Government organizations are limited by rigid work rules and pay scales. Private firms use flexible buying practices while government units operate within cumbersome purchasing rules. A major theme in public administration literature concerns the conflict between administration based on political considerations and administration predicated on professional criteria. Political considerations lead to administrative decisions responsive to the partisan needs of elected officials. Professional criteria advance administrative decisions based on knowledge and expertise.
Patronage hiring decisions and purchases from political supporters reflect politics.
Civil service systems and open and competitive purchases from the lowest bidder reflect professional administration. Writing pollution regulations denote politics that help supporters of elected officials, while pollution regulations exhibit professional administration that are predicated on scientific knowledge. Beginning with the progressive movement, formalized procedures were adopted in the areas of human resources and purchasing to ensure merit decisions rather than political decisions. Civil service hiring also limits pollution regulator positions to qualified professionals, and tenure provisions give them the freedom to develop guidelines guided by scientific criteria. As Professor Frederickson pointed out, standards of professionalism are not without costs.