The Federal Government Should Not Be Privatized.
“Should the Federal Government privatize government functions? Why or why not?” Use additional online resources, as needed, to develop your argument”
Argue why the government should NOT privatize. APA format with 3 sources
The Privatization of Government Functions by The Federal Government
Privatization is generally the shift of government functions from the state or public sector to the private sector. This process will entail using the private sector for goods and service providers to provide the process components such as financing, operations, and quality control (Kosar, 2006). There has been a growing popularity of privatization in government functions. The United States is among the countries that are seeing a change in venue in privatizing government functions. This is through the provision of correctional facilities, sports and recreation facilities, and transit services (Goodman & Loveman, n.d.). However, there are still doubts on the assumption taken in this process that the private sector is more efficient than the government. It is challenging to prove that every move taken by the private sector regarding offering government function has the public at heart. Privatization poses a great risk to a small group of private managers benefitting from the majority’s detriment. Therefore, the federal government should not have its government functions privatized.
In the past two decades, the political phenomena have increasingly been accepted as it preaches why smaller and more efficient governments are required. However, it is prudent to note that privatization does not directly translate to improved efficiency (Fairman, 2001). The American bureaucracy is not perfect, which is the same situation for all complex and far-flung institutions. The instances of inefficiency, maladministration, and other inequities happen intolerable ranges. Notably, privatization will not allow an effective oversight that will see even such inefficiencies handled. For instance, it is very challenging and costly in the service sector to undertake proper oversight through meaningful program Assessment tools (Fairman, 2001). Services such as education and health are difficult to monitor due to the lack of standardized measures of defining and quantifying performance metrics. Therefore, privatization of government functions will raise considerable concerns on the efficiencies and progress made in the private sectors, which is a substantial risk that the federal government should not take.
The Federal Government should not privatize its government functions since the private sector managers are mainly profit-seeking such that essential government functions end up being very expensive for larger population segments. Failing to provide health or education to the poor, among other major roles of the government, would mean that the government fails to play its fundamental roles. The private sector will choose to do what is easy and profitable instead of implementing the right policies. The results become less appealing compared to when the federal government chooses to continue offering its services. Furthermore, even with the government choosing to conduct contract monitoring on the privatized functions, it becomes nonsensical to privatize it as it just has changed the roles it plays (Goodman & Loveman, n.d.). The government’s privatization of government will prompt the government to put in its efforts to ensure everything is done accordingly. It would be better to do everything as a public entity from the set go for proper monitoring and implementing the right measures.
The federal government’s privatization of government functions will present considerable benefits to the latter, such as time and cost savings. However, privatization does not streamline providing these functions, thus making it unbefitting to take that route. Matters such as lacking proper oversight strategies, the majority of the population lacking access to fundamental services due to high costs, and the extensive role that the government will need to play in monitoring the private sector pose substantial challenges. Privatization will not reduce the burden but call for more government efforts, which the latter could use in offering the government functions.
References
Fairman, P. (2001). Privatization of federal government functions: Reagan, Clinton, and the theory/action paradox.
Goodman, J. B., & Loveman, G. W. (n.d.). Does privatization serve the public interest? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/1991/11/does-privatization-serve-the-public-interest
Kosar, K. R. (2006). Privatization and the federal government: An introduction. Library of Congress, Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
