Scope of Public Administration
To know with a certain amount of definiteness and clarity as to
what public administration is, its scope has to be delineated.
The scope of public administration implies the extent and range
of its activities and the ambit of its jurisdiction. In the following
pages, the scope of public administration both as an activity (a
process consisting of a series of activities, and as a subject of
study is examined.
1. As an activity
As already stated, public administration, as an activity, existed
from times immemorial. What are the various aspects of work
that can be included in public administration as an activity?
There are two different views regarding this. They are the wider
view/the Integral view and the Narrower view/ the Managerial
view.
Integral view
According to the integral view, all kinds of activities of
government come under the purview of public administration. It
means all the manual, clerical, technical, and managerial
activities come under its scope. The delivery of letters by the
postman, the drafting of a letter by the clerk, and supervising
the work of the subordinates by the head of the department
become administrative activities. In the same way, the various
activities performed at the different levels of the three branches
of the government viz., the executive, the legislature, and the
judiciary become administrative activities. In effect, all official
activities and functions performed by the topmost officer down
to the lowest level official come under the scope of public
administration. Not only the doing of work by oneself but also
getting it done through others become administrative functions.
In other words, we have to take it that all kinds of the public
employee at all levels are participants in public administration.
To know with a certain amount of definiteness and clarity as to
what public administration is, its scope has to be delineated.
The scope of public administration implies the extent and range
of its activities and the ambit of its jurisdiction. In the following
pages, the scope of public administration both as an activity (a
process consisting of a series of activities, and as a subject of
study is examined.
1. As an activity
As already stated, public administration, as an activity, existed
from times immemorial. What are the various aspects of work
that can be included in public administration as an activity?
There are two different views regarding this. They are the wider
view/the Integral view and the Narrower view/ the Managerial
view.
Integral view
According to the integral view, all kinds of activities of
government come under the purview of public administration. It
means all the manual, clerical, technical, and managerial
activities come under its scope. The delivery of letters by the
postman, the drafting of a letter by the clerk, and supervising
the work of the subordinates by the head of the department
become administrative activities. In the same way, the various
activities performed at the different levels of the three branches
of the government viz., the executive, the legislature, and the
judiciary become administrative activities. In effect, all official
activities and functions performed by the topmost officer down
to the lowest level official come under the scope of public
administration. Not only the doing of work by oneself but also
getting it done through others become administrative functions.
In other words, we have to take it that all kinds of the public
employee at all levels are participants in public administration.
