Comparative Public Administration: Rise and Growth

Siddhartha Sankar Manna, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University

of Gour Banga, Malda, West Bengal

CAG (Comparative Administrative Group)

Comparative public administration is a branch of public administration. As an approach, it
considers the workings of government in different socio-economic and cultural settings. Much
like public administration, comparative administration covers a wide variety of activities.
Scholars employing the comparative approach focus on a wide variety of issues including public
policy making and implementation in both the developed and developing areas. Comparative
administration seeks to strengthen our understanding of broader public administrative processes
by trying to expand the empirical basis of the field. By taking a keen look at administrative
processes in all socio-economic and ecological settings, we have a more holistic view of the
larger field.

From the fifties of the last century the two terms —"comparative government” and “comparative
public administration” have gained both publicity and popularity. A large number of American
political scientists came to realise that the administrative structures and the process of
administration of the newly independent states of the Third World are different from the
industrially developed states of Europe and America.

The time-old concepts of political science such as government, administration, sovereignty etc.
had a meaning and significance in the developed nations. But these conceptions lost some of
their relevance when they travelled to the new states of Asia and Africa. But these new states
were administered and governed according to local systems, culture, customs and procedures. To
be more specific, the processes changed but the administration was conducted. In this
background some political scientists started to think of comparing political systems of different
countries.

They deliberately avoided the terms such as state, sovereignty etc. They also thought that for a
comprehensive and fruitful analysis of the various aspects of state administration it was
necessary to compare the political systems of different states and from this approach emerged the
conception-“comparative government” or “comparative politics”. The term “comparative politics
is the study of political systems, not as isolated cases, but through generalisations and
comparisons”.

If the political and governmental structures of countries are different the administrative systems
or structures are supposed to be different. The public administration of USA and that of the most
undeveloped regions of Africa can never be of the same type or character. The developed and
undeveloped states are administered but the methods of administration are not same and here we
are confronted with the term comparative administrative systems or, specifically, the
comparative public administration (hereafter only comparative public administration).

In this regard the considered opinion of a large number of scholars is if we do not compare the
administrative systems of different countries. We will fail to reach a definite opinion and
conclusion. Towards the end of forties of the last century Robert Dahl said: “as long as the study
of public administration is not comparative, claim for a science of a public administration sound
rather hollow” quoted by Ramesh K Arora-Comparative Public Administration.

For a proper analysis of governmental structure and administrative systems a comparison is the
best way. For this reason, in recent decades, the comparative government has earned wide
popularity—so also the comparative public administration.

We have now reached a stage when we can define comparative public administration in fair way
When the administrative systems or structures of different states are compared for the proper
understanding of the subject, we call it comparative public administration. In his famous essay
“The Study of Administration”, Woodrow Wilson said that some principles of public
administration might be borrowed from the administrative systems of Europe, but caution and
intelligence must be adopted. In this view Wilson referred to the comparative aspects of public
administration.

The public administration of a state must be in consonance with the socio-economic-political

structures of the state concerned. Hamilton in his essay (No. 72 published in The Federalist
Papers) said, “The administration of government in its largest sense comprehends all operations
of the body politic, legislative, executive and judiciary, but in its most usual and perhaps in its
most precise signification it is limited to the executive” Since the executive systems of various
states are different the administrative forms are bound to be different. This constitutes the central
idea of comparative public administration.

Comparative government and comparative public administration are not same. Comparative
public administration focuses its attention on administrative structure, bureaucracy patterns of
administration, decentralisation of administration, civil service system and recruitment of
government employees.
The public administration is a part of government and so also the comparative public
administration is a part of comparative government. But administration and government are not
identical concepts. The public administration is a part of government. The public administration
is according to the type of government. For example, we say capitalist state, we also say
capitalist administration.

The study of comparative public administration has gained momentum in recent years because of
the fact that the emerging nations of Asia and Africa are trying hard to develop their economy
and political system. The simple objective is to meet the growing needs of people. The Great
Depression of the thirties of the last century drastically changed the entire administrative system
of USA.

In the same way the challenges posed by the attainment of political freedom of the Third World
states force the leaders and administrators to bring about necessary changes in the colonial
administration. There is no such term like indigenous administration. But every administrative
system must be tuned to the local needs and aspirations of the people.

Sources of Comparative Public Administration:

(1)The World War II brought about radical changes in academic and other fields and
comparative public administration is one of them. During and after the War many eminent
political scientists and administrators were appointed to the policy determination department of
US government and especially in the public administration department. They observed that the
public administration with which they are well acquainted and the public administration they
have taught in colleges and universities has very little relevance to the practical side of public
administration.

They desired to formulate new policies of public administration and studied the administrative
systems of different countries. These two provided solid bases for a new approach to public
administration which later on came to be called comparative public administration. These did not
entirely provide the materials for comparative public administration, but major parts came from
this new change.

(2) We know that World War II completely devastated the economic and social basis of Western
European states and their rebuilding was badly needed. But at the same time it was felt that the
existing structure of public administration was incapable in meeting this necessity. A new type of
public administration must be built up. At the same time America came forward with large
amount of financial help under the Marshall Plan.

The authorities of these states with the existing system of public administration could not handle
the aids under Marshall Plan and its proper utilisation was beyond its capability. The planners
and administrators proceeded to reformulate the general principles of public administration and
this supplied materials for a new public administration.

(3) In building up a structure of a new public administration the role of United Nations cannot be
overlooked. From the various types of the activities of UNO we come across the idea that the
existing system of public administration of the developing nations of Asia and Africa do not
possess the capability of handling the United Nations aid programmes and its activities in various
countries. This new situation put a demand upon various authorities for overhauling the
administrative system.” The old order changes the yielding place to new.”

(4) Under the pressure of new circumstances created by World War II and modernisation of
economy caused by the War it was strongly felt that the existing form of public administration
shall be changed to meet the needs of the new era. The old system of public administration was
not aware of the modernisation of economic system and the advent of new economic principles.
The new situation called for a new structure and principles of public administration.

(5) Though Easton’s General System Theory is not directly related with Comparative Public
Administration theory the indirect relation is not insignificant. Easton, in his theory, has stated
that political system is an open system. Its implication is political system is closely connected
with the other system, and environment. The implications in both political system and other
systems or environment are interdependent. If so, the public administration of a political system
or state can never remain unaffected if the forces of other systems put pressure on it.
Let us explain it further-being an open system the public administration of a particular state (or
in Eastonian phrase political system) is bound to be affected by the public administration of other
states. The classical theory of public administration was quite free from this factor. The analysis
of comparative public administration in this way is claimed to be scientific, because it passes
through the ordeal of various tests and scrutiny. Comparison also brings about perfection.

Comparative Public Administration and Comparative Administration Group:

Nicholas Henry observes: “Cross cultural public administration, as the comparative approach
also is called, is a fairly new development in the field” . The comparative public administration
and its rapid rise in popularity opened new vistas of thought and analysis. To put it in other
words, cross-cultural relations among the nations inspired the administrative authority of states
to open new avenues of comparative analysis.

The comparative public administration became highly popular in the high tide of cold war
period. The top administrators of White House and other offices of Washington thought that the
public administration must be made appropriate to meet the challenge posed by Cold War. Henry
has given a very beautiful analysis of this in the following words: “As a result of the revised
thinking, courses in comparative public administration began appearing in university catalogues,
and by the early 1950s the American Political Science Association, the American Society for
Public Administration, and the Public Administration Clearing House were forming special
committees or sponsoring Conferences on Comparative Public Administration. The real impetus
came in 1962 when the Comparative Administration Group (CAG founded in 1960) of the
American Society for Public Administration received financing from the Ford Foundation that
eventually totalled 500,000 dollar”.

We now have Comparative Administration Group along with comparative public administration.
The top policy makers, during the Cold War period decided that in order to streamline the-
public administration more money, material and energy are to be invested. The interest of the
Ford Foundation reached highest peak at the height of the Cold War. In the sixties of the last
century the Ford Foundation took special interest in the political and administrative affairs of the
Third World states.

It is because the erstwhile Soviet Union took special interest in the political and economic affairs
of states and the clash of interest and ideologies was aggravating day-by-day. So we find that
Cold War was substantially responsible for the growing interest in comparative public
administration and Comparative Administration Group. American administrative system in
general and the Ford Foundation in particular were responsible for the renewed interest in
comparative administrative system.

The Comparative Administration Group emphasised the following fields which are closely
related with comparative public administration. Comparative Administration Group says that
research work in comparative public administration and other related fields should be
encouraged. In the second place there must be elaborate arrangement for teaching the various
fields of comparative public administration. Thirdly, the principle devised or suggested shall
have ample scope of application in practical fields. Finally, the Comparative Administration
Group emphasised the building up of theory. We have already noted that the primary objective of
Ford Foundation was to encourage the public administration research and investigation of the
Third World states.

The authority of the Ford Foundation reminded the Comparative Administration Group of this
purpose. It has been found that Comparative Administration Group sent number of researchers to
the practical field to gather knowledge about the nature of public administration of the
developing nations. By doing this Comparative Administration Group established a fruitful link
between the public administrative of industrially developed nations and the developing states of
Asia and Africa.

So far as comparative public administration is concerned the Comparative Administration Group

performed a very important job and, subsequently, this enriched the contents of the comparative
public administration. This attempt of Comparative Administration Group surely performed a
seminal task and it is called intellectual emergence.

Comparative Public Administration is a Movement:

The comparative public administration is now regarded by many as a movement. The public
administration in its classical form was primarily concerned with the administrative system,
principles and structure of any particular state. But today —after the rapid progress of
liberalisation, globalisation and growing dependence among different nation states —the public
administration has assumed unprecedented dependence upon the administrative systems of
different countries and this has brought the public administration in the forefront of
administrative systems.

Here I quote a relevant observation of a critic—comparative public administration is the theory

of public administration as applied to diverse cultures and national settings and the body of
factual data, by which it can be tested and expanded. Hence we find that there is a difference
between public administration and comparative public administration.

The general principles of public administration, when applied to particular fields or situations
comes to be known as comparative public administration. There is growing demand in various
corners of the globe of the basic principles of public administration which ought to be tested
through their application in various political systems and cultures. This demand first emerged in
embryonic form in the United States and later on the demand spread its wings in various parts.
From the middle of the last century the comparative public administration as a movement is
gradually gaining-momentum. A Conference on International Political Association was held in
Paris in 1953 and in that Conference it was demanded that public administration should be
studied comparatively otherwise its exact nature will never come out. The comparative public
administration was not confined only in Paris.

The movement spread in many other states of Europe. It was due to the fact that no relations
among nations were gradually increasing the comparative public administration was becoming
more and more popular. The newly states of Asia and Africa in their zeal to build up a basis of a
new and developed state were willing to modernise the public administration but they were not
willing to adopt the policy of copycat. This practically resulted in the adoption or creation of new
principles of public administration and this urge continues. Hence there is a movement of
comparative public administration.

The Comparative Administration Group has inspired the comparative public administration
movement in a considerable way. The general public administration has a theory and the
sponsors of the Comparative Administration Group also demanded that the comparative public
administration should also have its own theory and, in order to achieve this, the specialists must
continue research work. The principles established by research shall be applied to practice in
order to establish its acceptability and viability.

The administrative systems of all states especially of developing nations should be properly
analysed and the differences between public administration of developed and developing nations
should be compared. In this connection the contribution of Fred Riggs should be remembered.

He thought that the administrative systems and principles of the developed nations cannot be
profitably applied to the backward or developing nations. Riggs’s approach to the public
administration, “captured” the attention of a large number of persons interested in public
administration. Referring Fred Riggs’s contribution to comparative public administration Henry
says that his strenuous efforts brought comparative public administration to the limelight. He
also said that while studying public administration of a country the ecology of a country must be
carefully studied. Today Riggs’s suggestion has been accepted by all.

Problems of Comparative Public Administration:

The fate of comparative public administration was faced with a problem towards the first years
of the seventies. In 1963 the Comparative Administration Group was formed and both
comparative public administration and Comparative Administration Group made joint efforts for
the progress of the former. But the comparative public administration “does appear to have
reached a critical point of development. In 1973 the Comparative Administration Group was
disbanded” .
The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) was founded in 1962 and the ASPA
was the real source of finance for the functioning of CAG. But the ASPA thought that the
separate existence of CAG was unnecessary and it was merged with ASPA. The separate
existence and importance was felt unnecessary or it was made superfluous. The persons who
were once interested in comparative public administration after the mid-seventies they lost their
interest. In the seventies many persons were eager to have degrees in comparative public
administration and by the end of 1990s only few persons displayed interest.

Several reasons have been adduced to the decline in the importance an interest of comparative
public administration. One such reason is many eminent persons began to think that only Public
Administration was enough. And, if so, why Comparative Public Administration. Many persons
associated with the comparative public administration movement could not give any satisfactory
reply to this question.

During the Cold War period and even after the relaxation of tension many top-ranking
administrators of USA began to think of development administration and not about comparative
public administration. This is a potent cause of the decline of comparative public administration.
Again it was thought that only public administration was enough and comparative chamber or
approach is unnecessary.

There is another reason. In order to be a separate subject and important discipline, it must have
separate groups of research and its researchers must build up models and paradigms.
Unfortunately, the comparative public administration has no such models. The Comparative
Public Administration earned goodwill and wide publicity under the aegis of Comparative
Administration Group and many organisations.

But in the eighties and nineties of the last century many showed their utter disinterestedness in
the subject. The Comparative Administration Group and the financial help provided by the Ford
Foundation made some people interested in the subject. But when the source of fund began to
dry or dried people’s interest in it also began to dry slowly and steadily.

Nicholas Henry has called the ill-fate of comparative public administration as a “dilemma”.
Henry quotes sporadically from two or three writers. He says: Public administration should take
full notice of the fact that comparative administration’s failure rests substantially on a self-
imposed failure experience. It set an unattainable goal, that is, in its early and persisting choice to
seek a comprehensive theory or model in terms of which to define itself.

We, however, do not think that the comparative public administration is dead or the
administrationists do not show any interest in the subject. While studying public administration it
is required that it should be studied, if required, in a comparative way. But that does not mean
that the comparative public administration should or ought to be given the status of a separate
subject or paper of social science.

The students of public administration still study comparative public administration whenever any
necessity arises. The meteoric rise of comparative public administration was due to the formation
of Comparative Administration Group and financial help given by the Ford Foundation. Today,
students of public administration do not display excessive interest in the subject. But sometimes
they say that the administrative systems of different countries should be studied in a comparative
way in order to have a full understanding of all aspects of the subject.
Thank you