all levels of supervision who possess the core competencies required to develop and maintain a highly efficient and effective public sector workforce. The University of Kansas also offers public administration education programs for public administrators in higher levels of government รน the Certified Public Manager program and the Master of Public Education program (KU Public Management Center, 2001). The University of Kansas public administration education program does attempt to meet the needs of public administrators at all levels of government; however, this situation does not prevail in all public administration education programs at other institutions of higher education.
Another important aspect of effective education for public administrators at different levels of government involves accountability. In one sense, accountability, as a concept, does not vary by level of government. In practice, however, being accountable at one level of government is not the same at the various levels of government because the differences in demands placed on public administrators by constituents and organizations at the different levels of government.
An effective public administrator in the contemporary period must, among other things, recognize the significance of public administration in contemporary American society within the context of the way ordinary citizens in the United States tend to view public organizations. The interest of the public in public administration in contemporary American society focuses on efficiency, responsiveness, and accountability (Klinger & Nalbandian, 1996). Unfortunately for the public administrator, the public typically does not consider the implications that demands in one of these interest areas may have on the ability of the public administrator to perform in one of the other areas.
As an example of such conflict, consider the paradox of simultaneous public demands for both improved effici...