PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
INTRODUCTION
Administer is a English word, which is originated from the Latin word ‘ad’ and
‘ministrare’. It means to serve or to manage. Administration means management of
affairs, public or private.
ADMINISTRATION: DEFINED
In the broadest sense administration can be defined as the activities of groups
cooperating to accomplish common goals.”
ADMINISTRATION: DEFINED
ADMINISTRATION: DEFINED
in a broader sense the term “Administration” signifies the following four different perspectives
taking under different context it is used. They are
(i) As a Discipline,
(ii) As a vocation,
(iii) As a process,
(iv)As a synonym for the word Executive or Government.
As a discipline it deals with the name of a branch of learning or intellectual discipline as taught and studied in
colleges and universities.
As a vocation it deals with the types of work or trade or profession or occupation specially one that involves
knowledge and training in a branch of advance learning.
As a process it deals with the sum total of activities undertaken to implement public policy or policies to
produce some services or goods.
As a synonym for word executive or Government it deals with such other body of persons in supreme charge
of affairs for example Bush Administration, Nehru’s administration and present Modi’s administration.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADMINISTRATION,
ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
Before we discuss about the meaning, definition, nature, scope and importance of
public administration we will try to know what is administration, organisation and
management. As these terms are often used interchangeably and synonymously, it is
pertinent to know the differences and distinctions between these three terms.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADMINISTRATION,
ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
Administration is the force, which lays down the object for which an organisation and
its management are to strive and the broad policies under which they are to operate.
An organisation is a combination of the necessary human beings, materials, tools,
equipment and working space, appurtenances brought together in systematic and
effective co-relation to accomplish some desired object.
Management is that which leads guides and directs an organisation for the
accomplishment of pre-determined object.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADMINISTRATION,
ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
To put the above in simple terms, administration sets the goal, management strives to
attain it and organisation is the machine of the management for the attainment of the
ends determined by the administration.
Some scholars have a different view about the administration and management.
According to Peter Drucker management is associated with the business activity, which
has to show economic performance, whereas administration is associated with the non-
business activities like activities of the Government.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADMINISTRATION,
ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
• Determination of policy
Administration
• Execution of policy within the
Management limits set by administration
• Formation of executive
Organisation machinery
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADMINISTRATION,
ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
Administration determines the organisation and
management uses it.
Organisation is the machinery of management to
achieve the goals set by the administration.
Thus administration is a broader concept and
encompasses both organisation and management.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADMINISTRATION,
ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
Some scholars of Public Administration are closely associated with the first view that
is, administration is a determinative function.
Management, on other hand is an executive function that is primarily concerned with
carrying out the broad policies laid down by the administration.
Organisation is the machinery through which coordination is established between
administration and management.
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: DEFINED
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: DEFINED
According to Percy Mc Queen, “Public administration is administration related to the operation
of the government, whether local or central.”
According to Luther Gullick “Public administration is that part of science of administration
which has to do with the government and thus concerns itself primarily with the executive
branch, where the work of the government is done though there are obviously problems in
connection with the legislative and judicial branches.”
According toH.A. Simon “By Public Administration is meant in common usage, the activities of
the executive branches of the national, state and local governments.”
According to L.D. White “Public Administration consists of all those operations having for their
purpose the fulfillment or enforcement of public policy.”
According to Pfiffner “Public Administration consists of doing the work of the government
whether it is running an X-ray machine in a health laboratory or coining money in the mint
…Public Administration consists of getting the works of government done by coordinating the
efforts of the people so that they can work together to accomplish their set tasks.”
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: DEFINED
the term Public Administration has been used in two sense (i) Wider sense and (ii)
Narrower sense.
In its wider sense it deals with the all the three branches of the government i.e.
Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.
In a broad sense, therefore, Administration is common to both public and private
affairs. Public Administration would then refer to that part of administration which
pertains to the administrative activities of the government.
However in the narrower sense it refers to only the executive branch of the
government
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: DEFINED
Encyclopaedia Britannica defines public administration as ‘the application of a policy
of a state through its government.’
Public Administration, therefore, refers to that part of administration, which pertains
to the administrative activities of the government.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
NATURE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
There are 2 divergent views on the nature of Public Administration
Nature
Integral Managerial
View View
NATURE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: INTEGRAL
VIEW
According to the integral view, ‘public administration’ is the sum total of all the
activities – manual, clerical, managerial, etc., which are undertaken to realise the
objectives of the organisation.
In this view all the acts of officials of the government from the Attendant to the
Secretaries to the government and Head of the State constitute Public Administration.
This view constitutes activities of all the people from top to bottom.
It differs from one field to another field.
Henri Fayol and L.D. White are the supporters of this view.
NATURE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION:
MANAGERIAL VIEW
According to the managerial view of administration, the managerial activities of people who are
involved in
planning,
organising,
commanding,
coordinating and
controlling
constitute Public Administration.
According to this view, since the management techiques are same in all the fields, therefore
administration is same in all the spheres.
This view regards administration as getting things done and not doing things.
Luther Gullick, Herbert Simon, Smithburg and Thompson are the supporters of this view.
The managerial view excludes Public Administration from non-managerial activities such as manual,
clerical and technical activities.
It includes the activities of only top persons.
INTEGRAL VIEW V/S MANAGERIAL VIEW
The integral view includes the activities of all the persons engaged in administration whereas
the managerial view restricts itself only to the activities of the few persons at the top.
The integral view depicts all types of activities from manual to managerial, from non-
technical to technical whereas the managerial view takes into account only the managerial
activities in an organisation.
Furthermore, administration, according to the integral view would differ from one sphere to
another depending upon the subject matter, but whereas that will not be the case according to
the managerial point of view because the managerial view is identified with the managerial
techniques common to all the fields of administration.
The difference between the two views relates to the difference between management and
operation or we may say between getting things done and doing things.
INTEGRAL VIEW V/S MANAGERIAL VIEW
SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: AS AN
ACTIVITY
Broadly speaking, Public Administration embraces all the activities of the
government. Hence as an activity the scope of public administration is no less than the
scope of state activity.
In the modern welfare state people expect many things – a wide variety of services
and protection from the government.
In this context public administration provides a number of welfare and social
security services to the people.
Besides, it has to manage government owned industries and regulate private
industries. Public administration covers every area and activity within the ambit public
policy.
Thus, the scope of public administration is very wide in modern state.
SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: AS
DISCIPLINE
There are two views here:
POSDCoRB view
Subject Matter view
FUNCTIONS OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
P:PLANNING • working out in broad outline the things to be done, the methods to be adopted to
accomplish the purpose.
O:ORGANISING • establishment of the formal structure of authority through which the work is sub-divided,
arranged, defined and coordinated
S:STAFFING • recruitment and training of the personnel and their conditions of work
D: DIRECTING • Making decisions and issuing orders and instructions
Co: CORDINATING • inter-relating the work of various divisions, sections and other parts of the organisation.
R: REPORTING • informing the superiors within the agency to whom the executive is responsible about
what is going on through records, research and inspection.
B: BUDGETING • fiscal planning, control and accounting
LIMITATIONS OF THE POSDCORB VIEW
According to Gullick the POSDCoRB activities are common to all organisations. They are the
common problems of management which are found in different agencies regardless of the
nature of the work they do.
POSDCoRB gives unity, certainty, and definiteness and makes the study more systematic.
However, the critics pointed out that the POSDCoRB activities were neither the whole of
administration, nor even the most important part of it.
The POSDCoRB view over looks the fact that deferent agencies are faced with different
administrative problems, which are peculiar to the nature of the services, they render and the
functions they performed.
The POSDCoRB view takes into consideration only the common techniques of the administration
and ignores the study of the ‘subject matter’ with which the agency is concerned.
A major defect is that the POSDCoRB view does not contain any reference to the formulation
and implementation of the policy. Therefore, the scope of administration is defined very
narrowly, being too inward looking and too conscious of the top management.
SUBJECT MATTER VIEW
IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
It is the instrument of
It is the basis of social change and It plays vital role in the
government. economic development life of the people.
in the society especially
in developing countries.
It is an instrument for It is instrument of
executing laws, policies, It is a stabilising force in national integration in
programmes of the the society as it the developing countries
state. provides continuity. which are facing
classwars.
WHY GROWING IMPORTANCE
Big governments implying vast increase in the scope
Socio-economic problems like distribution of resources equally
Emergence of Welfare state leading to planning
Increase in natural calamities and environmental degradation
leading to concerns
Increasing need of crisis management
LIMITATION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Bureaucratic processes and red tape that can slow down decision-making and implementation.
Dependency on government funding, which can be influenced by political factors and budgetary
constraints.
Risk of inefficiency and lack of innovation due to rigid structures and resistance to change.
Exposure to political influence and policy changes with each new government administration.
Limited incentives for individual performance and entrepreneurship.
Potential for corruption and misuse of public funds.
Challenges in adapting to rapidly changing societal needs and technological advancements.
Budget constraints and competing priorities that may limit resource allocation.
Complex regulations and compliance requirements.
Difficulty in attracting and retaining top talent due to comparatively lower salaries and benefits.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN PUBLIC AND
PRIVATE(BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)
DISTINCTION BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
(BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)
Public administration is different from private administration in terms of its
environment that is institutional setting in which it operates
Paul H. Appleby, Sir Josia Stamp, Herbert A. Simon, Peter Drucker, etc., in their
writings, have made distinction between public and private administration.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
(BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)
DISTINCTION BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
(BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)
Political Absence of Prestige Public gaze
Direction profit motive
Service and Legal Nature of Anonymity
cost framework functions (ministerial
responsibility)
Efficiency Scale of Consistency Monopoly
measurement operations of treatment
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
(BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
(BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
(BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)
1. Both public and business administration rely on common skills, techniques and procedures.
2. In modern times the principle of profit motive is not peculiar to private administration, because it is now
accepted as a laudable objective for public sector enterprises also.
3. In personnel management, the private organisations have been influenced greatly by the practices of public
organisations.
4. The private concerns are also subjected to many legal constraints. Government is exercising much control
over business firms through regulatory legislation such as taxation, monetary and licensing policies, etc.
Consequently, they are not as free as they once used to be.
5. There is a similar type of hierarchy and management systems, both in public and private sectors. Both have
same kind of organisation structure, superior – subordinate relationships, etc.
6. Both Public and private administration carries on continuous efforts to improve their internal working and
also for efficient delivery of services to people or customers.
7. Public and private administration serves the people, whether being called clients or customers. Both have to
maintain close contact with people to inform about their services and also to get feedback about services and
product. In both the cases, public relations help them to inform and improve their services to the people.
To conclude, it could be stated that both public and private administration are placed
in different environments. But this difference is more apparent than real.
According to Waldo, The generalisation which distinguish public administration from
private administration by special care for equality of treatment, legal authorisation
of, and responsibility of action, public justification of decisions, financial probity and
meticulousness, etc. are of very limited applicability,”
In fact public and private administrations are the “two species of the same genus, but
they have special values and techniques of their own which give to each its distinctive
character.