is influenced and exposed to all the above variables, especially unemployment and the short lifespans of some of its citizens due to HIV and AIDS (eThekwini Municipality, IDP.2004).
POLICY-MAKING THEORIES
Grand theories of policy making do not exist. According to Cloete and Wissink (2000:25), distinguished scholars have remarked that policies are jellylike in nature and must be thought of as seashells with no apparent beginning or end; they are kinetic and fragile. All public policies are future-orientated, usually aimed at the promotion of the general welfare rather than a societal group and take place within the framework of legally-instituted public bodies, such as legislatures or government departments. Cloete and Wissink (2000:25) argue that theories of policy and policy making have been closely associated with political paradigms (ideologies) in which political values play an important role. Some better- known ideologies influencing specific policy approaches and theories of public policy making include a liberal laissez-faire (classical) approach. A government following this approach should devote itself to making policies regarding only certain aspects and 'leave other things alone'.
Socialism, on the other hand, is an ideology abolishing capitalism and in which the state has to control the economic institutions, which in turn function as government institutions. Welfare states claim that the promotion of the highest degree of material and spiritual public wellbeing is the task of the state which has to provide opportunities for competition so that citizens can obtain the good things in life. Some theories that explain policy making processes, as advanced by Hanekom (1991:45) and Cloete and Wissink (2000:26) are as follows:
• Classical Theory: This theory is also known as the institutional theory and it emphasises that the different concerns and interest of government should be given preference. This area of focus encompasses the classical doctrine of the separation of powers and includes the legislative, executive and judicial functions.
Liberal Democratic Theory: In this theory the majority political party assumes the position of primary force in policy making. The argument is that as the party represents the individual voter, it is thus superior to interest groups.
Elite Theory: In this theory, small elite groups lead large groups of followers.
Systems Theory: This theory focuses on the contributions of interrelated forces to policy making.
In the case of the eThekwini Municipality the Liberal Democratic Theory is currently being practiced. For example, the ANC party
plays a primary role in policy making and programme implementation (as the majority party) in this municipality.