North South University
Undergraduate Programme
PAD 201: Introduction to Public Administration
Fall 2020
Course Teacher
Saifuddin Ahmed (SuA2)
Associate Professor & Chairman
Department of Peace and Conflict Studies
Dhaka University
E-mail:[Link]@[Link]
Public Administration:
Meaning and Definition
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2
Public Administration: Meaning and Definition
The word 'public' is used in a variety of meaning, but here
it means 'government'.
Public Administration
simply means governmental administration.
It is the study of the management of the public agencies that
carry out public policies in order to fulfill the state purposes in
the public/ people’s interest.
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2
Public Administration: Meaning and Definition
Word meaning
Public Administration = Public + Administration
Public = People - Here is two types of people:
Governed people –
Service recipient, who are out of govt. machineries
Governing people –
Service provider, part of govt. machineries
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2
Public Administration: Meaning and Definition
Word meaning
Public Administration = Public + Administration
Administration = ad + ministaire (Latin words)
= to serve (in English)
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2
Public Administration: Meaning and Definition
So, the Word meaning of public administration is:
to serve the people by a group of people
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2
Public Administration: Meaning and Definition
Scholars view:
“Public Administration is = the organization and
management of men and materials to realize the
purpose of government”
Dwight Waldo
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Public Administration: Meaning and Definition
Scholars view:
“Public Administration is government in action”
Felix A Nigro & Llyod [Link]
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2
Public Administration: Meaning and Definition
Scholars view:
“Public Administration is policy formulation and
policy execution”
-Fesler
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2
Public Administration: Meaning and Definition
Scholars view:
“Public administration is what (formulation) and
how (execution) the government is”
Marshal Dimock
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2
Public Administration: Meaning and Definition
Public Administration is government in action
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2
Public Administration
Historical development
and
Emergence as an academic discipline
Paradigm of Public Administration as an
academic discipline
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2
Public Administration: Paradigm
“The Study of Administration”; the article written by Woodrow
Wilson, (The then President of the USA) published in the Journal
‘Political Science Quarterly’ in 1887
It is getting harder to run a constitution than to frame it
Political elements in organization
Administrative elements in organization
“There is no Republican way to build a road”
Administration is a science and field of business
As the first proponent; Wilson is considered as Pioneer/Father of
Public Administration
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 13
Public Administration: Paradigm
Development of Public Administration as an academic discipline:
[Link] Politics/Administration Dichotomy (1900-1926)
[Link] Principles of Administration (1927-1937)
I. The challenges (1938-47)
II. Reaction to the challenges (1947-50)
[Link] Administration as Political Science (1950-70)
[Link] Administration as Management (1956-70)
[Link] Administration as Public Administration (1970-?)
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 14
Public Administration: Paradigm
1. The Politics/Administration Dichotomy (1900-1926)
‘Politics and Administration’ by Frank J. Goodnow (1900)
Politics and Administration are two distinct and
independent discipline.
“Politics has to do with policies or expression of the state
will, where as administration has to do with the execution
of those policies”
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Public Administration: Paradigm
The Politics/Administration Dichotomy (1900-1926)
‘Introduction to the Study of Public Administration’ by L.D. White
(1926)
• Politics should not intrude on administration
• Public administration is a value-free field
• Politics/Public Administration dichotomy is a value/fact
dichotomy
• Management lends itself to scientific study
• Public Administration is Locus.
• Locus means the institution.
• Where of the field of Public Administration.
• The field/ institution of Public Administration is Bureaucracy
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2 16
Public Administration: Paradigm
The Principles of Administration (1927-1937)
Scientific method of Management of public affairs ([Link])
Bureaucracy – rule by officials rationally
Management practices, organizational behaviour and structure,
budgeting and personnel for professionalism (Internal Issue)
Administrative responsibility, public interest, Culturalism and
internalization (External Issue)
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2
Public Administration: Paradigm
The Principles of Administration (1927-1937)
‘Principles of Public Administration’ by W.F. Willoughby (1927)
‘Papers on the Science of Administration’ by Gullick and Urwick
(1937)
Established the Principles of Administration
P O S D Co R B
Planning Organizing Staffing Directing Coordinating Reporting Budgeting
• Public Administration is Focus
• Focus means what of the field i.e. Principles of administration
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2 18
Public Administration: Paradigm
The Challenges (1938-1947)
To challenge Politics/Administration dichotomy
To challenge the principles of administration
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2 19
Public Administration: Paradigm
To challenge Politics/Administration dichotomy
‘Elements of Public Administration’ edited by Fritz Morstein Marx in
1946.
• Administration is basically a value-laden politics
• The decision undertaken by the administrators are always
guided by politics not by individuals’ wills
• The fact of administration is guided by the politics
• The policies formulated by the political values required the
administrators support
The public administration always served the power and powerful
….to help power holders to govern more effectively
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2 20
Public Administration: Paradigm
To challenge the principles of administration
Human behavior is ignored in the principles of administration
The Scholars and their writings to challenge the principles of
Administration:
C.I. Barnard (1938): The Functions of Executives
Herbert A. Simon (1946): The Proverbs of Administration
Herbert A. Simon (1946): The Administrative Behavior
Robert H. Dahl (1947): The Science of Public Administration: Three
Problems
• Universal principles of public administration is not possible
- preeminence in organization
- differences in individual personalities
- differences in social framework
- varied culture
• Decision making is to be the alternative of the principles
• The study of PAD would be limited if it is confined to only the principles.
• Study of PAD only within formal organizations would bound PAD to be more materialistic.
• Study of PAD should be from comparative basis
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2 21
Public Administration: Paradigm
Reaction to the Challenges (1947-1950)
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2 22
Public Administration: Paradigm
Reaction to the Challenges (1947-1950)
The fact of public administration is guided by the behaviour
of politics (Herbert A Simon in Administrative Behavior,
1947)
As a part of the system of governance the administration
behave (David Eston in The Political System, 1953)
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2 23
Public Administration: Paradigm
David Eston’s Political System Model
Process
Input Rule making, Output
Interest articulation Decision
Interest aggregation Rule application Implementation
Rule adjudication
Feedback
Acceptance of the challenges
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 24
Public Administration: Paradigm
3. Public Administration as Political Science (1950-1970)
• Public Administration has backed to its mother discipline
i.e. Political Science
• The fundamental political precepts especially in American
political science are worthy of democracy, rule of law,
participatory, due process guide the public administration to
work independently
• PAD has lost its focus; i.e. the principles but sustained its locus;
i.e. the institution (bureaucracy)
• Rise of the concept of Development Administration and
Comparative Administration
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2 25
Public Administration: Paradigm
4. Public Administration as Management (1956-1970)
• Public Administration had been Templating in management arena focusing on
human resource management, communication, MIS, leadership, motivation,
budgeting, auditing, productivity and sometimes marketing.
• Public Administration had become a ‘2nd class citizen’ in the field of academic
discipline
• It was losing its identity
• PAD had provide its focus; i.e. the principles but lost its locus; i.e. the
institution
The new focus of PAD is:
“New Public Administration” (1965-70)
3E = Economy + Efficiency + Effectiveness (D. Waldo & Frank J. Martin in Towards
a New Public Administration)
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2 26
Public Administration: Paradigm
5. Public Administration as Public Administration (1970-?)
• Public Administration is neither management nor Political Science
(Luther Gullick concluded); this is public administration.
• Public Administration is public policy. It can’t be dichotomized from
political science.
• Public Administration examines every aspects of government affairs
• Public Administration covers politics, management and beyond these
other spectrum as well.
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Public Administration: Paradigm
Feedback of the discussion
28
Thank You
PAD 201:INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, WEEK 1, LEC.2 29