Examining Problems of Municipal Administration: An In-depth Analysis

This essay provides a summary and analysis of Jane Addams' article "Problems of Municipal Administration," focusing on the challenges facing American cities at the turn of the 20th century. Addams critiques the shortcomings of municipal governance, attributing them to a breakdown of 18th-century ideals and the influence of corrupt politicians and vested interests. The essay highlights Addams' arguments regarding the deterioration of democracy in municipalities, the protection of money interests over public welfare, and the exploitation of municipal employees. It further discusses the role of social parties and juvenile courts in addressing social issues and advocates for a more democratic and responsive municipal administration. The analysis concludes that Addams' observations remain relevant to understanding contemporary challenges in urban governance and the importance of public participation in shaping municipal policies. Desklib offers a platform for students to access this and other solved assignments for academic support.

Running head: PROBLEMS OF MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION
Summary and Analysis of “Problems of Municipal Administration” Article
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PROBLEMS OF MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 2
Summary and Analysis of “Problems of Municipal Administration” Article
In her article, Jane Addams critically analyses the problems facing municipal
administration. He associates poor living conditions in the municipalities with lack of proper
administration. Jane outlines various examples where the municipality administration has
failed terribly to address the issues of the residents. According to Jane, the failure of
American municipal administration commonly referred to as shame of American cities is
closely related to the inadequacy of the 18th-century ideals characterized by breakdown of
the provided machinery (1905). This significantly interfered with the implementation of
projects making it challenging to deal with the growing human institutions. Idealism is a
technique which disregards experiences. Therefore, the founders of the cities failed to
acknowledge the difficulties and mistakes which self-governorship was ready to encounter
and instead focused on justice and righteousness. Individuals who have their interest controls
the municipalities (Addams, 1905). As a result, they get involved in activities which benefit
them, therefore, exposing the residents to miserable lives. The corrupt politicians seem to
control the administration of the municipalities a factor which has contributed significantly to
the deterioration of the cities. Despite the knowledge that evil exists in the administration of
municipalities, no action is taken. Jane presents examples of her personal experience
involving the famous New York City and Chicago. She claims some people to have been
successful in dealing with gambling hells as she refers to the cities. Democracy seems to have
been killed in the municipalities according to Jane (Addams, 1905). This is because the rule
of law is not practiced since the politicians have become corrupt. They no longer protect the
interests of the city residents but instead get involved in evil activities.
City administrators seem to protect the money interests of certain parties as it was the
case in the Stock Yards. There are numerous instances where the administrators get involved
in helping bring unclean activities to an end in the society (Addams, 1905). However, the

PROBLEMS OF MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 3
public administrators like the police inspector of the district do not represent the public but an
alliance of City Hall interests. The common problem in the society is the public
administrators who are supposed to work in favor of the general public and the law operating
in the interests of a specific group of people (Frolova & Rogach, 2017). Municipal
employees, on the other hand, are dealing with the issues of the low wages they are getting
courtesy of the politicians who are playing games on them that there is social equity. Social
parties grow fast to enforce the recognition of their needs and a well-established government.
Through industrial strikes, real-life issues are turned to a passion for self-government and the
development for national life through a democratic evolution. The industry and government
are highly related matters that should be discussed. Juvenile courts began taking an interest in
a child’s social life to prevent arrest. It is simple to formulate a government which is adapted
to our normal living. There have been devices invented to conserve the interests of the nation
(Trakhtenberg & Solomakhin, 2013). The municipal and social-economic exhibits an
exposition to show the government how primitive it is with the needs of employees. If the
democratic government can be a good stepping ground if we need out municipal
administration to be free from being manifested by other parties.
Jane Addams article presents the real current municipality administration of various
cities in all corners of the world. This is because cartels who have their interests control the
administration of municipalities. The administration of the cities seems to have entirely
decayed as they involve in corrupt activities such as corruption (Waldo, 2017). The towns are
in bad condition, therefore, exposing the residents to poor living conditions and suffering.
The politicians have also interfered with the municipal administration. They happen to
control most of the activities pertaining running of the municipalities. This has significantly
impeded with the management of cities as Jane states in the article (Bosworth, 2016). The

PROBLEMS OF MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 4
municipalities residents who are left with very little to do are the victims of poor
administration.
Addams exposes the nature of events that take place in our society in the name of
administrators. Municipal administrators are not serving the public with freedom because
there is no democracy in the community. Addams article brings a lot of light to what is
happening in our community. The article is well presented as it helps people understand what
happens in the public administration. The article allows people from practice their rights by
partaking in demonstrations that are aimed at passing their grievances and complaints to the
government and public administration. Municipal leaders operate under the influence of
certain political parties and thus do not present the real image of the democracy.

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References
Addams, J. (1905). Problems of municipal administration. American Journal of
Sociology, 10(4), 425-444.
Bosworth, K. A. (2016). The manager is a politician. In Local Government Management:
Current Issues and Best Practices(pp. 17-23). Routledge.
Frolova, E. V., & Rogach, O. G. V. (2017). Municipal-private partnership in education:
infrastructural aspect. Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast, (1),
145-160.
Trakhtenberg, B. E., & Solomakhin, A. N. (2013). Expert analysis procedure to specify
strategically priorities of municipal entity social and economical
development. American Journal of Economics and Control Systems
Management, 2(2), 037-040.
Waldo, D. (2017). The administrative state: A study of the political theory of American
public administration. Routledge.