Study Material
What is public administration?
A question that has proved to be both intriguing as well as difficult to answer. An epistemological perspective cannot be applied with certainty to demarcate the boundaries of Public Administration. Nevertheless, to understand meaning, nature or scope of Public administration, we need to start the process of exploration. In that regard we can pick the most visible façade of public administration i.e. execution or implementation of policies.
We can observe what the government is doing and based on that can derive certain observations which can form a base for a theory of public administration. Theory draws precepts from practice and practice in turn, borrows principles from theory. The synergy must be continuous.
Public Administration as a practice is ubiquitous and universal. Theory building in public administration has to constantly address this issue of domain or boundary. Simultaneously it has to ready itself to face up to the challenge posed by the socio-political and economic dynamism, and indeterminacy built into its ethic, ethos and practice. Theory in any discipline has to answer its dominant concerns and as far as public administration is concerned, concerns relevant to it, cut across disciplines like politics, economy, sociology, organizational behavior and so on.
So, what it deals with?
Public Administration is concerned with the management of public programs which ensures delivery of public interest. Public Administrators work at all levels of government, both at home and abroad. The substantive fields within which public managers work range across the varied interests of government and public affairs – from defense and national security to social welfare and environmental quality, from the design and construction of roads and bridges to the exploration of space, and from taxation and financial administration to personnel and human resources management. Though the scope of work and responsibilities in public administration varies tremendously from a position to another, all of those who work in public organizations share certain commitments and shared values.
Public administration is an ancient activity common just about all countries and all levels of government. Public Administration is a system of organization and action concerned with the performance of various activities. It can best be looked at as an instrument that is used for the realization of the goals of a government. Thus, just as societies have their political system and economic systems, they also have their public administration systems.
What scholars have to say about Public Administration?
Public Administration is a part of the wider field of administration ‘Administration’, as E.N. Gladden says, ‘is a long and slightly pompous word’, but it has a humble meaning. The English Word “administer” is derived from the Latin word ‘ad’ and ministrae” which means ‘to serve”, to care for of “to look after people” It is a process of management which is practiced by all kind of organizations from the household to the most complex system of the government. J.S. Hodgson describes administration as “a kind of activity found in both public and private affairs” The use of the word Pubic before ‘administration’ restricts
its coverage to the administrative activities of the government. In fact, public administration is government administration.
Aspects of Public administration.
The subject of public administration lends itself to three usages it is as an activity, e.g. enforcement of law and order; and it also refers to the discipline of intellectual enquiry; and then it is also about the institutions from which the government functions.
Public Administration as a field of systematic study is not as old as it is as an aspect of government activity yet curiously it never achieved a definition that commands general acceptance. As noted by Waldo a major difficulty in arriving at a precise and universal acceptable definition of public administration arises in part from the rapid growth in the twentieth century of public administration which today seems to be all encompassing.
Public Administration as a specialized academic field deals essentially with the machinery and procedures of government and these are used in the effective performance of government activities. It operates within a specific political setting. It is a means by which the policy decision made by the political decision madders are carried out. It is the action part of the government, the means by which the purposes and goals of govt. are realized.
Defining public administration
Dwight Waldo, the veteran public administration analyst, cautioned us against the dangers of defining public administration. As Waldo said, “The immediate effect of all one sentence or one paragraph definition of public administration is mental paralysis rather than enlightenment and stimulation. All definition Seek to narrow down and limit the meaning of object and in this effort, clarity and understanding suffer.
The term “Public Administration” however, has been differently defined by different scholars, which shows the variety of views about the meaning and nature of the subject. To some of them public administration is concerned with the whole range of governmental activity under all the three branches-Legislature, executive and judiciary while to other it is concerned with activities of an executive nature wherever they may occur.
There are some who equate the sphere of activity of public administration with the implementation of law and public policy. L.D. White observes: “Public Administration consists of all those operations having for their purpose the fulfillment or enforcement of public policy” Similarly, according to Woodrow Wilson, public Administration is detailed and systematic application of law.
There is a component in the definition – Public Administration is associated with the public welfare. According to L.D. White, the ends of public administration is nothing but attainment of the good life. This observation is normative at its best and may be an exercise in political theory. A dictator, for instance, is unlikely to mobilise public administration for promotion of general welfare.
An acceptable definition of public administration today should be one which is more inclusive and broad based. In the era of governance, third parties, private contractors, non-profit organizations are today increasingly employed for delivering public services. Even India is sympathetically discussing privatization.
Thus, public administration refers to the organization and management of activities financed from the tax-payers money. This definition practically covers all that is said to the traditional definition, but at the same time it does not restrict public administration to the government of the domain of formal public policy.
In short, public administration deals with the study of:
(i) The executive in action, i.e., Public bureaucracy.
(ii) Public policy making.
(iii) Non-government agencies like political parties, interest groups, mass movement, terrorism, etc., seeking to mould govt’s action and behavior.
(iv) The corporate sector, at any state the part of it which is dependent an governmental funding.
(v) Both the processes of administration and the substantive concerns.
Gerald Caiden has listed the following crucial roles as assumed by public administration in contemporary society:
(a) Preservation of the polity.
(b) Maintenance of stability and order.
(c) Institutionalisation of socio-economic change.
(d) Management of large scale commercial services.
(e) Ensuring growth and economic development.
(f) Protection of the weaker section of society
(g) Formation of public Opinion
(h) Influencing public policies and political trends.
What is crucial In Public Administration is that it is an agency of the public. Central to this approach is the idea of the public as an active participant in change, rather than as a passive and docile recipient of instructions or dispersed assistance. The role of the public is significant since public policies are the articulation of priorities that emerge from social values and affirmations. This has been so conceived by Amartya Sen in his book Democracy as freedom.
