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Showing posts from July, 2024

Government Solutions: A Public Administration Perspective on Openness and Truth-Telling

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In the highly complex realm of public administration, trust in the government is the fundamental currency. Citizens should believe that their public institutions act in their best interests based on reliable information. This is precisely when the paramount imperative of cultivating a culture of openness in public administration should take on its greatest urgency. Why Openness Matters Psychological Safety: Employees who feel safe enough to speak up about their concerns and contribute new ways of doing things promote more responsive and honest public service. Diversity of voices: Because people are present and tolerate differing viewpoints, many more voices are heard and understood. Better policies and solutions are developed to address the needs of the whole society. Open Dialogue with Citizens: When decision-makers engage in dialogue and openly discuss the ‘why’, citizens are more willing to be involved and work on developing solutions. From Openness to Truth-Telling A cultu...

If you choose not to celebrate our "freedom" on this day, you are not alone.

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You're not alone if you don't want to celebrate our "freedom" today. When millions of people's fundamental rights are being attacked by unelected judges and our autonomy over our own bodies is being taken away, how can we as a nation celebrate freedom? when Republican politicians are battling tooth and nail to restrict the right to vote in their fascist attempts to seize control of our democracy? when the police that our taxes support are killing Black people and our transgender siblings? How can we honor our nation's freedom when, just three days prior, a Supreme Court tainted by MAGA granted presidents the authority of kings? This was not supposed to be our day. Rather than using today as a punishment, let's use it to visit with loved ones, spend time outside, and get enough of rest because we still have a long battle ahead of us.