Customer service in public administration

The paper “ Analyzing Roh Moo-hyun’s Tenure as President in terms of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” is a meaningful example of an essay on social science. Roh Moo-hyun was the president of the Republic of Korea between 2003 and 2008. Coming into politics after having worked as a human rights lawyer, Roh asserted that he had entered the public domain to enhance clean politics, eliminate corruption and take on the powerful elite, which soon evolved as the cornerstones of his evolution in the Korean political domain. However, a larger part of his tenure was marred by constant allegations of corruption both at a personal level as well as within segments of his governments and the ruling party. This led to the characterization of his political idealism as both attractive and discouraging for the citizens as he eventually became a victim of the cracks and flaws in the Korean system that he had set out to conquer.

When analyzing his tenure as president in terms of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it is apparent that Roh’s quest was aimed at perceiving the ultimate goal of self-actualization. In doing so, the president was trying to advance his fullest potential and was expressing his motives for doing everything that he could possibly do to achieve a clean political system. The level of self-actualization is further visible as Roh was further acting towards the specific goal of bringing in a political revolution. Roh’s public appeal in the country had constantly risen through the success of his populist policies with the people and is evident from his successful presidential campaign in 2002 that was driven on an agenda of anti-corruption. In this context, Roh Moo-hyun had always maintained his self-respect and dignity in his life’s mission and was not seeking glory as is evident from his ultimate decision to commit suicide. Thus, the fact that he had risen through the political hierarchy to upset the opposition presidential candidate provides evidence of his attainment of respect from others as well as astute self-respect in fighting for human rights that became his mission in life, thereby categorizing him as a self-actualized person.

Alas, it was the same and impossible political idealism that Roh Moo-hyun set out to achieve which ultimately consumed his political career. He and his followers were considered to be staunch believers of reform in Korean politics and society, but they could not dissociate themselves from the same failings that continued to plague society. The manner in which Roh Moo-Hyun decided to end his life suggests that he had lost that sense of self-actualization a long time back and was also low on self-esteem. In fact, the suicide note left on his computer clearly states that he was deeply regretful of having caused pain to a number of people and was feeling helpless of being able to rectify any of his perceived failings. The level of ‘ esteem’ under Maslow’s hierarchy states that all humans need self-respect and self-esteem. Roh Moo-hyun had apparently lost the sense of belongingness and felt that he had let down others either through his actions or his inability to effect the change he had promised. He was thus unable to improve his low self-esteem and could not accept his existence internally, thus choosing to end his life.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs varies considerably from Lasswell’s value categories in that the former is focused on the feelings and influences that shape an individual’s and aims to categorize each of these that a person requires at various levels to attain personal attributes like safety, belonging, esteem and self-actualization. On the other hand, Lasswell’s eight value categories aim at quantifying a person in terms of the value that he is capable of possessing. In other words, the value categories determine the net worth of an individual and the levels of each of these categories that the person gains or loses through intrinsic and extrinsic influences. Thus, while Maslow’s hierarchy estimates the various factors that a person requires to realize his usefulness and worthiness to himself and others, Lasswell’s value categories like power, wealth, respect and enlightenment provide a dictionary that can differentiate substantive goals from the elements that distribute these values in a person.