VALORACION DE LOS PUERTOS

In order to enhance the understanding of the role the market can play in the delivery of public service, it is necessary to describe some of its essential features. A market must be understood to be any situation where potential buyers and sellers come into contact with one another. It has been observed that “most countries depend on market mechanism, rather than government controls, to allocate most goods, services, and factors of production” (Swart 1992:43). In actual fact, experience has shown that markets are, in most cases, very effective in the allocation of various products through the price mechanism. To this end, Gillis, Perkins, Roemer & Snodgrass (1992:102) have observed that “the market can allocate thousands of different products among consumers, according to their preferences, and thousands of productive inputs

among producers and get the maximum output from available inputs. These complex allocative tasks, if handled by the state, are an enormous government responsibility with attendant high costs for decision making and control.” This is a sufficient justification for advocating the use of market forces in the delivery of public services. If indeed it is burdensome for government to shoulder the complex allocative tasks referred to above then it should be reasonable, for the purposes of this thesis, to argue for a public-private partnership in the delivery of secondary education in the Gaborone City area. This is because the private sector is a key participant in the market and its mettle should be tested against the intricacies of providing secondary education in the said area.

Public organisations are generally known to be sluggish and, to some extent rigid. However, markets are more flexible than governments and are therefore better able to adapt to changing circumstances. In addition, due to its dynamism and versatility, the market provides greater incentives for innovation and growth. Consequently, the market “encourages private economic power. Economic pluralism, in turn, is one element tending to encourage democratic government and individual liberties” (Gillis et al 1992:102). This view is supported on the grounds that economic pluralism has the propensity to enhance the general welfare of the populace which is the locus and focus of public administration. As stated earlier (see section 1.6), public administration should have a development connotation. This developmental orientation should invariably be people centred in order to make significant improvements in people’s material and spiritual wellbeing.

Public organisations tend to rely on hierarchical structure, authority or, to some extent, on its coercive power to deliver some services. The private sector through the market forces fulfils a cooperation function as it has the capacity to bring individuals and groups willingly into contact with one another to experience a greater satisfaction of wants through this cooperation. These views have been clearly articulated by Klijn and Teisman in Osborne (2000:88) when they argued that “markets are forms of coordination in which individual,

autonomous parties achieve equilibrium through pricing mechanisms. Hierarchy gives the appearance of coordination in which command, control and legislation are important. In the private sector coordination takes place spontaneously, while hierarchy is usually associated with government agencies that coordinate through bureaucratic procedures.” As a result, private sector organisations are more flexible and responsive to the needs of the people as compared to their counterparts in the public sector.

The competitive theory of private markets and public organisations advocates competition for the provision of public services. Not only do political parties compete for governance, but also the actual delivery of public services is competed for and therefore subjected to market forces. In this regard, public service delivery is not the sole responsibility of public organisations and both public and private organisations can compete for the delivery of a public service (Obsorne & Gaebler 1992:85). In some cases however, the competition for public service delivery can be left to the private enterprises so that the successful ones can work in partnership with public organisations. This state of affairs normally culminates in the scope of state activity being reduced and hence a recipe for a minimalist state (Naschold & Otter 1996:14) in which the size of the public sector is also reduced and allow the private sector to grow. Another dimension of marketisation of public service is the internationalised markets whereby the mechanisms of the markets are infused in the fabrics of the culture of public organisations. However, the argument here is for external markets with a view to supporting public-private partnership in the delivery of public service in general and secondary education in the Gaborone City area in particular. It would appear that the basic political choice and one of the topical issues confronting developing countries like Botswana is to choose between a welfare state and a predominantly market oriented society or strike a balance between these two philosophies of the provision of a public service.

It needs to be stated that the complexity of modern life compels the contemporary government to espouse the good attributes of the known

systems or philosophies of governance in pursuit of good quality of life for its citizenry. It could also be argued however, that due to the myriad and inconsistent objectives of the modern government, flexibility must be in-built in the style of governance to enable the optimal realization of the various public sector objectives as indicated in section 2.2 above. For example, a free- enterprise system must be adopted for the provision of infrastructure and delivery of other goods and services like senior secondary education whilst a social welfare approach should be adopted for transfer of payments and social security. At this stage, it should be emphasised that the free-enterprise system can provide an opportunity for public-private partnership to the extent outlined in chapter 3 and beyond the current practice in Botswana. This has the potential to strengthen the production sector of the economy. Closely related to this view, Agere (2000:86) observed that “the performance of the state and its failure to achieve its developmental promises cast serious doubt on its effectiveness to spearhead the production sector.’’ This suggests that there should be a paradigm shift in public administration as a field of activity with emphasis on promoting the private sector and engaging the same in the advancement of both the economy and the social welfare of the people.

The preponderance of public administration principles and practices is being questioned in the following section in preference for public management. Public administration and the new management philosophy are briefly discussed and compared. This is motivated by, on the one hand, the fact that public administration as a field of activity is akin to what obtains in the public sector in Botswana. On the other hand, the new public management philosophy advocates management of the public sector in a manner that is similar, to a large extent, to the management of the private sector. The latter is in line with the theme of this thesis and this is the basic reason why it is being discussed here.

2.5 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION VERSUS NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

the emerging trend in public management. In particular, this section looks at how public organisations are actually run in these two schools of thought with a view to understanding which of these is likely to cope with the complexities of the modern public service.