What Government Does

Opening Question

When you woke up this morning, how many times did government touch your life before you got to class?

Think about: water, roads, traffic lights, food safety, weather reports, emergency services…

Today’s goal: Understand what government actually does and how it does it

Debunking the “Big Government” Myths

Five Common Misconceptions

• Myth 1: Government keeps getting bigger and bigger
• Myth 2: Government wastes huge amounts of money
  
• Myth 3: Government employees are lazy and inefficient
• Myth 4: Private sector always does things better
• Myth 5: We can easily cut government without consequences

Reality: The picture is much more complex

The Structure of American Government

How Many Governments Do We Have?

• 1 Federal Government
• 50 State Governments
• Local Governments:
  • 3,000+ counties
  • 19,000+ municipalities
    
  • 16,000+ townships
  • 13,000+ school districts
  • 38,000+ special districts (water, fire, transit, etc.)
• Tribal Governments: 574 federally recognized tribes
• Territorial Governments: 5 U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, etc.)
• Total: Over 90,000 distinct government entities

Intergovernmental Implication: 90,000+ governments means coordination challenges for almost any cross-jurisdiction issue—disaster response, water, transit, you name it

Government Employment Reality Check

Where Do Government Employees Actually Work?

• Federal: 2.2 million civilian employees (about 15% of government workers)
• State: 5.2 million employees
• Local: 14.2 million employees (about 65% of government workers)

Most government employees work for:

• Schools and universities
• Hospitals and health services
• Transportation, utilities, and public works
• Fire and rescue services

What Does Government Actually Do?

Core Functions Across Levels

Providing Services:

• Education, public safety, infrastructure, health care

Regulating Behavior:

• Traffic laws, business regulations, environmental protection

Redistributing Resources:

• Social programs, economic development, disaster relief

Protecting Rights:

• Courts, law enforcement, civil rights enforcement

Public Health: A Multi-Level Example

Federal Level:

• CDC, FDA, NIH, HHS grant programs
• Federal emergency response stockpile, interstate coordination

State Level:

• State health departments, licensing of hospitals and providers
• State public-health labs, epidemiology teams

Local Level:

• County and city health departments, school nurses
• Inspections (restaurants, septic, lead in housing), community clinics

CJ students: criminal justice operates the same way, but the example is intentionally a non-CJ one—you’ll see the pattern.

The Challenge: Coordinating across all these levels

How Government Gets Things Done

Direct vs. Indirect Administration

Direct Administration: Government employees provide the service

• Examples: Public school teachers, sanitation workers, code inspectors

Indirect Administration: Government contracts with others to provide services

• Examples: Contracted IT services, food-service vendors in public schools, private consulting for engineering studies

Modern Reality: Most government work involves both approaches

Tool 1: Contracts

Government by Contract

The Growth of Contracting:

• Massive increase since the 1980s
• Now used for everything from IT services to prison operations

Public Works & Service Examples:

• Contracted road and bridge construction
• Outsourced IT services for permitting and licensing systems
• Contracted food services and custodial work in public buildings
• Engineering and architectural consulting for capital projects

CJ students: similar contracting patterns show up in corrections, court technology, and forensic labs—we’ll revisit the trade-offs in the contracting and accountability modules.

Key Challenge: How do you maintain accountability when someone else is doing the work?

Contracting: Benefits and Risks

Why Government Contracts Out

Potential Benefits:

• Specialized expertise
• Cost savings
• Flexibility in staffing
• Access to latest technology

Potential Risks:

• Loss of direct control
• Profit motive vs. public interest
• Accountability gaps
• Dependency on contractors

Real Example: Privatized municipal solid-waste collection—contractors save money in some cities, but service quality, equity across neighborhoods, and accountability for missed pickups become real headaches

Tool 2: Grants

Using Money to Encourage Action

How Grants Work: Government provides funding to encourage activities that might not otherwise happen

Examples of Common Federal Grants:

• Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) for cities and counties
• Head Start and child-care development block grants
• FEMA preparedness grants to states and large cities
• Title I education funding to high-poverty school districts

The Power: Federal government can shape local priorities through grants

Tool 3: Regulations

The Rules That Shape Daily Life

Regulations influence everything:

• Clean Air Act rules on factory and vehicle emissions
• Food safety standards in restaurants and school cafeterias
• Building codes and zoning rules that shape every neighborhood
• Environmental and safety standards for public facilities

Example: Miranda v. Arizona (CJ-friendly example) is a classic case of a court ruling that became nationwide administrative procedure—agencies had to redesign intake, training, and recordkeeping around it.

The Tension: Balancing necessary rules with flexibility and freedom

Tool 4: Tax Expenditures

Using the Tax Code to Encourage Behavior

Tax Breaks as Policy Tools:

• Mortgage interest deduction (encourages home ownership)
• Charitable deductions (supports nonprofits)
• Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

Workforce Connection:

• Tax credits for employers who hire from targeted groups (veterans, youth, formerly incarcerated)
• Historic-rehabilitation tax credits for downtown redevelopment
• Property-tax abatements for affordable housing construction

Tool 5: Loan Programs

Government as Lender and Guarantor

Examples You Might Know:

• Student loans for college
• Small business loans
• Disaster recovery loans
• Housing loans

Public-Infrastructure Applications:

• Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (municipal water systems)
• Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans for highways and transit
• USDA rural-development loans for small communities

The Reality: Government by Proxy

What This Means

Government today works through:

• Federal employees + state employees + local employees
• Private contractors + nonprofit organizations
• Grantees + loan recipients + regulated entities

Example: A federal disaster-recovery program might involve:

• FEMA coordinators and federal inspectors
• State emergency-management agency staff
• Locally-contracted debris removal vendors
• Nonprofit case-management organizations
• Private engineering firms doing damage assessments

Why This Complexity Matters

Accountability Challenges

When things go wrong, who’s responsible?

• The contractor who failed to perform?
• The government agency that hired them?
• The elected official who approved the contract?

Example: A privatized food-service contract that delivers poor-quality meals in public schools—who’s accountable when kids go hungry?

The Challenge: Maintaining democratic accountability in a complex system

The Trust and Effectiveness Question

Public Perception vs. Reality

Common Complaints:

• “Government is too big”
• “Government wastes money”
• “Government doesn’t work”

Reality Check:

• Most services people value are government-provided
• Government often works through private partners
• Problems often result from complex coordination needs

Your Role: Understanding how government really works helps you work within it more effectively

Disaster Response Coordination Example

A Hurricane Case

• Federal: FEMA coordinates and funds response
• State: State emergency-management agency activates the state EOC and National Guard
• Local: City and county governments run shelters, road clearance, and evacuations
• Nonprofit: Red Cross, Salvation Army, and community orgs run shelters and case management
• Private: Utility companies restore power; private contractors do debris removal

Question: How do you ensure this complex system works effectively?

Implications for Public Administrators

What This Means for Your Future Work

You’ll Need to:

• Coordinate across multiple levels of government
• Manage contracts and partnerships effectively
• Navigate complex accountability relationships
• Balance efficiency with democratic values
• Work with diverse stakeholders and organizations

Bottom Line: Modern public administration is about managing networks, not just hierarchies

Module 3-1 Summary

Key Takeaways:

• Government is larger and more complex than most people realize
• Most government work happens at state and local levels
• Government uses multiple tools beyond direct service provision
• Modern governance involves extensive partnerships and contracts
• Accountability becomes challenging in complex systems
• Understanding this complexity is essential for effective public administration

Next: How government organizes itself to accomplish these complex tasks