Inculcating public leadership for citizen value : reflecting on public administration curricula
Date
2011-04
Authors
Mubangizi, B. C.
Theron, F.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Association of Southern Association of Southern African Schools and Departments of Public Administration and Management
Abstract
Although broadly advocated and entrenched in South African law, the
practice of public administration often tends to pay lip service to the
principles of public participation and citizen empowerment. It would
seem that public managers, who plan and implement service delivery
processes do not fully comprehend the local social and meaning-giving
contexts in which the public exists. A matter that could be attributed to
the training they receive.
The recent Winelands (2010) Conference on Public Leadership for
Added Citizen Value introduced the principles of citizen value and public
leadership into the discourse of public administration theory and practice
in South Africa. This article examines the suitability of existing curricula at selected South African universities to inculcate a people, citizen centred
approach in Public Administration teaching. It does so by exploring the
curricula of the Bachelor of Administration of selected universities and
by drawing on discussions held with selected academics. In addition, the
authors draw on their experience in teaching Public Administration as
well as research supervision in the discipline.
The article concludes that while academic conferences are vibrant
in their discussion of values and notions of public leadership, public
governance, public value and public participation, this does not
sufficiently reflect in the curriculum of Public Administration – at least not at the undergraduate level.
Description
The original version is available from http://www.sopmp.sun.ac.za/assadpam/
Keywords
Public leadership -- South Africa, Public administration -- South Africa, Public participation in public administration -- South Africa, Citizen empowerment -- South Africa, Citizen value -- South Africa, Public administration -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
Citation
Mugangizi, B.C. & Theron, F. Inculcating public leadership for citizen value : reflecting on public administration curricula. Administration publica, 19(1), 33-50