Regulation and Service

Although we often think of public administration in terms of providing services to the public，it is also true that public administrators are engaged in regulation of the public.Political conservatives opposed to governmental administration have long charged that the public service or the civil service is not a“service”，but rather an authoritarian regulatory force used to place constraints on the public.In truth，one person's service often turns out to be another's constraint，and it is common to find regulation and service intertwined in governmental programs.For instance，welfare programs undeniably provide a service，but at the same time they place constraints on the behavior of the recipients.Benefits have been denied to recipients who will not allow social workers to inspect their homes and to a mother who refused to identify her child's father.One could go down the list of government functions and find that service after service turns out also to be a constraint.Occupational licenses serve the public by assuring that doctors，hairdressers，and plumbers are competent，but they also regulate entry into those occupations.Driver's licensing and vehicle inspections promote highway safety，but they also regulate the use of the roads.Food and drug regulations certainly constrain producers and serve consumers.It is sometimes true that agencies with the word“service”in their title are the most directly engaged in regulation.The student of public administration should be continually cognizant of the fact that by exercising public power on behalf of the sovereign people，public servants are also frequently engaged in the business of placing constraints on the behavior of individuals or corporations.The acceptability and constitutionality of these constraints are often a matter to be decided by the courts，which means the bearing of legal process on public administration.(https://www.daowen.com)