Parks and Recreation's Parody on Local Government
Stuart Nachbar
April 16, 2009
Last week, I watched, with anticipation, the pilot episode of Parks and Recreation, a docu-comedy about the day-to-day in a local government office. I began my working life in state government, and later did consulting work with several New Jersey suburban governments, so I might have had a higher level of interest in the show than most other prospective viewers. But I also enjoyed Amy Poehler's portrayal of Hillary Clinton on Saturday Night Live. That gave me another reason to check out her new show.
In Parks and Recreation, Poehler plays a ditzy Leslie Knope. At 34, she has become assistant director of a local park system. Unlike most real government workers her age, Knope has not lost her enthusiasm or her idealism. But much like real government workers, her supporting cast mocks her behind her back. The cynicism of these characters is more like the local governments I have visited in my working life than anything else in the show.
Poehler's character is, however, a blend of several stereotypes of the young, over-zealous government worker. She does not realize that she has little authority, and that her over-zealousness can border on insubordination. She is also incredibly stupid. For instance, she surveys kids playing in a parks as if they are adults, and she goes on a "fact-finding" mission into a dirt pit in a hard hat and a business suit, instead of securing the pit for safety reasons.
I've run into Leslie Knopes in local governments, but they were more like 24 than 34, or they had been out of a workplace for some time before coming to government. Or they were people who just said "they were doing their jobs" without questioning illogical decisions.
But people like Leslie Knope are an exception, not the rule of local government. In real life, the bright young people shake off their initial idealism, as well as their disappointments, and find new ways to channel their skills. Some remain in positions where their idealism is a better fit, for instance social workers become school guidance counselors. Others go for arenas where they can make more money, for instance, urban planners work for real estate developers. And still, many others go to law school and become attorneys.
I know this first-hand, because I was one of those people. I started out as an urban planner, left the field to pursue a MBA, and then I went into new lines of work. I know of at least three former planners who work in other fields. One became a rabbi, another a landscape architect, and another a telecommunications siting expert. Another friend, who has been a planner for twenty five years, is studying for a master's degree in counseling.
The people who stay behind are not necessarily incompetant, though some are. However, a municipal business administrator or a public school superintendent who can improve the quality of public services, get along with people and keep local tax increases to a minimum is very rare and highly desired. But I've met many such people in my working life. They also control budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars and manage more than a hundred people. If you took the budget and personnel under their supervision, and translated that into a large private corporation, you would learn that the government manager is quite underpaid.
And there are Leslie Knopes in the private sector, too. I challenge you to compare the quality of your local government to your auto or health insurance company. I'm sure the insurance company had a more frustrating bureaucracy, and that they raised their rates more steeply than your local government raised your taxes. You would see that local governments are more customer-focused that you might think. Angry people who become energized to remove their elected officials have far more success than the policy holders who would like to punish the senior executives of their insurance company for their misdeeds.
I realize that Parks and Recreation is a comedy, but the conservative punch lines about government first uttered by Ronald Reagan remain popular: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" or "Government is not part of the solution, it's part of the problem." Reagan defined, and disgraced, the perception of the government worker for twenty eight years. I am hopeful that President Obama will do his best to undo that perception. We need so much from government right now. As Americans, we have every right to point out impropriety and incompetence, but we need to show more confidence in the capable people, too.
I do not know if viewers will laugh with Poehler et al, or if they will laugh at them for as long as Parks and Recreation is on the air. My hunch is that viewers will do both. I can only hope that they will not take the disillusionment and incompetance shown in the show as atypical of local governments that are trying to do the right things. Yes, disciples of Ronald Reagan, there are plenty of local governments doing their best to help.
In Parks and Recreation, Poehler plays a ditzy Leslie Knope. At 34, she has become assistant director of a local park system. Unlike most real government workers her age, Knope has not lost her enthusiasm or her idealism. But much like real government workers, her supporting cast mocks her behind her back. The cynicism of these characters is more like the local governments I have visited in my working life than anything else in the show.
Poehler's character is, however, a blend of several stereotypes of the young, over-zealous government worker. She does not realize that she has little authority, and that her over-zealousness can border on insubordination. She is also incredibly stupid. For instance, she surveys kids playing in a parks as if they are adults, and she goes on a "fact-finding" mission into a dirt pit in a hard hat and a business suit, instead of securing the pit for safety reasons.
I've run into Leslie Knopes in local governments, but they were more like 24 than 34, or they had been out of a workplace for some time before coming to government. Or they were people who just said "they were doing their jobs" without questioning illogical decisions.
But people like Leslie Knope are an exception, not the rule of local government. In real life, the bright young people shake off their initial idealism, as well as their disappointments, and find new ways to channel their skills. Some remain in positions where their idealism is a better fit, for instance social workers become school guidance counselors. Others go for arenas where they can make more money, for instance, urban planners work for real estate developers. And still, many others go to law school and become attorneys.
I know this first-hand, because I was one of those people. I started out as an urban planner, left the field to pursue a MBA, and then I went into new lines of work. I know of at least three former planners who work in other fields. One became a rabbi, another a landscape architect, and another a telecommunications siting expert. Another friend, who has been a planner for twenty five years, is studying for a master's degree in counseling.
The people who stay behind are not necessarily incompetant, though some are. However, a municipal business administrator or a public school superintendent who can improve the quality of public services, get along with people and keep local tax increases to a minimum is very rare and highly desired. But I've met many such people in my working life. They also control budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars and manage more than a hundred people. If you took the budget and personnel under their supervision, and translated that into a large private corporation, you would learn that the government manager is quite underpaid.
And there are Leslie Knopes in the private sector, too. I challenge you to compare the quality of your local government to your auto or health insurance company. I'm sure the insurance company had a more frustrating bureaucracy, and that they raised their rates more steeply than your local government raised your taxes. You would see that local governments are more customer-focused that you might think. Angry people who become energized to remove their elected officials have far more success than the policy holders who would like to punish the senior executives of their insurance company for their misdeeds.
I realize that Parks and Recreation is a comedy, but the conservative punch lines about government first uttered by Ronald Reagan remain popular: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" or "Government is not part of the solution, it's part of the problem." Reagan defined, and disgraced, the perception of the government worker for twenty eight years. I am hopeful that President Obama will do his best to undo that perception. We need so much from government right now. As Americans, we have every right to point out impropriety and incompetence, but we need to show more confidence in the capable people, too.
I do not know if viewers will laugh with Poehler et al, or if they will laugh at them for as long as Parks and Recreation is on the air. My hunch is that viewers will do both. I can only hope that they will not take the disillusionment and incompetance shown in the show as atypical of local governments that are trying to do the right things. Yes, disciples of Ronald Reagan, there are plenty of local governments doing their best to help.
Print
Email
