Study unit 1: Public Administration Evolution of a Discipline
Introduction
Public administration is the governmental administration that includes a process of which the
government manages the activities and events of the country. This includes the major
responsibility the government has in ensuring that the public policies and governmental
programs are implemented within the country. Public administration focuses on the
implementation which involves the process of coming up with goals and objectives,
governmental programmes funding, having a successful plan to implement what needs to be
done and ensuring that the public administrators have the public support. This essay will
discuss the significance of public administration which will include the approaches, the major
debates, and historical foundations.
Nature and Scope of Public Administration
The nature of public administration consists of two views which is the integral and
managerial view. The managerial view focuses on the importance of administration as the
need to getting things done not just doing things. It is also known as the narrow view of
administration. This administration view includes the work being done by the people who are
involved in the managerial functions of an organisation. The managerial view has the
influence of the people like Luther Gulick, Victor Thompson, Henry Fayol and many more
supporters. Luther Gulick introduced the managerial activates as seven functions of chief
executives which is planning, organising, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, and
budgeting (POSDCRB) 7. The integral view focuses on all the activities combined, which is
the managerial and manual views as they are undertaken to determine the goals of an
organisation. This view is supported by the influence of the people like Woodrow Wilson,
John M. Pfiffner and many more. As this view of administration includes a sum of all views
combined it also has a broad perspective of the organisation as it takes it as a whole in
fulfilling the objectives.
Significance of Public Administration
Public administration is one of the most important parts that contributes towards the success
of a country. As it is a process of implementation within the country, it is crucial in the
modern society. Public administration plays a crucial role within the economy as it is an
instrument for providing services to the public. For example, it provides a lot of services to
the public like education, housing, social security, and public health. The significance of
public administration is the protection of life it gives for the public by maintaining law and
order. Public administration is responsible for implementing the laws and policies of
government. For example, when a policy like Reconstruction and Development
Programme(RDP) was created, its purpose was to solve the issue of poor housing for the
,public therefore it was the responsibility of public administrators to ensure that the policy was
implemented by proving free, quality housing for those who don’t have.
The process of public administrators implementing the policies by delivering the public
goods and services to the society leads to harmony and trust between the government and the
public, therefore this leads to stability and growth in society and the economy. For example,
it is stated that in India during the time when there was no elected government in 1975, the
bureaucracy took responsibility to provide goods and services to the public maintained law
and order. Additionally, due to the provision of goods and services in India by that time led
stability in society and the economy. Public administration is also a tool of socioeconomic
change. During the Third World nations there were socioeconomic problems such as poverty,
and unemployment, and public administration in these nations became an instrument of
change. The development by bureaucracy in these nations led to programmes for poverty and
unemployment, community programmes, and road constructions being a solution and it
brought change to these nations.
Approaches of Public Administration (9)
There are approaches of public administration, which is the institutional, structural,
behavioural, system, ecological, comparative, public policy, political economy, and public
choice approach. Institutional approach focuses on the legal rights and obligations of the
government. It emphasizes formal relationships and the separation of powers among the three
branches of the government. One of the major emphases of this approach is upon the
normative question of responsibility. The focus is on the ways and means of keeping public
administration responsible to the elected branches of government.
The structural approach
This approach was much influenced by scientific management and the success of American
corporations that tend to focus on organizational structure and personnel management. The
people who support this approach concentrate their attention on the study of formal
administrative structures, their functions, and the limitations imposed on their activities. The
supporters treat public administration as non-political, and a purely technical organization
based on certain scientific principles. They believe that public administration has nothing to
do with politics and policymaking. The main function is to carry out politically determined
policies effectively and efficiently. They hold the view that the tasks of an organization are
pre-determined and that, employees must adjust themselves to the tasks assigned to them.
,The Behavioural approach
The behavioural approach to the study of public administration focuses on the actual
behaviour of individuals and groups in real organizations. This approach argues that one
cannot understand the actual functioning of organizations without understanding why people
act as they do. The behaviouralists have come to apply the knowledge of social psychology,
anthropology, psychology, and many other disciplines in an effort to secure a better
understanding of the actual human behaviour within organization. The main aim of this
approach is to establish a body of knowledge that facilitates understanding, explaining, and
prediction of human behaviour in administrative situations. The behavioural approach tends
to focus quite strongly on methodological problems, the use of survey analysis to determine
organizational reality, and is concerned with the human aspects of administration and
decision-making.
The System Approach
The system theory means that the administration is seen as a system of interrelated and
interdependent parts and forces. The administrative system receives ‘inputs’ in the form of
demands from the people and converts them into ‘outputs’ which takes the form of goods and
services. The system approach is now being widely used in organizational analysis. It has
proved to be a very useful tool for the conceptualization of the organization and its internal
and external relationships. The system approach facilitates information exchange between
parts of the system. It is very relevant to the study of complex public organizations that have
huge, diversified structures.
The Ecological Approach
The ecological approach to the study of public administration views public bureaucracy as a
social institution which is continuously interacting with the economic, political, and
sociocultural sub-systems of a society. This approach emphasizes the necessary
interdependence of public bureaucracy, and its environment of which Fred W. Riggs is a
strong advocate of this approach. He believes that administrative institutions are shaped and
affected by their social, economic, cultural, and political environment. Therefore, he
emphasizes the fact that in order to understand better the real nature, operations, and
behaviour of a particular administrative system, one should identify and understand deeply
the various environmental factors influencing it. The ecological approach determines how an
administrative system operates in practice.
Comparative Approach
The comparative approach to public administration seeks to compare the administrative
structures of different nations with different cultural settings. The Comparative
Administrative Group has defined it as the public administration applied to diverse cultures
and national setting and the body of factual data, by which it can be examined and tested. The
, purpose of such comparisons is to find out the universal elements in public administration
and build a theory of public administration. Woodrow Wilson was the first who stressed the
need for a comparative study of public administration. In 1947, Robert Dahl, in his essay,
‘The Science of Public Administration: Three Problems’ also emphasized the utility of
comparative public administration to develop a science of public administration. The
comparative approach to public administration became popular only after the Second World
War with the emergence of new nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Public Policy Approach
The public policy approach aims at improving the public policy process. It is a systematic and
scientific study of public policy. The main concern of policy approach is with the
understanding and improvement of the public–policy-making system. The concept of policy
approach was first formulated by D. Lerner and Harold Lasswell in their work, The Policy
Science in 1951. Public policy is a significant component of any political system. It is
primarily concerned with the public and their problems. The role of a public policy is to
shape the society for its betterment. W. Parsons while narrating the role of public policy says
that the wider purpose of public policy is involving enlightenment, the fuller development of
individuals in society and the development of consensus, social awareness, and legitimacy,
rather than simply the delivery of goods and services.
Political Economy Approach
Political economy approach is concerned with the moving of political science closer to
economics in the interest of greater theoretical coherence and better policy guidance.
Economists like Anthony Downs and Gordon Tullock have applied this interdisciplinary
approach by experimenting with the application of economic methods to political problems.
Thus, public administration as a branch of political science and on its own has moved closer
to economics. Political economy most commonly refers to interdisciplinary studies drawing
upon economics, law, and political science in explaining how political institutions, the
political environment, and the economic system influence each other. In late 1990s, the field
has expanded to explore such wide-ranging topics as the origins and rate of change of
political institutions, and the role of culture in explaining economic outcomes and
developments. When more narrowly construed, it analyses such public policy as monopoly,
market protection, institutional corruption, and rent seeking. A more classical–liberal
approach which dates from the 1970s that denotes ‘public-choice’ theory type approaches
which question the benevolence of social planners to maximize the utility of a representative
individual.
Public Choice Approach
The public-choice approach to the study of public administration emerged in the early 1960s.
An early reference to this theory is found in the writings of Vincent Ostrom. The other
important supporters of public-choice approach are James Buchanan, Gordon Tullock,
Introduction
Public administration is the governmental administration that includes a process of which the
government manages the activities and events of the country. This includes the major
responsibility the government has in ensuring that the public policies and governmental
programs are implemented within the country. Public administration focuses on the
implementation which involves the process of coming up with goals and objectives,
governmental programmes funding, having a successful plan to implement what needs to be
done and ensuring that the public administrators have the public support. This essay will
discuss the significance of public administration which will include the approaches, the major
debates, and historical foundations.
Nature and Scope of Public Administration
The nature of public administration consists of two views which is the integral and
managerial view. The managerial view focuses on the importance of administration as the
need to getting things done not just doing things. It is also known as the narrow view of
administration. This administration view includes the work being done by the people who are
involved in the managerial functions of an organisation. The managerial view has the
influence of the people like Luther Gulick, Victor Thompson, Henry Fayol and many more
supporters. Luther Gulick introduced the managerial activates as seven functions of chief
executives which is planning, organising, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, and
budgeting (POSDCRB) 7. The integral view focuses on all the activities combined, which is
the managerial and manual views as they are undertaken to determine the goals of an
organisation. This view is supported by the influence of the people like Woodrow Wilson,
John M. Pfiffner and many more. As this view of administration includes a sum of all views
combined it also has a broad perspective of the organisation as it takes it as a whole in
fulfilling the objectives.
Significance of Public Administration
Public administration is one of the most important parts that contributes towards the success
of a country. As it is a process of implementation within the country, it is crucial in the
modern society. Public administration plays a crucial role within the economy as it is an
instrument for providing services to the public. For example, it provides a lot of services to
the public like education, housing, social security, and public health. The significance of
public administration is the protection of life it gives for the public by maintaining law and
order. Public administration is responsible for implementing the laws and policies of
government. For example, when a policy like Reconstruction and Development
Programme(RDP) was created, its purpose was to solve the issue of poor housing for the
,public therefore it was the responsibility of public administrators to ensure that the policy was
implemented by proving free, quality housing for those who don’t have.
The process of public administrators implementing the policies by delivering the public
goods and services to the society leads to harmony and trust between the government and the
public, therefore this leads to stability and growth in society and the economy. For example,
it is stated that in India during the time when there was no elected government in 1975, the
bureaucracy took responsibility to provide goods and services to the public maintained law
and order. Additionally, due to the provision of goods and services in India by that time led
stability in society and the economy. Public administration is also a tool of socioeconomic
change. During the Third World nations there were socioeconomic problems such as poverty,
and unemployment, and public administration in these nations became an instrument of
change. The development by bureaucracy in these nations led to programmes for poverty and
unemployment, community programmes, and road constructions being a solution and it
brought change to these nations.
Approaches of Public Administration (9)
There are approaches of public administration, which is the institutional, structural,
behavioural, system, ecological, comparative, public policy, political economy, and public
choice approach. Institutional approach focuses on the legal rights and obligations of the
government. It emphasizes formal relationships and the separation of powers among the three
branches of the government. One of the major emphases of this approach is upon the
normative question of responsibility. The focus is on the ways and means of keeping public
administration responsible to the elected branches of government.
The structural approach
This approach was much influenced by scientific management and the success of American
corporations that tend to focus on organizational structure and personnel management. The
people who support this approach concentrate their attention on the study of formal
administrative structures, their functions, and the limitations imposed on their activities. The
supporters treat public administration as non-political, and a purely technical organization
based on certain scientific principles. They believe that public administration has nothing to
do with politics and policymaking. The main function is to carry out politically determined
policies effectively and efficiently. They hold the view that the tasks of an organization are
pre-determined and that, employees must adjust themselves to the tasks assigned to them.
,The Behavioural approach
The behavioural approach to the study of public administration focuses on the actual
behaviour of individuals and groups in real organizations. This approach argues that one
cannot understand the actual functioning of organizations without understanding why people
act as they do. The behaviouralists have come to apply the knowledge of social psychology,
anthropology, psychology, and many other disciplines in an effort to secure a better
understanding of the actual human behaviour within organization. The main aim of this
approach is to establish a body of knowledge that facilitates understanding, explaining, and
prediction of human behaviour in administrative situations. The behavioural approach tends
to focus quite strongly on methodological problems, the use of survey analysis to determine
organizational reality, and is concerned with the human aspects of administration and
decision-making.
The System Approach
The system theory means that the administration is seen as a system of interrelated and
interdependent parts and forces. The administrative system receives ‘inputs’ in the form of
demands from the people and converts them into ‘outputs’ which takes the form of goods and
services. The system approach is now being widely used in organizational analysis. It has
proved to be a very useful tool for the conceptualization of the organization and its internal
and external relationships. The system approach facilitates information exchange between
parts of the system. It is very relevant to the study of complex public organizations that have
huge, diversified structures.
The Ecological Approach
The ecological approach to the study of public administration views public bureaucracy as a
social institution which is continuously interacting with the economic, political, and
sociocultural sub-systems of a society. This approach emphasizes the necessary
interdependence of public bureaucracy, and its environment of which Fred W. Riggs is a
strong advocate of this approach. He believes that administrative institutions are shaped and
affected by their social, economic, cultural, and political environment. Therefore, he
emphasizes the fact that in order to understand better the real nature, operations, and
behaviour of a particular administrative system, one should identify and understand deeply
the various environmental factors influencing it. The ecological approach determines how an
administrative system operates in practice.
Comparative Approach
The comparative approach to public administration seeks to compare the administrative
structures of different nations with different cultural settings. The Comparative
Administrative Group has defined it as the public administration applied to diverse cultures
and national setting and the body of factual data, by which it can be examined and tested. The
, purpose of such comparisons is to find out the universal elements in public administration
and build a theory of public administration. Woodrow Wilson was the first who stressed the
need for a comparative study of public administration. In 1947, Robert Dahl, in his essay,
‘The Science of Public Administration: Three Problems’ also emphasized the utility of
comparative public administration to develop a science of public administration. The
comparative approach to public administration became popular only after the Second World
War with the emergence of new nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Public Policy Approach
The public policy approach aims at improving the public policy process. It is a systematic and
scientific study of public policy. The main concern of policy approach is with the
understanding and improvement of the public–policy-making system. The concept of policy
approach was first formulated by D. Lerner and Harold Lasswell in their work, The Policy
Science in 1951. Public policy is a significant component of any political system. It is
primarily concerned with the public and their problems. The role of a public policy is to
shape the society for its betterment. W. Parsons while narrating the role of public policy says
that the wider purpose of public policy is involving enlightenment, the fuller development of
individuals in society and the development of consensus, social awareness, and legitimacy,
rather than simply the delivery of goods and services.
Political Economy Approach
Political economy approach is concerned with the moving of political science closer to
economics in the interest of greater theoretical coherence and better policy guidance.
Economists like Anthony Downs and Gordon Tullock have applied this interdisciplinary
approach by experimenting with the application of economic methods to political problems.
Thus, public administration as a branch of political science and on its own has moved closer
to economics. Political economy most commonly refers to interdisciplinary studies drawing
upon economics, law, and political science in explaining how political institutions, the
political environment, and the economic system influence each other. In late 1990s, the field
has expanded to explore such wide-ranging topics as the origins and rate of change of
political institutions, and the role of culture in explaining economic outcomes and
developments. When more narrowly construed, it analyses such public policy as monopoly,
market protection, institutional corruption, and rent seeking. A more classical–liberal
approach which dates from the 1970s that denotes ‘public-choice’ theory type approaches
which question the benevolence of social planners to maximize the utility of a representative
individual.
Public Choice Approach
The public-choice approach to the study of public administration emerged in the early 1960s.
An early reference to this theory is found in the writings of Vincent Ostrom. The other
important supporters of public-choice approach are James Buchanan, Gordon Tullock,
