Public administration is an instrument of policy. Any policy is a decision. A
public program consists of all those activities designed to implement the public
policy. Often this calls for the creation of organizations, public agencies, and
bureaus, which, in turn, need to create more policies that give guidance to the
organization’s employees on how to attain the overall public policy objectives.
Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:
Identify the advantages and disadvantages of specific public structures
within the environment of budgeting in public agencies.
Resources
Textbook: The Politics of Public Budgeting
Website: Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program
File: Academic Writing Visual.pdf
Background Information
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) are part of federalism’s aid
program. The federal government awards block grants to state or local
governments in a lump sum for a specific issue or problem. The sub-national
governments can use this grant money for specific programs, or set up additional
granting guidelines within their own jurisdictions for making smaller grants to
various nonprofit organizations. In this way, the federal government shares
power with the states and the states are able to directly impact their citizens’
concerns.
Instructions
1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your
grade.
2. Read the Minicases “Budgetary Implications of Direct College Loans Versus
Loan Guarantees,” and “Fannie and Freddie” in Chapter 5 in the
textbook, The Politics of Public Budgeting.
3. Access and review the HUD website page, Section 108 Loan Guarantee
Program
4. Compose a four-paragraph paper based on your readings that addresses the
following points:
a. Summarize the Section 108 program.
b. Are the guaranteed program elements or services similar or dissimilar
to those in the Minicases in Chapter 5 of the textbook? How so?
c. How does the Section 108 program advance the values upon which
public service is founded?
d. Identify at least one public value (such as efficiency, effectiveness,
justice, democracy, equity, responsiveness, transparency,
accountability) and discuss it in terms of the Section 108 program.
5. Your assignment should also:
a. Respect the stated paragraph limit.
b. Follow all conventions of academic writing as presented in
the Academic Writing Visual.
c. Cite the Rubin textbook and one external resource.
d. Use properly formatted APA in-text citations.
6. Submit your completed assignment to your instructor by the last day of the
workshop by using the link below or the Activities button.
