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UNIT – 9 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Title: Public Administration – Meaning and evolution; Public-Private

Administration

Meaning of Public Administration:

• The word ‘administration’ refers to serve, to manage affairs in an

organization or to look after the people.
• The Public Administration is the sub-part of the Administration and means
management of governmental affairs with the aim of serving the
people/citizens and ensuring their welfare and fulfillment of interests.
• Dimock and Dimock define public administration as ‘the accomplishment
of politically determined objectives’.
• Dimock and Dimock (1969) have further stated that public administration
is concerned more with policy than techniques or orderly execution of
programs. Public administration must be sufficiently practical to solve
problems and attain society’s goals, but it must also be exploratory and
innovative in its search for better methods based on broader
understandings of what is involved in effective group activity.
• Woodrow Wilson (1953) defines public administration as ‘detailed and
systematic execution of public law. Every particular application of general
law is an act of administration’
• As per L.D. White (1955) ‘a system of public administration is the
composite of all the laws, regulations, practices, relationships, codes, and
customs that prevails at any time in any jurisdiction for the fulfilment or
execution of public policy’
• ‘It is the action part of the government, the means by which the
purposes and goals of government are realized’ – Corson and Harris
(1967).

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• Pfiffner and Presthus (1953) defines public administration as ‘the
coordination of individual and group efforts to carry out public policy. It is
mainly occupied with the routine work of government.’
• As per Felix A. Negro (1965) – Public administration is
a. a cooperative group effort in a public setting
b. covers all three branches—executive, legislative, and judicial and their
interrelationships
c. has an important role in the formulation of public policy and thus a part
of the political process.
d. is different in significant ways from private administration and
e. is closely associated with numerous private groups and individuals in
providing services to the community.
• During Minnowbrook Conference III (2008), Public administration was
defined as ‘a socially embedded process of collective relationships,
dialogue, and action to promote human flourishing for all’.
• Public administration thus is a branch of government through which the
action part of the government i.e. the political decisions taken for the
welfare of the people are realized. It is an instrument through which the
political decision/legislative decisions are brought to reality. Public
administration, in other words, therefore handles ‘the business part’ of the
governmental organization as it is involved in not only realization of
political goals but also involved with management of the govt. affairs.

Nature and Scope of Public Administration:

• Two views pertaining to nature of public administration has been

developed time and again i.e. managerial and integral view.
• As per the managerial view, administration is comprised of only those
who are involved with managerial work, meaning the clerical, manual and
technical work in an organization are not part of the administration. They
believe the administration is more about ‘getting things done, than doing
things’.
• Luther Gulick, Henry Fayol, Herbert Simon, Donald W. Smithburg, and
Victor Thomson are the main supporters of this view. Gulick has summed

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up the managerial activities in the acronym POSDCORB. It stands for the
seven functions of the chief executive: P-Planning, O-Organizing, S-
Staffing, D-Directing, CO-Coordinating, R-Reporting, and B-Budgeting.
• This view is also known as the ‘narrow view of administration’.
• Contrary to this, the integral view considers every activity within an
organization as part of administration i.e. all activities like technical,
clerical, managerial or manual defines administration.
• As per this view, all the acts of the government officials from the peon
to the secretary are part of public administration. The successful
accomplishment of any task in an organization requires contribution from
all the employees.
• The main supporters of this view are Woodrow Wilson, L.D. White,
Marshall E. Dimock, and John M. Pfiffner. This view is a wider
perspective of the organization and defines contribution of the whole
system necessary for fulfilment of its objectives.
• There is also difference in opinion on the scope of public administration.
The traditional writers opined that public administration only included the
executive branch of the govt. who is involved in implementation or
execution of policies. However, the modern writers have taken a broader
view and asserted that public administration includes the work of all the
three branches of government i.e. Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.
This view is most accepted today.

Public and Private Administration:

Differences:

• Although, both forms of administration is involved with managing affairs of

there respective organization, still there are few similarities and
dissimilarities that can be found between public and private
administration.

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• Paul H. Appleby, Herbert A. Simon, and Peter Drucker have made a
distinction between public and private administration.
• The prime purpose/goal of a public administration is to serve the people
i.e. the focus is on ensuring the welfare and fulfillment of interests of the
citizen without having any profit motive whatsoever. However, in case of
private administration, the main goal is to accrue profits to the company
and focus is on achieving the goals of an organization or fulfilling the
aims of the owners.
• The goal to gain more profits for the company therefore becomes the
objective criterion for measuring the performance of the enterprise and
drives private administration to constantly check costs, seek
improvements in operations, discharge incompetent employees, and
maintain responsibility of subordinates for results.
• However, in the case of public administration, since profit is never the
motive and focus is on serving the people and the society, sometimes
costly services such has heath, education etc. too are provided on
subsidized rates.
• Moreover, the public administration is bound by the rule of law, which is
not the case with private administration.
• The work of public administration is transparent and out in the open,
meaning it is scrutinized at every level by numerous members of the civil
society such as citizens, media, pressure groups etc. There actions are
exposed to public review and criticisms and have wider implications.
• Thus, public administration is held accountable for its activities through
legislative oversight and judicial review.
• However, such is not the case with private administration who not
affected or under the scanner of public accountability.
• While public administration must treat everyone alike – rich or poor to
provide services and to initiate rule of law. Such is not the case with
private administration. On the contrary, it is considered a wrong business
tactic/strategy to view everyone i.e. small and large customer alike.
• The political character of public administration differentiates it from private
administration. Public administration is subject to political direction and
control. It implements the policies made by the elected members of the

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legislature and political executive. Private administration, on the other
hand, is not subject to political direction. It functions largely directed by
the market forces.
• Finally, public administration is much wider in scope than private
administration. Paul H. Appleby puts forth that the organized government
impinges upon and is affected by practically everything that exists or
moves in society. Public administration provides each and everything to
the people, namely, food, health facilities, education, housing,
transportation, and so on. On the other hand, private administration deals
only in those sectors where it can earn profits. Thus, it cannot claim the
breadth of scope, impact, and consideration of public administration.

Similarities

• However, there are many reasons to consider private and public

administration different from each other. Thinkers like Henry Fayol, M.P.
Follet, Luther Gulick, and Lyndall Urwick do not make a distinction
between public and private administration.
• The managerial techniques and skills of planning, organizing,
coordinating, budgeting, and so on, are same in public as well as private
administration.
• Both are organized on the basis of principles of hierarchy or scalar
chain.
• In modern times, private businesses are also subjected to many
governmental rules and regulations.
• Private administration too have to necessarily contribute towards social
welfare (CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility) and maintain social and
humanitarian ethics while working towards company goals.
• Both have similarities so far as the problems of organization, personnel,
and finance are concerned.
• In the new public management model, the public sector is expected to
follow the principle of efficiency, economy, and profitability as practiced in
the private sector. These days outsourcing, contracting out, and voluntary
retirement schemes are common in the public sector units.

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• In many ways, the differences between public and private enterprise are
diminishing. There is now considerable flow of personnel between the
two, especially at the higher management levels, and with increased
governmental intervention in the areas of subsidies, taxes, regulations,
and contracting, distinctions between public and private are no longer
clear cut.
• These days governments are taking much interest in public–private
partnership (PPP) in implementing its policies and projects. The
successful functioning of the Delhi Metro is a good example of the PPP
model.
• Thus, public and private administration are co-operating and
complementing each other.

Evolution of Public Administration:

• The field of Public Administration (PA) can be studied as a field activity

and as systematic/conceptual study. As a field activity, PA has played a
major part since origin of human society and politics. However, the
conceptual understanding of the subject is of recent origin.
• Although, one cannot date it, but the essay by Woodrow Wilson titled
‘The Study of Administration’, published in Political Science Quarterly in
1887 is considered to be the beginning of conceptualization of PA.
• This was written at the time when in order to reduce corruption and
remove inefficiency from PA, a way of systematic streamlining of public
services were required for the benefit of public. Therefore, through this
article, he advocated for the science of administration i.e. a systematic
and disciplined body of knowledge which he thought would be useful to
grasp and defuse the crisis in administration.
• He suggested that public administrators must focus on management and
execution rather than substituting the work of political leaders. In other
words, he supported for the demarcation i.e. dichotomy of politics and
administration as a way forward.

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• While Wilson gave the call, it was Frank J. Goodnow who practically
fathered the movement for evolving the discipline of public administration
in the United States of America (USA). In his book Politics and
Administration (1900), he also draws a functional distinction between
politics and administration. He writes, ‘The former having to do with the
politics or expression of the state’s will, the later with the execution of
the policies’.
• Followed by Leonard D. White’s Introduction to the Study of Public
Administration in 1926, the first textbook entirely devoted to the field. It
reflected the general characteristics of public administration as non-
partisan. Public administration was stated to be a ‘value-free’ science and
the mission of administration would be economy and efficiency.
• Thus, all the writers during this period, wanted to keep away
administration from the politics so as to ensure its efficiency.
• W.F. Willoughby’s book Principles of Public Administration (1927)
appeared as the second textbook in the field and reflected the new thrust
of public administration. These were that certain scientific principles of
administration existed, they could be discovered, and administrators would
be expert in their work if they learned how to apply these said principles.
• The work of F.W. Taylor through his scientific management theory
ushered a new perspective on public administration. His idea of
universally applicable scientific methods to achieve profit, efficiency and
effective utilization of resources gained currency amongst the public
administrators during the world wars.
• The Taft Commission on Economy and Efficiency undertook the first
comprehensive investigation of federal administration. Its recommendations
closely followed scientific management principles.
• This period reached its climax in 1937 when Luther Gulick and Urwick
coined seven principle ‘POSDCORB’ (Planning, Organizing, Staffing,
Directing, Coordinating, Reporting, and Budgeting) in their essay ‘The
Science of Administration’. Thus, this period marked by the tendency to
reinforce the idea of politics–administration dichotomy and to evolve a
value-free science of management. Economy and efficiency were the
main objective of the administrative system.

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• Max Weber was first theoretician who theorized concepts and principles
of public administration and showcased its practical applicability. His
contribution with ‘ideal type’ bureaucracy defined how administrative work
can be ‘value-neutral’ and ‘dehumanized’. Therefore, as Peter Blau
suggests, it should be considered as an ‘organization that maximizes
efficiency in administration or an institutionalized method of organized
social conduct in the interests of administrative efficiency’.
• Following the World wars, the dichotomy of politics and administration
came under attack. All the previous traditional theories that focused on
scientific efficiency and effectiveness proved false in ensuring flexibility,
creative and quick decision making in the wartime environment. The rigid
hierarchical proverbs of administrative practices were totally ineffective in
such situation.
• Therefore, a focus on the broader social, moral, and political theoretical
effectiveness to challenge the dogma of managerial effectiveness was
reintroduced.
• In 1938, Chester I. Barnard’s The Functions of the Executive challenged
the politics–administration dichotomy.
• Dwight Waldo questioned the validity of ‘principles’ borrowed from the
scientific management movement in business and urged the development
of a philosophy or theory of administration.
• Herbert Simon’s Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision-making
Processes in Administration Organization (1947), for which he also a won
a Noble prize in 1978 talked about alignment of principles of public
administration with the ideals of logical positivism. His contention was
that public administration and decision making must be developed and
based on scientifically arrived observations and facts i.e. through
experimentation. He thus, wanted decision making to be free of value
judgements and focus must be on facts, adoption of precise definition of
terms, application of rigorous analysis, and testing of factual statements
or postulates about administration.
• He called the ‘classical principles’ of Public administration as ‘merely
proverbs’ and unscientific.
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• The pioneering studies which resulted from the experiments in the
Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company in the late 1920s also
challenged many prevailing ideas about incentives and human behaviour
in groups.
• These studies of human behaviour stress the human aspect of
administration, the need of employees for recognition, security, and ego
satisfaction and the importance of the social environment and group
attitudes in work situations. They reach the conclusion that employee-
oriented supervision is more effective than production minded,
authoritarian supervision.
• Thus, these studies brought out the limitations of the machine concept of
organization by drawing attention to the social and psychological factors
of the work situation.
• The claim that public administration is a science was challenged by Dahl
in his ‘The Science of Public Administration: Three Problems’ (1947). He
argued that the quest for principles of administration was obstructed by
three factors: values, individual personalities, and social framework. He
argued that public administration cannot be scientific until there is
comparative public administration and therefore urged for an inclusion of
historical, sociological, economical, political, and other conditioning factors
to understand the workings of public administration.
• The post Second World War period saw the emergence of newly
independent nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This development
brought a change in perspective of public administration and thinkers in
the West started giving relevance to environmental factors and their
impact on the different administrative systems in these nations. This
factor largely accounted for the development of comparative, ecological,
and development administration perspectives in the study of public
administration.
• In this context, the contribution of Ferrel Heady, F.W. Riggs, and Edward
Wiedner is significant. The cross-cultural and cross-national administrative

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studies have provided the impetus needed for the extension of the scope
of public administration.
• From the period of late 1960s, young American scholars were involved in
understanding the next step of public administration. At the Minnowbrook
Conference I in 1968, the scholars talked about the New Public
Administration (NPA) as the next step of administration in post-industrial
society. The focus on NPA meant making public administration socially
relevant and accountable to the public.
• Minnowbrook Conference I was held under the chairmanship of Dwight
Waldo. Its proceedings were combined in a report by Frank Marini in
1971 named "Toward a New Public Administration: The Minnow Brook
Perspective".
• The Conference was held in the backdrop of turbulent times in American
society impacted by campus clashes, Vietnam War, ethnic skirmishes,
and its overall impact on the Americans. Along with it, the Conference
was fed up with the focus of PA on only rationality and efficiency.
• Thus, through NPA, they wanted public administration to socially relevant,
value oriented, accountable, transparent, and working towards public
interests, social equity and change.
• Public choice school is another landmark in the evolution of public
administration. Far from accepting bureaucracy as ‘rational’ and ‘efficient’,
the protagonists of this school have been highly skeptical about its
structure and actual operating behaviour. The argument of Niskanen,
Downs, and Tullock, in this context, is based on the assumption of
administrative egoism. The bureaucrats are, in their view, individualistic
self-seekers ‘who would do more harm than good to public welfare’
unless ‘their self-seeking activities are carefully circumscribed’. This
explains the tendency towards bureaucratic growth that brings in more
and more rewards for the officials. To mitigate the evils of bureaucratic
monopoly, Niskanen (1971) focused on the role of market to ensure
efficient delivery of services to public. He, therefore, suggests the
following steps:

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a. stricter control on bureaucrats through the executive or legislature.
b. more competition in the delivery of public services
c. privatization or contracting out to reduce wastage.
d. dissemination of more information for public benefit about the
availability of alternatives to public services, offered on a competitive
basis and at competitive costs.

• The Minnowbrook Conference II, which was held in 1988, is another

landmark in the evolution of public administration. The outcome of the
conference gave birth to the new public management (NPM) approach to
governance. The shift in was due to the inefficiency and ineffectiveness
of bureaucracy in providing services to the citizens.
• Minnowbrook Conference II was held under the chairmanship of H
George Fredrickson. All its proceedings were published in the essays in
the Minnow Brook tradition edited by Richard T. Mayor and published by
Timmy Bailey - "Public Management in the Inter-Connected World:
Essays in the Minnow Brook Tradition." (1990).
• Thus, from 1990s, a surge in popularity of public sector working as a
private sector ushered in Western Nations to improve the efficient and
quality of the services provided to the public by the govt.
• Main features of NPM are as follows:
a. Organizational revamping i.e. simplifying the structures, flattening of
hierarchy etc.
b. Empowerment of citizens i.e. recognizing citizens not as passive but
active customers.
c. Autonomy to public sector managers.
d. Provision of performance measurement techniques and indicators.
e. Cost-cutting in public sector (Inspired by New-Right philosophy)
f. User-pay basis of delivery of services
g. Outsourcing and contracting out of services.
h. Decentralization of governance.

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• The publication of Reinventing Government by Osborne and Gaebler
(1992) redefined the functions of the government on the ideals of NPM.
The authors argued in favour of ‘entrepreneurial government’.
• A successor to NPM is digital-era governance, focusing on themes of
reintegrating government responsibilities via digitalization with the help of
ICT (Information Communication and Technology).
• Globalization is another phenomenon which has brought a paradigm shift
in the nature and scope of public administration as it paved the way for
a more flexible, less hierarchical, and accommodative kind of discipline
informed by networks and collaboration.
• Globalization and rolling back of welfare state, rather than diminishing the
role of public administration made it even more proactive and
collaborative as it readjusted itself and welcomed the help of civil society
(such as NGOs) and market i.e. private sector in dispensing delivery of
public goods and services.
• In other words, the era of globalization revamped public administration
from enabler to a facilitator.
• Minnowbrook Conference III (2008) (Venue – Lake Placid): It was
organised when American economy was downgrading, and global
terrorism had shown its first effect. Thus, its main focus was on global
concerns like global terrorism, economy and ecological imbalances etc.
Such globally affected concerns led to invitation of participants from other
countries as well and discussed global challenges and problems of Public
Administration.
• Its focus was upon structural and functional reforms or second-generation
reforms. And gave rise to the concept of 3 E's - Economy, Efficiency and
Effectiveness.
• Its proceedings are published in "The Future of Public Administration
Around the World: The Minnowbrook Perspective" by Rosemary O'Leary,
David M. Van Slyke, Soonhee Kim. It was held under the chairmanship
of Rosemary O'Leary.

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Important Books (Apart from the ones already mentioned):

• Blau, Peter M - Bureaucracy in Modern Society – 1956.

• Dimock, M.E. and G.O. Dimock - Public Administration – 1969
• Nigro, Felix A - Modern Public Administration – 1965,1971
• Niskanen, William A - Bureaucracy and Representative Government -
1971
• Osborne, David and Ted Gaebler - Reinventing Government: How the
Entrepreneurial
• Spirit Is Transforming the Public Sector - 1992
• Pfiffner, John and R. Presthus - Public Administration - 1953

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Topic – Administrative Theories

1. Scientific Management Theory:

• The origin of scientific management theory is considered to be a major
breakthrough in industrial management.
• With the emergence of large-scale industries due to Industrial Revolution
and the subsequent crisis of First World War, the West was going through
turbulent times with respect to crisis in management, scarcity of resources
and complexity in business etc. for which an efficient science of
management was needed.
• The scientific management theory was the outcome of this need as it came
forward with a technique of ensuring maximum efficiency and greater
productivity with efficient and economization of utilization of resources and
time.
• In other words, it had ‘revolutionized’ industrial relations. It suggested that
the application of scientific technology would maximize the overall
productivity in an industry, which in effect would increase the earnings of
both the workers and employers and minimize the friction between them.
• Frederick W. Taylor has been considered as the father of scientific
management theory, though the term ‘scientific management’ was coined
much later by Louis Brandeis in 1910, reflecting on the ideas of Taylor.
• The major works of Taylor include ‘A Piece-rate System’ (1895), ‘Shop
Management’ (1903), ‘The Art of Cutting Metals’ (1906), and ‘The Principles
of Management’ (1911).

Principles of Scientific Management:

• Development of true science of work – Scientific Management theory

asserted that by finding ‘one best of doing a job’ will ensure that the
efficiency and effectiveness of productivity and resources respectively can
be achieved. The basic objective, was therefore to use scientific methods
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such as observing, analyzing and experimentation, so as to find the most
productive way of doing a certain work by finding out the most efficient
skill and the ideal time it takes to do it. He hence wanted to replace the
‘rule of thumb’ with the ‘science of work’.
• The scientific selection, training and progressive development of workers:
This principle of scientific management emphasized on ensuring that the
right workers are selected for the right work and proper grooming of them
takes place by an organization. He believed that a vibrant workforce are
the mainstay of ensuring rapid productivity in an industry and therefore,
there selection, training and further development must be done in the most
scientific way.
Scientific selection involves selecting a right person for a right job. For this,
some standard selection procedure must be there. Workers’ skill and
experience must be matched with the requirements of the respective jobs
they are to perform. The workmen so selected must be given training for
the specific tasks assigned. This would help worker to accept new methods,
tools, and conditions willingly and enthusiastically. Taylor holds that it is
the managements’ responsibility to implement appropriate selection and
training systems and to see to it that the worker’s intellectual, psychological,
and physical traits match the requirements of these jobs.
• Close coordination between science of work and scientifically selected and
training of work - Taylor says that in order to get the best results, someone
has to bring the science and workmen together. He felt that it is the
exclusive responsibility of the management to do this job. He believes that
workers are always willing to cooperate with the management but there is
more opposition from the management side. He suggests ‘mental revolution’
for a change in this perception.
• Division of work between management and workers - It put the onus of
industrial productivity equally on the management and workers. That is,
industrial well-being is a joint responsibility, which needs to be shouldered
by both.

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Thus, in his book ‘Principles of Scientific Management’, Taylor opined that
scientific management cannot be successful with any one element and is therefore
a combination of:

• Science, not rule of thumb

• Harmony, not discord
• Cooperation, not individualism
• Maximum output, in place of restricted output
• Development of each man to his greatest efficiency and prosperity

Taylor employed several techniques to facilitate the application of the principles

of scientific management. These include functional foremanship, motion study,
time study, piece-rate plan, exceptional principle, standardization of tools etc. He
also urged the management and workers to change their attitude and sentiments
for each other to ensure maximum productivity and less friction i.e. he urges for
a ‘mental revolution’.

Functional Foremanship – While using this technique, Taylor asserted that no man
whether a supervisor or a worker can have knowledge about everything or can
be an expert. Hence, he advocated for division of work based on specialization.

Thus, he advocated the appointment of eight foremen to guide workers, under

planning and production departments. Under the planning in charge, there are
four personnel:
(i) Route clerk He is responsible to specify the route of production. {it) Instruction
card clerk He is responsible to give instructions to the workers.
{ii) Time and cost clerk He is responsible to prepare time and cost sheets.
(iii) Disciplinarian He is responsible to maintain discipline among workers.

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Under the production in charge, there are four personnel:
(i) Speed boss He is responsible for timely completion of job.
{ii) Gang-boss He is responsible for keeping machines and tools ready for work.
{iii) Repair boss He is responsible to keep machines and tools in proper working
condition.
{iv) Inspector He is responsible to maintain quality of work.

Criticisms:

• Human relation theorist criticized Taylor’s principles for being impersonal

and undermining the human factor.
• Behaviourist also charged that Taylor’s methods sacrificed the initiative of
the worker, his individual freedom, and the use of his intelligence and
responsibility.
• Herbert Simon and James G. March described the scientific management
principles as the ‘physiological organization theory’.
• Taylor’s theory is also criticized for oversimplifying human motivation in
terms of economic rewards and neglecting the social and psychological
aspects of motivation.

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2. Bureaucratic Theory:

The bureaucratic theory is a series of attempts by various writers/theorists to

conceptualize the working and functioning of bureaucracy.

A. Ideal Type Bureaucracy: The conceptualization of the functioning of

bureaucracy starts with German sociologists Max Weber who for the first
time underlined the ideal working structure and provided the list of do’s
and don’ts to ensure that the bureaucracy functions in the most effective
and efficient manner.
Although, he never gave a proper definition of the term bureaucracy but
while explaining the ideal type he excluded the elected or selected officials
within his conceptualization of bureaucracy.
• His ideal type will make more sense if understood with respect to his
theory of domination or ‘herrschaft’.
• According to Weber, domination is not merely a structure of command that
elicits obedience, rather it is what is readily complied with. He has identified
three sources of legitimation, namely, traditional, charismatic, and rational–
legal, of which rational–legal authority is codified in bureaucracy.
• In case of traditional authority, the source of legitimation is tradition.
Basically, traditional societies are subject to this kind of authority, where
patriarchs, tribal, or clan heads have drawn their authority from innumerable
customs, traditions, and conventions.
• The charismatic source of authority rests upon personal charm, which may
include magnetic personality, heroic figure, gift of gab, and the like.
• However, as Weber reminds us, such sources of legitimation are inherently
unstable and ephemeral. The charisma, views Weber, evaporates once it
is routinized. By contrast, the rational–legal authority invokes the sanction
of law.
• According to Weber, bureaucracy is the universal and most progressive
and modern form of organization, which is based on rational–legal authority.
It plays a crucial role in ordering and controlling modern societies.
• Thus, as per Weber the characteristics of bureaucracy are as follows:

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1. Clear hierarchy of officials
2. Functions of the officials are clearly specified
3. Officials are appointed on the basis of a contract
4. Impersonal duty
5. Officials are selected on the basis of their professional qualifications and
experiences either through exam or interview.
6. They get benefits attached to the job with respect to money salary and
pension.
7. They can resign or can be removed.
8. Officials performance will be graded.
9. Promotion is possible either by seniority or merit, and according to the
judgement of superiors
10. Officials after leaving has nothing to with the job or the resources attached
to it, meaning the post or the job does not represent him.
11. He is subject to a unified control and disciplinary system

Criticisms:

• The ideal type theory is too ideal and has its own unintended
consequences.
• It is a machine theory and a closed system model.
• Robert Merton argued that strict adherence to rules can become an end
in itself, resulting in ‘goal displacement’.
• Strict adherence to rules promotes rigidity, red tape, delay in decision
making, resistance to change etc.
• Michel Crozier described bureaucracy as a rigid ‘organization that cannot
correct its behavior by learning from its errors’.

Note: Weber quite aware of the problems that comes with the bureaucratization
and therefore lists down some defense mechanisms for the same such as
collegiality (i.e. collective decision making to counter bureaucratic monopoly), the

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separation of powers, direct democracy, and representation (which he viewed as
the most effective technique to check on bureaucratization).

B. Instrumentalist theory by Karl Marx – Marx has asserted that bureaucracy

is nothing but the instrument of the bourgeoise i.e. ruling class to continue
the dominancy of the existing state. He viewed bureaucracy as a shock
absorber as it absorbs the shocks that might hit the state. Therefore, as
a true scientist of social change he had identified the crucial importance
of bureaucracy in sustaining the status quo and prescribed the
simultaneous abolition of bureaucracy and the state. However, Marx, unlike
Weber, never attempted a full-length discourse on bureaucracy or public
administration.

C. Functionalist theory – The theory was developed as a critique/criticism to

Weber’s ideal type model by Robert Merton. In his article ‘Bureaucratic
Structure and Personality’ he talked about bureaucracy from the functional
perspective and asserted that emphasis on precision and reliability in
administration may prove to be counter-productive as the rules, which have
been designed as means to ends, may well become ends in themselves.
Moreover, with excessive dependence on hierarchy, impersonality, and so
on, bureaucracy as a career service will degenerate into a dysfunctional
organization.

D. Pathological Theory: Under this theory, Victor Thompson has explained

bureaucratic behavior as a sickness which is common among all the
governmental organization. He called it as bureaupatholgy. He says that
the officials in bureaucracy are insecure people who use their authority to
dominate and control people and others.
The pathological theory of bureaucracy was born out of popular resentment
and antipathy regarding the bureaucratic form of governance.

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Two theories can be identified here, namely, Parkinson’s Law and Peter Principle
as the pathological manifestation of bureaucracy.

Parkinson, in his path-breaking formulation the ‘Parkinson Law’, has exposed the
internal dynamics of bureaucracy. According to him, bureaucracy as a self-
maximizing interest group, expands its magnitude via the following laws:

• ‘work expands to fill the time available for its completion’ – Meaning that
there is no direct correlation between the amount of work to be done in
an organization and the staff actually manning the organization i.e. official
make work for each other.
• Expenditure rises to meet income’ – Meaning that the officials maximizes
the budget of the organization to fill their own pockets.
• ‘The law of triviality’ – Meaning that the officially intentionally belittle the
massive expenditure by quoting to be a routine.

Peter Principle – Laurence J. Peter, has used the concept of bureaupatholgy to

show how the incompetence and inefficiency of the officials in the system are
celebrated and promoted to the next level in this rigid hierarchical structure
without any checks and balances. They thus are promoted to next level of
incompetence until they reach the ‘Peter’s Plateau’ after which the promotion
quotient is nil.

3. Human Relations Theory:

• The Human relations theory give primacy to human factors over institutional
factors.
• It sees organization as a social system with human behaviour as the basic
unit of analysis.
• Elton Mayo is considered to be the father of human relations theory.

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• This theory underscores key elements of organization, which the classical
theorists seem to have overlooked. These are:
a) organization is to be viewed as a social system
b) workers are human beings with all humanly attributes
c) informal elements also play an important role in the overall organizational
output
d) organization has a social ethics, instead of individual ethics.
e) Focus is on ‘Social Man’ and not ‘Economic Man’.
• Elton Mayo’s major works include The Human Problems of an Industrial
Civilization (1933), The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilization (1945),
and The Political Problem of Industrial Civilization (1947).
• As a Professor at Harvard, he conducted varieties of studies on human
behaviour but the ones that stands out the most is the Hawthorne
experiments.
• The Hawthorne studies were basically conducted by Elton Mayo and his
associates at the Harvard Business School in early 1920s and late 1930s
at the Hawthorne Electrical Company at Chicago, US, to understand the
reasons behind moderate productivity and output even after providing liberal
incentives to the workers and ensuring cordial work environment.
• Among those experiments the notable were the Great Illumination
Experiment (1924–27), the Human Attitudes and Sentiments (1928–31), the
Bank Wiring Experiment (1931–32).
• Through these experiments, Elton Mayo and his associates concluded the
following points:
a. Workers value human emotions such as group loyalty and bond more
than the physical and financial incentives provided by the organization.
b. Workers appreciate when the industry considers them as part of family
and allow them not only to express their opinions freely about their
personal goals, emotions, sentiments etc. but also collects information
from them with respect to way through which organization can function
more productively.
c. Informal elements in the organization plays a very important role in
designing the direction of the industry. The experiments helped them to
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realize the presence of an informal union amongst the workers that
played more important role in deciding the quantum of productivity and
output than the economic, personal incentives.
In other words, the researchers release the workers were members of
a small, closely knit group, governed by a code that rejected the
‘ratebuster’ (who does too much work), the ‘chiseler’ (who does too
little), and the ‘squealer’ (who communicates detrimental information
about others to the supervisor).
d. Participative management is the future of organization.

Criticism:

• Critics argue that human relations theory was based on a wrong and
simplistic assumption of organization.
• Human relations theory is also criticized for its ‘vagueness, psychological
jargon, distortion of the organizational environment, and unwillingness to
distinguish the administrative aspects’.
• Human relations theory is also accused of overemphasizing the human
element of organization at the cost of basic structural element.

Important Books:

• Martin Albrow – Bureaucracy – 1970

• Michel Crozier The Bureaucratic Phenomenon – 1946
• Robert Denhardt Theories of Public Administration – 2008
• Patrick Dunleavy - ‘Bureaucrats, Budgets, and the Growth of the State –
1985
• Parkinson - Parkinson’s Law and Other Studies in Administration – 1957
• Laurence Peter and Hull Raymond - The Peter Principle. – 1972 (1969)
• Max Weber - Essays in Sociology - 1946

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Title – Administrative Theories – Part II

1. Systems Theory:
• The Systems theory to public administration understands society as a
system consisting of various sub-systems within it. These sub-systems
which have different functions and structures are inter-related and inter-
dependent to each other and therefore interacts, impact and get
influenced with each other.
• The theory in other words, sees society as an open system in which the
work of public administration (political system) i.e. policy making and
decision making gets impacted/influenced by the environment it is
situated in.
• The theory rejects the closed system phenomena propagated by the
classical theory of organization where it was stated that the organization
is independent of environment and society. The systems theory contrary
to it states that organization constantly gets influenced and influence in
turn the other factors in the environment.
• David Easton who is the main proponent of this theory, in his book ‘The
Political System’ (1953) and later ‘A Framework of Policy Analysis’ (1965)
and ‘A System Analysis of Political Life’ asserted that political system is
that part of the society which is engaged in ‘authoritative allocation of
values’.

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• Thus, David Easton through his model, explains that the decision making
at the government level is influenced by inputs (which are basically the
demands and support of the people in the environment). It also gets
impacted by the intra-societal and extra-societal factors in the
environment.
• The decisions are finally taken up by the institutions, public administration
and organization present within the political system i.e. the black box
based on the inputs received and are converted into outputs i.e. laws,
rules, regulations etc. These outputs are hence the authoritative allocation
of values.
• The feedback from the output then starts a new cycle of decision making
as it generates new demands and supports amongst the people in the
environment.

Criticisms:

• The systems model of David Easton is too simplistic.

• It does not cater to the influence and dominance of ‘power, personnel
and institutions’ in policy making.
• They see policy as value-free i.e. neutral which is a false idea.

2. Rational Choice and Decision-making theory:

• This theory to public administration equates administration with decision
making.
• Decisions are made at every stage of the organization and are
considered as fundamental steps in the process of policy formulation.
However, decision-making is neither a single-shot job nor a single
person’s task, it involves a series of steps including feedback and follow-
up actions and obviously multiple actors.
• It is complex process involving series of steps:

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Step-I: Identification of or locating the problem.

Step-II: Getting related information and data and figuring out tentative options.

Step-III: Weighing the tentative steps by seeking opinion of the subordinates.

Step-IV: Zeroing in on a particular option.

Step-V: Evaluate the efficacy of the decision reached at.

Step-VI: Getting the feedback and make necessary modification if situation so

demands.

A. Simon’s Rational decision-making approach:

• The decision-making theory is popularly associated with Herbert Simon’s
rational decision-making approach.
• Simon views organization as a structure concerned solely with decision-
making. According to him, decision-making is not a specific task of a
particular part of an organization; rather decisions are made at every
level of organization.
• He explains that decision making happens in three phases – intelligence
activity (phase where indicators or problems are identified to make
decisions), design activity (phase where alternative options for the
decisions are formulated) and choice activity (phase where final decisions
are taken from the options).
• However, he also asserts none of these phases takes place in isolation
and overlap each other.
• The other important criterion of Simon’s theory is that he says that the
decisions taken are based on logical assumptions i.e. are based on
rationality. In other words, the decisions taken by the officials in public
administration are based on a combination of fact and values, logic,
preferences in general and bounded rationality (i.e. they opt for those

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options while making decisions that gives them the most satisfaction as
attaining total or maximum satisfaction is not possible).
• Simon’s efforts to construct a value-free science of administration have
been criticized by Selznick on the ground that it encourages the divorce
of means and ends. Simon’s concept of rationality is also criticized by
Argyris for not recognizing the role of intuition, tradition, and faith in
decision-making. Argyris feels that Simon’s theory focuses on status quo
ante. It uses satisfying to rationalize incompetence.

B. Public-Choice Theory:

• The public-choice theory is based on methodological individualism and

rational choice. It draws its ideological support from New Right
Philosophy which seeks to promote free market, anti-welfarist, libertarian,
and sometimes socially authoritarian (conservative) policies.
• It gained popularity in the early 1960s. An early reference to this theory
is found in the writings of Vincent Ostrom.
• The other important supporters of public-choice approach are James
Buchanan, Gordon Tullock, William A. Niskanen, and William C. Mitchell.
Public choice theory is a method to study the decisional processes for
the allocation of scarce resources in the society.
• It lays emphasis on the element of choice, with the citizen in the role of
consumer.
• It is in favour of the citizen’s choice in the provision of public goods and
services. The advocates of this approach assume that the individual can
make rational decisions about his needs and demands.
• An individual will act in accordance with his self-interest in order to
maximize his decision. Thus, the supporters of this approach demand
that the actions of the government should be consistent with the values
and interests of its citizens.

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• Vincent Ostrom remarks that public-choice theory is the most appropriate
approach to the study of public administration. He suggests public
administration scholars to turn away from the traditional bureaucratic
approach towards the public-choice approach.
• The argument of Niskanen, Downs, and Tullock, in this context, is based
on the assumption of administrative egoism. The bureaucrats are, in their
view, individualistic self-seekers ‘who would do more harm than good to
public welfare’ unless ‘their self-seeking activities are carefully
circumscribed’.
• Niskanen suggested –
1. stricter control on bureaucrats through the executive or legislature.
2. more competition in the delivery of public services
3. privatization or contracting out to reduce wastage.
4. dissemination of more information for public benefit

C. Bargaining Approach:
• The bargaining approach of decision-making suggests that conflicts are
the rules in decision-making, which cannot be resolved by rational
analysis. It calls for ‘partisan mutual adjustments’.
• Charles E. Lindblom, in other words, suggested that decision making in
public administration is value laden and conflict prone. He thus, came up
with a new perspective of governmental decision making in his essay
‘The Science of Muddling Through’ (1959).
• He said that there are two separate varieties of decision-making, namely,
the rational-comprehensive or root method (under which method the
officials takes decisions rationally from the options available to him) and
the successive limited comparisons or branch method (under which the
official makes decision not based on rationality but on the basis what is
immediately relevant).
• He says that the second method depicts the administrative reality. And
further states that administrator outlines actions not from broad ranges of

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options selected and analyzed every time when decisions have to be
made but only changes few incremental steps which are feasible from
the already available decisions.
• He also called it as incremental approach of decision making.
• Thus, to Lindblom the reality of administrative decision-making contains
the following attributes:

First, it is incremental in nature. This means that administrative decisions are

not reached in a single go, but through small and calibrated steps.

Second, it is always incomprehensive. This means that administrators cannot

take into account the whole range of options available at their disposal.

Third, the branch technique of decision-making involves successive comparisons

because policy is never made once and for all but is made and remade
endlessly through small chains of comparisons between narrow choices.

Fourth, in practice, decision-making suffices rather than maximizes from among

the available options.

Fifth, it rests on a pluralist conception of the public sector, in which many

contending interest groups compete for influence over policy issues, continually
forcing the administrator, as the person in the middle, to secure agreement
among the competing parties. The political art of compromise, thus, becomes a
major part of decision-making methods.

3. Riggs’ Ecological Approach:

• F.W. Riggs is a contemporary theorist in the fields of political
development and comparative public administration who has been
primarily interested in conceptualizing on the interactions between
administrative systems and their environment.

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• The ecological approach focuses the attention of impact on public
administration by the socio-cultural, political, economic environment it is
situated in.
• It also studies the how administrative system too affects the society it is
part of.
• This interaction of the environment with administration has been termed
by him as ‘ecology’ of administration.
• His views on ecological approach are found in his books The Ecology of
Public Administration (1961) and Administration in Developing Countries:
The Theory of Prismatic Society (1964).
• Riggs analysis of public administration primarily relies upon a structural-
functional approach. He refers to structure as a society’s pattern of
activity. This approach envisages that in every society certain important
function have to be carried out by a number of structures with the
application of certain specified methods. Based on this, Riggs attempted
to explain the various societies.
• He thus defined three types of societies through Fused, Prismatic, and
Diffracted model. They represent underdeveloped, developing, and
developed societies, respectively.
• Riggs emphasized that ‘Fused-Prismatic-Diffracted models’ are designed
to be ‘ideal‘types not to be found in any actual society. Nevertheless,
these models would help us to understand and analyze the societies and
function of administrative systems.

Fused Model –

• Based on the experience of imperial China and pre-revolutionary Siamese

Thailand, Riggs proposed the concept and characteristics of fused
societies.
• In these societies, a single structure carries out a number of functions.
These societies heavily depend on agriculture with no industrialization
and modernization.

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• The economic system is based on law of exchange and barter system.
• The King and royal family members and officials nominated by the king
carry out all administrative, economic, and other activities by themselves.
• The administrative systems in a fused society, is based on the structure
of family and strives to protect the special interests of the family and
certain sects rather than aiming at universal happiness and development.
• These societies do not differentiate between justice and injustice, formal
and informal setups and governmental and non-governmental activities.
• Ascriptive values play a dominant role in the society and the behaviour
of people would be highly traditional.
• Age old customs, beliefs, faith and traditional ways of living enable
people to live together and control their behavior.

Diffracted model -

• Riggs uses American society as model of diffracted society.

• A diffracted society will be dynamic with high degree of specialization
and each structure carries out a specialized function.
• All organizations and structures in the society are created and based on
scientific rational.
• Ascriptive values cease to exist, giving way to the attainment values in
the society.
• Governments would be responsive to the needs of people and protect
human rights. People would bring pressure on the government to get
their demands fulfilled.
• There would be a general consensus among the people on all basic
aspects of social life.
• Public pay attention and give respect to the laws of the nation on their
own. This would enable the government to implement the laws and
discharge its responsibilities without any difficulty.

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• The economic system of diffracted society is based on market
mechanism. The influence of market has both direct and indirect effects
on the other facets of the society.
• Riggs called it marketised society.

Prismatic model –

• The most popular model of Riggs’ Ecological approach.

• Used by Riggs to depict the developing societies i.e. the transitional
phase which has both the characteristics of fused and diffracted societies.
• While doing his field work in Thailand (1957-58) and teaching in
Philippines (1958-59), he articulated prismatic model based on the
metaphor of prisms.
• According to Riggs, the prismatic society has three important
characteristics features, namely:
a. Heterogeneity: A prismatic society is characterized by a high degree
of ‘heterogeneity’ which refers to the simultaneous side-by-side
presence of quite different kinds of systems, practices, and viewpoints.
There is a co-existence of modern administrative structure in urban
areas and traditional administrative set-ups in rural areas.
b. Formalism: A prismatic society is characterized by a high degree of
formalism which refers to the degree of difference between the
formally prescribed and effectively practiced norms and realities.
Because of formalism, the actual behaviour of the sala officials will be
at variance with what laws and regulations laid down. Thus, formalism
often results in official corruption.
c. Overlapping: Overlapping refers to the extent to which differentiated
structures of diffracted society co-exist with undifferentiated structures
of a fused type. In a prismatic society, although modern social
structures are created, the old or undifferentiated structures continue
to dominate the social system. Thus, in reality the new structures are
paid only lip-sympathy and are overlooked widely in favour of

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traditional structures. Overlapping has severed important dimensions
such as (a) nepotism and favouritism, (b) polycommunalism (hostile
interaction among diverse groups), and (c) the existence of elects
(interest group having communal membership).

• Prismatic sala model – Amongst the various sub-systems that exists in a

prismatic society, Riggs termed the administrative sub system as the sala
model. He says that in a prismatic society family politics, nepotism, and
favoritism plays a very important role in appointments and working in the
administrative structure. There are universal laws but there is complete
disregard of them in society functioning.
The ‘sala’ officer gives priority to personal increase in power and wealth
rather than social welfare i.e. his allegiance towards power politics leads
to partial/biased decision making at government level. Further, the poly-
communalism also creates certain administrative problems.
Thus, the dominance of those in power impacts the environment in
administrative sub-systems.
As a result, the sala is characterized by nepotism in recruitment,
institutionalized corruption, and inefficiency in the administration of laws
on account of its being governed by the motives of gaining power for
protecting its own interest.

• Bazaar Canteen Model – This model has been used by Riggs to depict
and explain the economic sub-system in a Prismatic society which is also
characterized by nepotism, power politics and favouritism that thus
impacts the market dynamics in the society.
The price of any commodity or service depends on family contacts,
individual relationship, bargaining power, and politics. In a bazaar canteen
model, a small section of people may enjoy all benefits with control over
economic institutions and exploit a large number of people. Exploitation,

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poverty, and social injustice, therefore, become the major features of the
bazaar canteen model.

Important Books

• Herbert Simon - 1973. ‘Organisational Man: Rational or Self-actualisation’

• Douglas McGregor - 1960. The Human Side of the Enterprise.

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Topic: New Public Administration, Development Administration,
Comparative Public Administration, New Public Management

and Changing Nature of PA in era of liberalization and globalization

New Public Administration:

• The NPA is defined as the stage in public administration where a new

outlook for the discipline infused with political values such as social justice,
change, equity, and commitment was searched for.
• The development of NPA can be also linked to the ‘crisis of identity’
experienced by the public administration discipline.
• The discussions to find out the next progressive stage of public
administration can be traced back to the Minnowbrook Conference I in
1968 at Syracuse University attended by young intellectuals from different
branches of social sciences.
• The Conference was held under the backdrop of anger and unrest that
has developed in the American society against the government on issues
such as ethnic skirmishes, campus clashes, Vietnam War, and its
repercussions on the American society etc.
• The focus of the meeting was to changes the discipline obsession from
economy and efficiency and make it more socially relevant, politically aware,
and sensitive to the needs of the public. Thus, the meeting’s topic for
discussion was Public Interest.
• The meeting focused on the ideals of responsible government and an
effective administration i.e. an administration who is responsible and
accountable to the active and participative citizenry.
• Correctness of the rational model and the usefulness of the strict concept
of hierarchy have been severely challenged.
• But more than good, NPA was criticized for being a hoax, too narrow and
vague.

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• Its proceedings were combined in a report by Frank Marini in 1971 named
"Toward a New Public Administration: The Minnow Brook Perspective".
• It was held under the chairmanship of Dwight Waldo.

Comparative Public Administration:

• It refers to understanding, analyzing, or comparing the different

administrative structures present across the globe so as to find
uniform principles or pattern and regularities in the administrative
action or behaviour.
• The approach focuses on comparison of public administration
structures of different nations under different cultural settings. In other
words, this approach opines that administrative structure and
functioning of every country is unique in its own way and depends
on socio-cultural factors present over there.
• It looks to test the universal effectiveness of Classical theorist (Taylor,
Urwick, Gullick, Fayol etc.) principles of administration and whether
it works or not in different administrative structures and thus formulate
a comparative theory on PA.
• CPA is very significant as it respects the uniqueness existing in
different nation’s administration and therefore work towards
understanding the varied principles with respect to its ecology to find
out what works and why. Such literature in turn also help in building
the overall discipline of PA.
• Although first used by Aristotle while comparing the constitutions of
different political systems, it was Woodrow Wilson whose essay in
1887, titled ‘The Study of Administration’, talked about the need for
comparing the administrative structures of the other nations to
understand the weaknesses and virtues of our own. He further also
said that PA is the best and safe prospect of comparative studies

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as the goals and way of functioning of all administration across the
globe is almost similar and thus, we can learn a lot by comparing.
• In 1947, Robert Dahl, in his essay, ‘The Science of Public
Administration: Three Problems’ (three problems that prevents PA
from becoming a science are - values, behavior, and culture) also
emphasized the utility of comparative public administration to develop
a science of public administration. He said that “as long as the study
of public administration is not comparative, claim for a science of a
public administration sound rather hollow”.
• However, the comparative approach to public administration became
popular only after the Second World War with the emergence of new
nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These nations were facing
the challenges of modernization and technological development.
• It was hoped that a science of comparative public administration
would provide insights into such problems and yield some useful
hypotheses about administrative behaviour in general.
• Two important figures in this field are Ferrel Heady and Fred Riggs.
• The comparative approach to public administration is not only useful
to strengthen the theory-building process in public administration but
also helps us to know whether the administrative practices in a
particular nation are applicable to other nations or not. On the basis
of this, the applicability of the administrative models can be judged
and practiced in other political systems.
• The developments post WW2, such as emergence of new
independent nations in the Third World, the cold war scenario, the
creation of UN etc. forced the intellectuals and political theorist of
the American society to think deep and build a discipline around
comparative PA. The first such effort was by the Comparative
Administration Group of the American Society for Public
Administration set up in 1963 under the chairmanship of Fred Riggs
to study the administrative problems of developing countries with
respect to its political, social, cultural, economical environment.

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• In 1967, during one of the meetings of Comparative Administrative
Group, Riggs outlines three trends in comparative public
administration:
a) From normative towards more empirical approaches.
b) shifts from ideographic (individualistic) towards Nomothetic (universal).
c) shift from a predominantly non- ecological to an ecological basis for
the study of public administration.
• Also, in 1968 under the Minnowbrook Conference I, the future of
CPA was discussed.

Development Administration:

• In the 1950s, development administration emerged as a vehicle to

usher in speedy ‘development’ in the post-colonial Third World.
• The administration concerned with developmental activities in the
Third World nations is called development administration.
• The term ‘development administration’ was first used by an Indian
Civil Servant, U.L. Goswami in his article entitled ‘The Structure of
Development Administration in India’ in 1955 in the context of
community development programmes.
• However, the conceptualization and elaboration of the concept were
done by the Western, especially American, scholars, such as George
F. Gant, F.W. Riggs, Edward Weidner, Milton J. Esman, Han Bee
Lee, John D. Montgomery, and Alfred Diamant. The most important
single contribution in the field came from the Comparative
Administrative Group in USA formed in 1961 under the aegis of the
American Society for Public Administration.
• Edward Weidner defined development administration as ‘an action-
oriented, goal-oriented administrative system guiding an organization
towards the achievement of progressive political, economic, and

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social objectives’. He viewed development as a dynamic process of
change or transformation from one state of being to another. The
main goals of development in developing countries, according to
Weidner, are nation building and socioeconomic progress.
• The origin of development administration is in the desire of Western
rich countries to provide financial aid to newly independent poor
countries to transform their colonial bureaucracies into more
responsible instruments of societal change. The simple underlying
conception was that the transfer of resources and know-how would
hasten the modernization process from agrarian to industrial, using
government- and public-sponsored bodies as change agents.
• This was the explicit goal. But the implicit (hidden goal) was to
counter the Marxist–Leninist ideological prescription, offering a
classless society i.e. new nations had to be saved from the appeals
of communism.
• Bureaucratization was therefore considered a functional prerequisite
for maintaining stability and legitimacy in the political order.
• The key objective was transformation of existing government
machinery into a new entity. This was to be accomplished through
administrative development, that is,
a. modernization of government machinery through external
inducement
b. transfer of technology
c. training by foreign experts
d. and setting up of institutions of public administration in developing
countries.
• Thus, development administration emerged, closely tied to foreign aid and
Western formulae, for development planning which was supposed to have
equal (and universal) applicability in developing nations.
• Some of the characteristics of development administration (DA) are

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a. Change orientation – the main concern of DA was to bring desirable
socio-economic, political, cultural etc. changes in the society to usher
development.
b. Result and Goal orientation – the DA is goal, client and result oriented
i.e. its goal is to bring desired results and change in the society while
the satisfying the needs of its clients i.e. the public.
c. Citizen-participation orientation – the DA focuses on making the
bureaucracy responsive to its citizens and promotes active participation
of them in the development programmes.
d. Commitment to work – the DA promotes discipline, innovativeness, and
commitment of the public administration towards the public demands
and needs to build a developed society.
• However, the DA lost its sheen under the popularity of neo-liberal reforms
that ushered post 1970s that promoted transformation of public sector under
the LPG policies i.e. Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization.
• Meaning that with growing resentment of inefficiency of the State and
bureaucracy, the focus was on public sector management i.e. running the
public sector on market-based principles. It was further aggravated by the
Structural Adjustment Programs proposed by World Bank and IMF offered
to countries that experienced economic crises under which it was required
for the borrowing countries to implement certain policies in order to obtain
new loans (or to lower interest rates on existing ones). These policies were
typically centered around increased privatization, liberalizing trade and
foreign investment, and balancing government deficit i.e. it promoted rolling
back of the State from its role in social sector.

New Public Management:

• New Public Management was ushered as a phase to make government

more responsible to the citizens and change entirely how the public sector
works.

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• NPM can be defined as new set of experiments in public sector
management informed with the market principles of efficiency and economy
to make ailing public sector effective i.e. to reinvent governance in the
public sector.
• It promoted 3Es in public administration and governance i.e. Efficiency,
Effectiveness and Economy.
• It therefore promoted borrowing of market principles in governance of public
sector.
• NPM was the outcome of Minnowbrook Conference II in 1988.
• Minnowbrook Conference II was held under the chairmanship of H George
Fredrickson. All its proceedings were published in the essays in the Minnow
Brook tradition edited by Richard T. Mayor and published by Timmy Bailey
- "Public Management in the Inter-Connected World: Essays in the Minnow
Brook Tradition." (1990).
• Thus, from 1990s, a surge in popularity of public sector working as a
private sector ushered in Western Nations to improve the efficient and
quality of the services provided to the public by the govt.
• Main features of NPM are as follows:
a. Organizational revamping i.e. simplifying the structures, flattening of
hierarchy etc.
b. Empowerment of citizens i.e. recognizing citizens not as passive citizens
but active customers.
c. Autonomy to public sector managers.
d. Provision of performance measurement techniques and indicators.
e. Cost-cutting in public sector (Inspired by New-Right philosophy)
f. User-pay basis of delivery of services
g. Outsourcing and contracting out of services.
h. Decentralization of governance.
• Under NPM, a whole new set of nomenclatures like managers, customers,
service providers etc. started getting related to public sector functioning.

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• The introduction of NPM was ushered as a way to substitute a sheltered
inefficient bureaucracy and replace it with an efficient, responsible,
transparent, and accountable service provider.
• In sum, it promoted a reformed public administration with minimum
government, de-bureaucratization, decentralization, market orientation of
public services, contracting out, privatization, performance measurement,
and so on.
• The publication of Reinventing Government by Osborne and Gaebler (1992)
redefined the functions of the government on the ideals of NPM. The
authors argued in favour of ‘entrepreneurial government’.
• The development of NPM took place under following factors:
a. Receding credibility of State – The inefficiency of the State in governance
of the society was being questioned in 1970s across the globe.
b. New Right Philosophy – The philosophy has inspired the principles and
features of NPM. The new right philosophy promotes free market, radical
right, Thatcherism, Reganomics, libertarianism, rolling back of the state
from non-essential and unnecessary services i.e. reducing wastage of
resources. It thus supported privatization, deregulation, increasing role
of market in delivery of public services and goods etc.
c. Emergence of post-Wilsonian, post-Weberian concept of public
administration – It means that the so-called focus on efficiency,
economics, rigid hierarchy and politics-administration dichotomy became
a thing of the past and now the focus was more on making the
administration democratic, flexible, transparent and accountable to the
citizens.
d. Administrative changes in advanced Western countries – From 1990s
onwards, the focus of the Western countries was to transform structurally
rigid hierarchical public administration into a flexible market-based form
of public management. They worked towards transforming the role of
public administration in the society and to make it more citizen friendly.

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Administration in the era of Liberalisation and Globalisation:

• A successor to NPM is digital-era governance, focusing on themes of

reintegrating government responsibilities via digitalization with the help of
ICT (Information Communication and Technology).
• Globalization is another phenomenon which has brought a paradigm shift
in the nature and scope of public administration as it paved the way for a
more flexible, less hierarchical, and accommodative kind of discipline
informed by networks and collaboration.
• Globalization and rolling back of welfare state, rather than diminishing the
role of public administration made it even more proactive and collaborative
as it readjusted itself and welcomed the help of civil society (such as
NGOs) and market i.e. private sector in dispensing delivery of public goods
and services.
• In other words, the era of globalization revamped public administration from
enabler to a facilitator.
• Minnowbrook Conference III (2008) (Venue – Blue Mountain Lake and Lake
Placid): It was organised when American economy was downgrading, and
global terrorism had shown its first effect. Thus, its main focus was on
global concerns like global terrorism, economy and ecological imbalances,
role of various stakeholders and interests group in decision making,
significance of e-governance and reaping benefits of the new technological
paradigm (ICT) in improving efficiency and effectiveness of PA etc. Such
globally affected concerns led to invitation of participants from other
countries as well and discussed global challenges and problems of Public
Administration.
• Its focus was upon structural and functional reforms or second-generation
reforms. And gave rise to the concept of 3 E's - Economy, Efficiency and
Effectiveness.
• Its proceedings are published in "The Future of Public Administration
Around the World: The Minnowbrook Perspective" by Rosemary O'Leary,
David M. Van Slyke, Soonhee Kim. It was held under the chairmanship of
Rosemary O'Leary.
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• The participants in the Conference realized the inter-disciplinary nature of
PA that has arisen in the wake of globalization and how it is no longer a
nation centric study or structure i.e. they emphasized more on cross-
national studies to reconceptualize PA in similar lines of Comparative PA.
• They realized that reforming PA (public administration) is not a one-time
phenomenon and is a continuous process.
• The Minnowbrook Conference III emphasized the importance of
‘collaborative governance’ as perhaps the best shield against ‘government
slackening’ or bureaucratic delay meaning that the key to an effective
decision-making is a meaningful coordination among various institutions
involved in making and also implementing decisions.

Important Books:

• Mohit. Bhattacharaya – 1998 - ‘Conceptualizing Good Governance’, Indian

Journal
• of Public Administration
• James M. Buchanan and Gordon Tullock – 1965 - The Calculus of Consent:
Logical
• Foundation of Constitutional Democracy.
• Patrick Dunleavy – 1991 = Democracy, Bureaucracy and Public Choice
• Camilla Strivers – 2002 Gender Images in Public Administration: Legitimacy
and the Administrative.

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Title – Approaches to Public Administration

Introduction:

• The approaches to public administration depict varieties of interpretation and

thought process that have emerged with respect to understanding the
functioning of public administration.
• It talks about different perspective that have developed on ways to approach the
study of public administration.

1. Institutional Approach:
• Earliest approach to public administration.
• It is based upon the idea that public administration is about obligations of
government towards society and legal rights.
• It emphasizes on formal relationships and the separation of powers among the
three branches of the government.
• Believed in the concept of politics and administration dichotomy, meaning that
the work of administration is only to execute and implement the policies framed
by the legislators which is the political arms of the govt.
• The generalizations of this approach were often based upon formal analyses of
organizational structure and the constitutional delegation of authority and
responsibility to the three branches of the government.
• A major emphasis of this approach is upon the normative question of
responsibility. The focus is upon the ways and means of keeping public
administration responsible to the elected branches of government and to the
average citizen.

2. Structural Approach:
• The approach was influenced by scientific management principles and focus
of American society on organizational structure and personal management.
• The focus of this approach was on the study of formal administrative
structures, their functions, and the limitations imposed on their activities.

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• They treat public administration as non-political and a purely technical
organization based on certain scientific principles. They believe that public
administration has nothing to do with politics and policymaking.
• Its main function is to carry out politically determined policies effectively and
efficiently. They hold the view that the tasks of an organization are pre-
determined and that, employees have to adjust themselves to the tasks
assigned to them.
• This approach has sometimes been criticized for not relating public
administration to its political environment, and not emphasizing adequately,
the fact that organizations are composed of human beings and when
decisions are made, they are, in the last analysis, made by individuals.
• Thus, this approach is sometimes known as the ‘organization without people’
approach.

3. Behavioural Approach:
• This approach focuses on human relations, emotions, attitudes and sentiments
and its impact on the organizational and administrative output.
• In other words, the supporters of this approach study the behaviour of
individuals and groups in an organization and opines that without one cannot
understand the actual functioning of organizations without understanding why
people act as they do.
• The main aim of this approach is to establish a body of knowledge that
facilitates understanding, explaining, and prediction of human behaviour in
administrative situations.
• This approach focuses on development of administrative science with help of
survey analysis and methodological problems that can help in generalizing the
human behaviour in an organization.
• Herbert Simon and Robert Dhal have been among the pioneers of this
approach to the study of public administration.

4. System Approach:
• In general, system theory means that the administration is seen as a system of
interrelated and interdependent parts and forces.

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• The administrative system receives ‘inputs’ in the form of demands from the
people and converts them into ‘outputs’ which takes the form of goods and
services.
• The system theory owes its origin to the biologist Ludwig Von Bertalanffy. In
sociology, Talcott Parson applied system approach to the study of social
structures and political scientists like David Easton and G. Almond have made
use of system analysis in political science and thus contributed much to the
literature on empirical political theory.
• The system approach facilitates information exchange between parts of the
system. It is very relevant to the study of complex public organizations that
have huge diversified structures.

5. Ecological Approach:
• This approach studies public administration or public bureaucracy as a social
institution that constantly interacts with the political, social, cultural and economic
sub-systems of the society. Meaning that the actions of bureaucracy affects
them and also gets affected in turn.
• Thus, the approach emphasizes on interdependence between bureaucracy and
the other sub-systems of the society.
• Fred W. Riggs is a strong advocate of this approach. In his opinion,
administrative institutions are shaped and affected by their social, economic,
cultural, and political environment.
• Therefore, he emphasizes the fact that in order to understand better the real
nature, operations, and behaviour of a particular administrative system, one
should identify and understand deeply the various environmental factors
influencing it.
• The ecological approach determines how an administrative system operates in
practice.

6. Comparative Approach to Public Administration:

• The approach focuses on comparison of public administration structures of
different nations under different cultural settings. In other words, this approach
opines that administrative structure and functioning of every country is unique in
its own way and depends on socio-cultural factors present over there.

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• The purpose of such comparisons is to find out the universal elements in public
administration and build a theory of public administration.
• Woodrow Wilson was the first who stressed the need for a comparative study
of public administration. In 1947, Robert Dahl, in his essay, ‘The Science of
Public Administration: Three Problems’ also emphasized the utility of
comparative public administration to develop a science of public administration.
• However, the comparative approach to public administration became popular
only after the Second World War with the emergence of new nations in Asia,
Africa, and Latin America. These nations were facing the challenges of
modernization and technological development.
• It was hoped that a science of comparative public administration would provide
insights into such problems and yield some useful hypotheses about
administrative behaviour in general.
• Two important figures in this field are Ferrel Heady and Fred Riggs.
• The comparative approach to public administration is not only useful to
strengthen the theory-building process in public administration but also helps us
to know whether the administrative practices in a particular nation are applicable
to other nations or not. On the basis of this, the applicability of the
administrative models can be judged and practiced in other political systems.

7. Public Policy Approach:

• The public policy approach aims at improving the public policy process. It is a
systematic and scientific study of public policy.
• The main concern of policy approach is with the understanding and
improvement of the public–policy-making system. The concept of policy approach
was first formulated by D. Lerner and Harold Lasswell in their work, The Policy
Science in 1951.
• Public policy s a significant component of any political system. It is primarily
concerned with the public and their problems. The role of a public policy is to
shape the society for its betterment.

8. Political Economy Approach:

• The approach depicts inter-disciplinary interaction and connection of political
science, economics, and law in understanding how political institutions, economy
and political environment influences each other.

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• Economists like Anthony Downs and Gordon Tullock have applied this
interdisciplinary approach by experimenting with the application of economic
methods to political problems.
• The proponents of this approach therefore use political economy to study the
influence of elections on choice of economic policy, the lobbying, the political
business cycle, redistributive policies, reforms, and deficits in developing
countries.
• From the late 1990s, the field has expanded to explore such wide-ranging
topics as the origins and rate of change of political institutions, and the role of
culture in explaining economic outcomes and developments.

9. Public Choice Approach:

• The public-choice approach to the study of public administration emerged in the
early 1960s. An early reference to this theory is found in the writings of Vincent
Ostrom.
• The other important supporters of public-choice approach are James Buchanan,
Gordon Tullock, William A. Niskanen, and William C. Mitchell. Public choice
theory is a method to study the decisional processes for the allocation of scarce
resources in the society.
• It lays emphasis on the element of choice, with the citizen in the role of
consumer.
• It is in favour of the citizen’s choice in the provision of public goods and
services. The advocates of this approach assume that the individual can make
rational decisions about his needs and demands.
• An individual will act in accordance with his self-interest in order to maximize
his decision. Thus, the supporters of this approach demand that the actions of
the government should be consistent with the values and interests of its
citizens.
• Vincent Ostrom remarks that public-choice theory is the most appropriate
approach to the study of public administration. He suggests public administration
scholars to turn away from the traditional bureaucratic approach towards the
public-choice approach.
• The argument of Niskanen, Downs, and Tullock, in this context, is based on the
assumption of administrative egoism. The bureaucrats are, in their view,

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individualistic self-seekers ‘who would do more harm than good to public
welfare’ unless ‘their self-seeking activities are carefully circumscribed’.
• Niskanen suggested –
1. stricter control on bureaucrats through the executive or legislature.
2. more competition in the delivery of public services
3. privatization or contracting out to reduce wastage.
4. dissemination of more information for public benefit

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Title – Theories of Leadership and Motivation

Introduction:

• With the focus on human behaviour, sentiments and attitudes and its
subsequent impact on the organizational output and efficiency, the socio-
psychological interpretation of human attributes in an organization got a
significant amount of attention from the individual psychologists and
sociologists who started understanding the human emotions with respect
to organization in general.
• Owing to their central focus on human behaviour, these socio-
psychological approaches are often clubbed under banner of the
behavioural school under which they have touched upon various issues
with respect to organizational behaviour such as motivation, leadership,
communication, organizational conflict, organizational change and
development, and group dynamics. Major exponents of this school are
Abraham Maslow, Frederick Herzberg, Douglas McGregor, Rensis Likert,
Chris Argyris etc.
• There origin can be traced back to Hawthorne experiments of Elton Mayo
that ushered the human relations theory of organization. However, unlike
the human relations theory which only focus on happy workers, the
behavioural approach goes deeper into human psychology to understand
why worker behave the way they do.

Theories of Motivation:

1. Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory:

• Drawing on Freudian psychoanalysis, Abraham Maslow attempts to understand

human behaviour by applying it in organizational behaviour.The
• Maslow’s Need Hierarchy theory states that the human needs are arranged in
ascending order as per which the higher needs are achieved only when the
lower needs are duly satisfied. Thus, he says that an individual is driven by
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fulfillment of needs and the satisfaction of the same, drives motivation amongst
the humans to excel for more.
• The five kind of needs arranged by Maslow in ascending order are as follows:
a. Physiological and Social needs (Lowest kind of needs) – Hunger, Thirst, Sex
etc. These are the most fundamental/basic needs of human being as per
Maslow.
b. Security Needs – Search for security and safety.
c. Belongingness Needs – Search for love, care and belongingness
d. Esteem Needs – Search for respect and self-esteem.
e. Self-Actualization Needs – Highest need in the pyramid. Related to search
for inner and mental peace i.e. achieving one’s full potential. It is a stage
where the human being successfully fuses the responsibilities of hid position
with his personal aspirations.
• Maslow’s opined in order to bring efficient outcomes, the management should
satisfy workers’ needs according to the prescribed hierarchy.

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2. Motivation-Hygiene Theory or Two Factor Theory:
• The theory is propounded by Frederick Herzberg. The Theory is a

• product of the empirical investigation conducted by him on 200

accountants and engineers at in and around Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to
find out what motivates employees into work.
• After the experimentation, he identified two kinds of factors i.e. motivation
factors and hygiene factors.
• The motivation factors refer to those factors that satisfies or leads to job
satisfaction amongst the employees. It includes factors such as
achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, and advancement.
• By hygiene factor, Herzberg denotes the potential dissatisfiers for the
employers i.e. those factors that leads to job dissatisfaction amongst the
employees. Herzberg has enumerated five such dissatisfiers. These are
company policy and administration, supervision, salary, interpersonal
relations, and working conditions.
• He states that factors that creates job satisfaction are different and not
related to the ones that creates job-dissatisfaction. He thus, calls them as
uni-polar traits.
• Meaning that an individual in the company gets satisfied easily through
motivation factors and has long lasting impact on him as compared to
the hygiene factors as the appetite for their satisfaction is difficult to
achieve.
• So, in other words, for example a constant supervision from the superior
(a hygiene factor) will not yield more results in comparison to the results
one can get through motivation factors such as recognition of the work.

Theories of Leadership:

1. Management Systems I-IV model:

• The model was proposed by Rensis Likert. Through this model he
extended the scope of leadership and motivation to understand

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organizational effectiveness i.e. how one organization perform better
than others.
• Under this, he analyzed different management systems and discussed
the quantum of efficiency, each system has.
• Likert has identified four systems of management on the basis of the
nature of authority and control of organization and the operating
characteristics. Arranged in an ascending order of efficiency, the
systems of management have been categorized as exploitative–
authoritative, benevolent– authoritative, consultative, and participative:
1. System-I: Exploitative–Authoritative: This kind of organizational system
is marked by a steep hierarchical structure, centralized decision-
making, top–down communication, tight supervision, man-to-man rather
than group-to-group relations, performance under pressure, and low
motivation.
2. System-II: Benevolent–Authoritative: This system of organization is still
authoritative, but becomes less exploitative and more benevolent
towards the members of the organization. Subordinates in this system
are allowed to have some freedom to comment and adequate
flexibility in implementation. Communication is far better and
subordinates may approach the manager. Here in this system,
managers are condescending but not trusting.
3. System-III: Consultative Leadership: In this system of management, the
mode of operation is based on consultation. Managers decide,
especially with regards to setting goals, in consultation with the
subordinates. Subordinates are equally free to voice forth their
opinions as this system allows free communication.
4. System-IV: Participative: This, according to Likert, is the ideal
management style. Every organization should aspire to adopt this style
of management. The distinctive mark of this system, unlike the
systems listed above, is the participative nature of management,
where the subordinates are allowed to put forward their opinions and
managers give proper cognizance to those opinions.

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• In the said models, Likert has established the systems of management
along a continuum, where there is a continuous effort on the part of
each management system to move from the lesser efficient system of
management to the higher one.
• Likert explains that in his proposed model the system-I or the
authoritative–exploitative system and the system-IV or participative system
will form the two axes of the continuum, respectively. The system-II and
system-III will remain in the intermediate level.
• Note: Likert is also known for his famous ‘Linking Pin’ model. In the said
model, Likert shows that an individual in an organization acts as a linking
pin by holding organization together.

2. The Theory X and Theory Y:

• Propounded by Douglas McGregor in his book - The Human Side of the
Enterprise.
• Under this model, he makes popular assumptions of human behaviour
which if properly realized, can determine every contour of an
organization.
• The said assumptions are popularly known as the ‘Theory X’ and ‘Theory
Y’.

Theory X: The coercive compulsion

The major assumptions of Theory X are as follows:

• The average human being has an innate antipathy to work, which he will
avoid if he can.

• Owing to such an inherent nature of human beings, most people need to be

coerced, controlled, directed, and threatened with punishment to get them to
put forth adequate effort towards the achievement of organizational objectives.

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• The average human being, with relatively little ambition, prefers to be directed
and wishes to avoid responsibility. Security is his main concern.

Theory Y: The alternative assumptions of integration and self-control

In his Theory Y, McGregor has come out with altogether different assumptions
of human nature, portraying human being as enterprising in nature. These are:

• The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or

rest.

• Mass exercises, self-direction, and self-control in the services of the

objectives to which he is committed.

• Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their

achievement.

• The average human being learns under proper conditions not only to accept
but to seek responsibility.

• The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of creativity, imagination,

and ingenuity in the solution of organizational problems is widely, not narrowly
distributed in the population.

• Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of

the average human being are only partially utilized.

The organizational principle to which these assumptions point to is integration;

the creation of conditions under which the individual’s own objectives will be
obtained at the same time that he or she contributes to the attainment of the
organization’s goals.

The worker must be integrated into the organization, that is, managers must
take care to determine the needs and desires of their employees, perhaps
through more open and participatory modes of conduct, and then help orient

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those individual objectives so that they can be best obtained through work
towards the organization’s objectives

3. Chris Argyris’s T- group model:

• Chris Argyris has provided another interpretation in explaining the
relationship between individual and the organization.
• He in his book ‘Personality and Organization’ (1957) provided a deep
insight on the connection between individual personality and demands
of the organization.
• He says that the strict control, rigid hierarchy and constant coercion
and forceful supervision of the individuals within the organization is the
reason behind the organizational crisis. He thus believes that
individual goals i.e. personal development and goals of the
organization must not been seen as a zero-sum game. On the
contrary, they must be seen as factors that complement each other.
• In other words, Argyris says that the personal development goals such
as an individual self-actualizing needs must be promoted by the
organization as it will in turn eventually benefit the organization.
• Argyris has called for a total change in the strategies as well as
assumptions of organization. Unlike the traditional organization, his
new form of organization would be a combination of both the old
pyramidal type and new matrix type of organization.
• He has urged for development and improvement of interpersonal
competence. The preconditions of the same being - self-acceptance,
confirmation, and essentiality.
• He also developed a laboratory-based sensitivity enhancement training
program called as T-group under which the employees’ sensitivity and
personal skills will be sharpened. So that the employees working
together will be more sensitive to each other goals and promotes free
and consensus-based decision making.
• Therefore, he wanted to have a perfect blend between individual’s
personality development and organizational efficiency.

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Title: Organizational Communication

Theories and Principles of Organizational Communication:

• Communication is an essential tool of an organization.

• It is one of the main principles to ensure effective and efficient working
in an organization and to fulfill its goals.
• The term communication is, generally applied in the sense of imparting
knowledge or transmitting information, however, in its wider connotation, it
includes inter-change of thoughts, partaking of ideas and a sense of
participating and sharing. Thus, the essence of communication is, not
information but understanding.
• Communication is another administrative process without which the work
in the organization will practically stop.
• Nobel laureate Herbert Simon in 1947 wrote about organizational
communication systems. He said, “Without communication there can be
no organization, for there is no possibility of group influencing the
behaviour of the individual.”
• Every organization whether it is small or big in size, simple or complex
in its structure or general or technical in its functioning requires an
effective communication network to function.
• Thus, communication plays a vital role as functioning of all the other
important principles of organization depends on it.
• Moreover, communication is the only means for inspiring a person's
enthusiastic and cooperative contacts.
• The concept of organizational communication is interrelated with other
concepts such as motivation, coordination, leadership, structure; and
decision making in organizations.
• Pfiffner considers the communication as "the heart of management", while
Millet describes it as the "blood stream of an administrative organization"

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• Ordway Tead says that the underlying aim and intention of
communication is defined as a process in which the person reciprocates
his ideas and feelings to others.
• Peter Drucker has defined communication as "the ability of the various
functional groups within the enterprise to understand each other and each
other's functions and concerns'"
• Communication within an organization can be internal (i.e. within the
organization connecting with its employees), external (i.e. connecting
organization with the public – public relations) and interpersonal (i.e.
communication between the employees of the organization). The
communication can be both formal and informal. However, in sum, one
can say that the communication is a shared understanding of a shared
purpose.

Elements of Communication: There are five essential elements of

communication within an organizational setup:

• Communicator – He is the one who generates the message and can be

called as the speaker or a sender. In some organizations, especially the
public organizations, the administrator or the Chief Executive along with
his subordinate staff comprises as the Communicator. The
messages/orders are issued in the name of the Chief Executive but is
passed along, drafted and edited by his subordinate staff. This practice
preserves singleness of purpose and direction to avoid conflicting
instructions.
• Transmission – It basically refers to the mode or medium of
communication. The medium of communication can be any mail, teletype,
wire, radio, Tv, etc. The medium of communication used is very essential
for delivery and distribution of messages in an organization as it can
distort, disturb, or create any confusion if not delivered properly.
• Form of Communication – The message that has to be conveyed can be
of any types/forms. It can be in the form of a order, ruling, regulation,
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manual, letter, circular, report, contract etc. The form of communication
generally can be categorized under three primary heads. First, rules and
regulations that coveys the governing relationship of an organization with
its clientele. Second, Operating instructions that conveys the orders,
circulars, manuals and official letters to conduct the general behaviour of
organization and Third, procedures and certain informational media such
as the house journal, the training hand book, the periodic report, and
other methods to convey the general tone of management.
• Recipient – He is the receiver of the message conveyed and organization
must ensure that the message reaches to those for whom it was intent.
• Desired Response – The last element of communication is the
action/response of the receiver to the message. It comprises of a change
in behaviour or conduct of the recipient after receiving the message. In
an organizational setup, the higher authority requires evidence of
compliance with instructions through formal replies and reports to
determine whether the information or instruction has influenced the
administrative behaviour of the recipients or not. It is possible through
upward flow of requisite information in an organization.

Essentials of Communication: Communication is not proper if it is not effective

and efficient to bring a change in the status quo. Hence, it is important to
understand the prerequisites for an effective communication in an organisation.

• According to Terry,”’ eight factors are essential to make communication

effective. They are as follows:

(a) Inform yourself fully.

(b) Establish a mutual trust in each other,

(c) Find a common ground of experience,

(d) Use mutually known words,

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(e) Have regard for context,

(f) Secure and hold the receiver’s attention,

(g) Employ examples and visual aids,

(h) Practice delaying reactions.

• According to Millet, seven factors make communication effective:

a. it should be clear
b. consistent with the expectation of the recipient
c. adequate, timely
d. uniform
e. flexible
f. acceptable.
• Richards and Nielander believes apart from this the communication must
also reflect the policies, programmes and practices of management.
• The American Management Association has given ten commandments of
good communication. These are as follows:
1) Clarify your ideas before you communicate.

2) Examine within yourself why are you communicating and what is the
true purpose of this communication.

3) Before you launch a communication measure, consider the total

physical and human ' setting which will get involved in the process
which you want to ignite.

4) Consult others for planning because your own subjectivity, operates

adversely in designing your communication network.

5) Be mindful of the content of human message, because it is possible

that the message may be lost in the context, and the overall
configuration of the contents may disfigure the message itself.
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6) Convey other things to help him because a communicatee is not only

looking forward, for a command, but he is curious to seek guidance
and assistance.

7) Follow up your communication, for it being a chain process does not

stop at a given point of a letter or the dispatch of a message. It
needs to be continuously followed and strengthens at every bend of
the way. It ensures effectivity and keeps It moving till the attainment
of goal.

8) Communicate for today as well as for tomorrow. It means the

communicator should establish a rapport and establish his own image
as knowledgeable person with sound commonsense and robust
pragmatism. This image makes him a better communicator and even
those who do not take him seriously today, will gradually respond to
his communications.

9) Action support communications. Communication is not merely letter

writing. It is desirable that the communicatee should watch and assess
the behaviour of the communicator.

10)Seek to understand before you get understood. Commonly,

understanding of situations, requires more brains than imposing one's
ideas on helpless subordinates as it is not easy to understand others
if someone is ignorant. In other words, Communication must be a two-
way process. Two-way communication brings two minds together
which is the basic core of any communication. A communicator must
be a good listener too.

These help in achieving a shared understanding of shared purposes. If these

essentials are not observed the communication process may break down.

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Types of Communication:

The form of communication can be either formal or informal. In the formal

communication setup, based upon the direction of the flow, the communication
can be downward, upward, or lateral.

Formal Communication –

• The formal communication is the official/prescribed way through which the

employees and other members of the organization are conveyed the
message. It consists of rules, regulations, orders, prescriptions etc. which
must be strictly followed or complied to. The formal communication is the
central feature of governmental administration and is characterized by
hierarchy. The movement of order or direction takes place formally or in
writing. Personal liking or disliking has nothing to do with the formal
communication.
The formal communication can flow three ways – downward, upward
and/or lateral.

Downward flow of communication - Refers to the instructions and other

official messages originating with the top personnel of an organisation.
These are transmitted from top to down through hierarchical set up and
reach the lowest ranking official in the chain. The top makes use of
devices, such as, directives, written or verbal orders or instructions,
manuals, staff conferences, budget sanctions, other authorizations to
inform the lower rungs about its attitude and ideas as well as to direct,
guide and advise.
In complex or large organisation, the downward flow of communication is
difficult to process and can lead to misunderstandings.

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Upward flow of Communication - In upward communication, messages
are passed by the lower levels in the hierarchy up to those heading the
organisation. This includes whatever information is passed up through
methods, such as written and verbal reports pertaining to performance
and progress, statistical and accounting reports related to work, written
and verbal requests for seeking guidance suggestion ad discussions.
The upward communication is very limited and depends upon how much
top hierarchy or management is cooperative and allows free flow of
opinions within the organization.

Lateral flow of Communication - Lateral communication may take place

among officials of the same level in the hierarchy or among the officials
who are out of superior-subordinate relationship. The methods such as
written or verbal information and reports, formal and informal as well as
personal contacts, staff meetings and coordination committees, are used
in this type of communication. This type is helpful in bringing together
the related but different parts of the organisation. Assuring coordination of
organisational objectives, the officials of the organisation should
communicate their plans and interact to one another clearly.

• Informal Communication (Grapevine Communication) – This type of

communication supplements the formal ones. They are often branded as
mischievous as it promotes gossiping and transmitting of formal
information but is still considered a vital part of an organization as it
helps in building interpersonal bonds amongst the employees and also
between superior and subordinates. They consider themselves as part of
the family and their satisfaction towards work and organisation rises.
The informal communication allows the scope of free flow of ideas and
opinions as no rigid hierarchical structure is followed thereby improving
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the working environment of an organization. The Informal communication
flows through friendship circles and other small groups in the
organization.
One positive feature of these channels is that it removes some of the
problems in upward communication. They also facilitate downward and
lateral communication. But the greatest danger of informal channels is
that they can. distort the information.

Media of Communication:

Communication media can be classified into three main groups: Audial, Visual
and Audio-Visual.

Audio communication media is adopted through conferences, the interviews,

the inspection trips, public meetings, broadcasts, telephone calls, etc.

Visual communication media includes written communications i.e. circulars,

manuals, reports, bulletins and handbooks and pictorial forms namely pictures,
photographs, posters, cartoons, slides, flags, insignia, etc.

Audio-visual media comprises sound motion pictures, television, and personal

demonstrations.

Each of these media has its advantages and disadvantages and it is up to the
management to decide what media will be used for which communication
purpose.

Factors inhibiting Communication:

• Rigidity
• Generalizations
• Extreme Opinions

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• Complexity of Language
• Ideological barriers
• Lack of will
• Size and Distance
• Lack of recognized means

Factors that can overcome limitations in Communication:

• Must express the needs of overall organisation.

• Communication is most effective in the environment of mutual trust and
cooperation.
• It must be treated as a continuous task.
• The purpose of communication and the person to whom it is directed
should be very clear.
• Communication should be a two-way process i.e. both upwards and
downwards.
• The language and line of communication should be very clear.
• Communication should reflect the policies, programmes and practices of
management.
• Most importantly, communication in an organisation must allow free of
opinion and personal feelings, problems, and emotions. Respect and trust
between communicators.

Theories of Organisation:

1. Chester Barnard’s Theory of Organisation:

• Propounded by Chester Barnard in his book ‘The Functions of Executive’
in 1938.
• To him, organisation is an organic and evolving social system.

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• His experiences in the books are drawn from his own practical
experience as Executive in a telephone company major in US i.e. AT&T.
• These theories are more like instructions or prescriptions to executive
that he must follow to avoid crisis in the organisation.
• Features of Barnard’s theory of organisation are as follows:

Organisation as a cooperative system – As per Barnard, cooperation is the

key/vital part of an organisation. Every individual within the organizational setup
have some limitations with respect to physical and social factors and through
cooperation those limitations can be overcame, thereby benefiting both the
employees and organization as a whole.

Formal and informal organisation – Barned gave equal importance to formal

and informal means of communication in an organisation. As per him, both the
forms complement each other. He thus prescribes executive to ensure balance
between formal and informal organisation.

Consent theory of Authority or Accepted Authority - According to him, the

effectiveness of authority in an organization is determined by the willingness of
the subordinates to carry forward the order. Barnard had identified four
essential preconditions behind the acceptance of authority, namely, intelligibility,
conformity to the purpose of the organization, compatibility with personal
interests, and physical and mental ability to comply. Barnard has opined that it
is the onus of the executive to make sure that only such orders are issued
which are acceptable.

For this purpose, he identified a ‘zone of indifference’ i.e. a zone in which the
executive will get unconditional acceptance of his authority from the employees

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and there will no differences. The zone as per him keeps on changing and is
circumstantial in nature. Therefore, he puts the responsibility on the executive
to find out the zone of indifference by providing proper inducement packages.

Inducement-Contribution Balance – Barnard says that it is very important that

the executive must maintain the balance between contribution and satisfaction.
In other words, he means that the management must maintain a proper
balance between the labour or hard work taken from the employee and the
satisfaction provided to him in the form of inducements or incentives, so that
the person remains motivated and committed towards the goals of organisation.

Moral responsibility - Barnard has also reminded the executives of their moral
responsibilities. For a smooth functioning of organization, Barnard calls for
moral standing of the executive.

Communication - He viewed the communication system in an organization as

the key to organizational achievement and therefore laid down three principles
for effective communication:

a) Everyone in the organization must know what the channels of

communication are
b) Everyone must have access to a formal communication channel
c) Lines of communication should be kept short and direct.

2. Karl Deutsch Communication theory:

• Propounded by Karl Deutsch in his book ‘The Nerves of Government:
Models of Political Communication and Control’.

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• He calls Political Communication and Control as a science and calls it
cybernetics.
• Cybernetics thus is a science of communication and autonomous control
systems in both machines and human beings.
• He says cybernetics (word coined by Norbert Weiner) that describes
science of communication and control in a technology can be used to
described communication amongst human beings as well.
• He says “Cybernetics, the systematic study of communication and control
in organizations of all kinds, is a conceptual scheme on the grand scale.
Essentially it represents a shift in the center of interest from drives to
steering, from instincts to systems of decisions, regulation and control
including the non-cyclical aspects of such systems. It is perhaps safe to
say that social science is already being influenced by the interests
implicit in cybernetics”.
• Meaning that he says in a pluralist society, numerous social groups
exists which are closely connected and related with each other and
because of this factor all the social groups think and act together. This
togetherness is connected by a system of communication. And the
science of cybernetics studies this.
• Cybernetics is a theory of information, self-regulating machines,
computers and the physiology of nervous system.
• An important concept of cybernetics is that of a machine which
recognizes stimuli, learns, adjusts itself automatically upon receiving
feedback about its performance and moves through a determined number
of possible states.
• So, thus in conclusion, Communication theory states –
a. Human beings play a specific role in inflow and outflow of information
i.e. it is not automatic. They steer or coordinate the transmitting of
information through various channels of political system.
b. Since human beings are involved, the changes in communication is
inevitable.

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c. Karl Detusch puts communication at the center of politics and
undervalues the importance of power in decision making or changes
in political systems.
d. An able and effective communication system is really the inner force
or power of the political system as it plays vital role in changing or
forming of habits, perceptions and thought process of the human
beings.
e. Political system is endowed with self-regulating mechanism.

Important Books

• John D Millet – 1954 - Management in Public Services

• Felix A. Nigro and Lloyd G Nigro – 1973 - Modern Public Administration
• Ordway Tead - 1951 - The Art of Administration

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Title - Managing Conflict in the Organization: Mary Parker Follett;
Management by Objectives- Peter Drucker

Managing Conflict in the Organization: Mary Parker Follett

• Mary Parker Follett majority of work was concentrated on with the

problem of conflict and integration.
• Her major work includes
a) The Speaker of the House of Representatives (1896)
b) The New State (1920)
c) Creative Experience (1924)
d) Dynamic Administration: The Collected Works of Mary Parker Follett (A
collection of her papers, edited by Henry Metcalf and L. Urwick in 1941).
• To solve conflict within the organization, she came forward with an
innovative idea called as ‘constructive conflict’.
• She recognized conflict as normal, inevitable, and unavoidable
consequence of any social interaction within an organisation.
• Therefore, she says that it should not be taken as ‘wasteful outbreak of
incompatibilities’, but a normal process through which ‘socially valuable
differences register themselves for the enrichment of all concerned’.
• To Follett, conflict is neither good nor bad and must be considered
without passion or ethical pre-judgments.
• In other words, she advices every organisation take advantages of
conflicts within the organization and use it for further betterment.
• She explains the advantage of conflict as follows - ‘All polishing is done
by friction. We get the music from the violin by friction and we left the
savage state when we discovered fire through friction’.
• After talking about the advantages of conflict, she then further delves into
ways by which the conflicting ideas can be resolved or can be integrated
in the decision-making process. She thus, give three ways by which
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a. Domination – This is the easiest way of resolving the conflict as it
silence the other side with power, coercion, and authority etc.
However, the resolution of the conflict will be short lived and the rebel
tendencies against the dominator will soon be visible i.e. confrontation
will again happen.
b. Compromise – This is the most common way people use to resolve
conflict where both the parties agrees to give away a part of what
they desire to reach to consensus. However, the problem with this
medium is that not many people are interested in solving their
disputes through this method as it involves giving up/sacrificing
something.
c. Integration – Follett considered this to be the best way of resolving the
conflict as there is no sacrificing of desires but integrates the desires
of the parties. Also, she says it is better from compromise because it
not only solves the current conflict but gives birth to new ideas,
innovation, and creativity. It leads to better use of techniques and
saves time and resources. And lastly, integration must be preferred
because it puts an end to the conflict permanently.

Steps to achieve integration:

• Bringing differences into the open, rather than suppressing them.

• Detailed examination of the conflict/problem i.e. understanding all its
important as well as small details.
• Anticipating the conflict i.e. not avoiding it but embracing it as something
which is inevitable in an organisation.
• De-personalizing the order i.e. order must not be given it should be
understood. There should be authority, but that authority must be
situational in nature and not authoritative.

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Obstacles to Integration:

• Lack of intelligence, knowledge, and maturity to resolve conflicts.

• People’s habit of enjoying domination. She says such people always
prefer resolving conflict via domination than integration.
• Too much focus on theorization and intellectual agreement of something
rather than gaining practical consensus.
• Inability to use proper form of language required for reconciliation
• Undue influence by the leaders
• Lack of training. Follett says that in most cases there is a tendency to
‘push through’ or to ‘force through’ the plans previously arrived at, based
on preconceived notions. Therefore, she pleads that there should be
courses to teach the art of cooperative thinking, to master the technique
of integration, both for workers and managers.

Management by Objectives- Peter Drucker

• Peter Drucker is considered as the father of modern corporate

management.
• Management By Objectives (MBO) is also known as Management By
Results (MBR).
• In his book - ‘The Practice of Management’ in 1954, he developed a
Management by Objectives (MBO) model to align the goals of the
employees with that of the organization.
• MBO therefore, is a performance management approach which talks
about introducing a balance between the objective of the employees and
objectives of the company.
• MBO deals with joint interaction between employee and its manager with
respect to the goals and objectives and therefore ushers for an
integration amongst various hierarchies in the organization.
• The approach was formulated to put more focus on the effectiveness of
the organizational functions rather than efficiency.

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• Hence, MBO becomes a process by which the objectives of an
organization are agreed to and decided between the management and
the employees. This way the employees understand what is expected of
them and set their own individual goals which are in turn inclined with
the organizational targets and objective. Therefore, they attain both their
personal goals and the organization’s targets.
• This method therefore helps in bringing more commitment, maturity, and
responsibility of the individual towards an organization and vice versa. It
in other words, promotes common challenge.
• Peter Drucker, sets several conditions that must be met:
1. Objectives are determined with the employees
2. Objectives are formulated at both quantitative and qualitative levels
3. Objectives must be challenging and motivating
4. Daily feedback on the state of affairs at the level of coaching and
development instead of static management reports
5. Rewards (recognition, appreciation and/or performance-related pay) for
achieving the intended objectives is a requirement
6. The basic principle is growth and development not punishments.

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Management By Objectives Steps

Peter Drucker has developed five steps to put Management By Objectives into
practice:

1. Determine or revise the organizational objectives - Strategic organizational

objectives are the starting points of management by objectives. These
objectives stem from the mission and vision of an organization.
2. Translating the organizational objectives to employees – To make
organizational objectives acceptable by everyone, it is important that
these are translated to employee level.
Peter Drucker formulated an acronym SMART - Specific, Measurable,
Acceptable, Realistic and Time-bound to guide how the objectives of the
organization be efficient.
Amongst these, element Acceptable is crucial in management by
objectives as this is about reaching out consensus of objectives between
the employees and the organization.
The management by objectives principle does not allow management to
determine the objectives by themselves. According to management by
objectives, objectives should be clearly recognizable at all levels and
everyone should know what their responsibilities are in this.
Communication is also an important item for consideration when it comes
to expectations, feedback and to giving rewards for objectives that have
been achieved.
3. Stimulate the participation of employees in the determining of the
objectives - The starting point is to have each employee participate in
the determining of personal objectives that are in line with the objectives
of the organization. This works best when the objectives of the
organization are discussed and shared throughout all levels of the
organization so that everyone will understand why certain things are
expected of them. This process will help to generate motivation,

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cooperation, responsibility and general respect towards the organizational
objectives.
4. Monitoring of progress – Monitoring of the progress of orgnaisational
objectives any any dissatisfaction amongst the employees with respect to
goals of organisation must be continuously examined by the managers so
that the equilibrium between the objectives of employees and organisation
is not damaged.
5. Evaluate and reward achievements - Employees are evaluated and
rewarded for their achievements in relation to the set goals and
objectives. This also includes accurate feedback. Management By
Objectives is about why, when and how objectives can be achieved.

Note: It is not a one-off exercise

Peter Drucker’s five steps are not a one-off exercise. It is a development and
continuous cycle that takes the organizational objectives as the starting point
and these need to be translated to an individual level.

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Title: Governance, good governance and democratic governance, role of state, civil
society and individuals

• Governance does not simply mean rule or administration. It has a broader

meaning as it also focuses on the purpose.
• Meaning that the governance unlike the public administration, puts attention not
only on the structure and functions but also has great deal of emphasis on its
goal, aims and purpose of formation.
• Governance therefore is about the capacity i.e. financial resources and
infrastructure etc. and accountability i.e. performance and effectiveness of an
administration.
• Governance in public administration became important in the changed global
scenario. It is an innovation of the World Bank which was introduced at a
historical juncture where many developing countries (sub-Saharan African
countries) were failing to repay its debt and the inefficiency within administration
in its structure and also in solving of the crisis was visible.
• This development along with collapse of the Soviet Union and popularity of neo-
liberal reforms, led to believe that within public administration, there should be
accountability, transparency and participation of citizens, which therefore led to
the introduction of the concept of Governance.
• Thus, Governance overall draws its sustenance from ‘participatory democracy’
and ‘neo-liberal reforms’ that ushered a change in the public administration.
• Governance’, like New Public Management, defies simple definitions and
indicates the emergence of a more plural political world, a declining role of the
nation state i.e. collaborative management of the society with other actors, and
a more complex set of societal problems.
• Thus, the shift from government to governance in the era of globalization
depicts a shit from a coordinated hierarchical structures and processes of
societal steering to a network-based process of exchange and negotiation.

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Good Governance:

• As per World Bank, good governance is epitomized by predictable, open and

enlightened policy-making, a bureaucracy imbued with a professional ethos
acting in furtherance of the public good, the rule of law, transparent processes
and a strong civil society participating in public affairs.
• Thus, the four key elements of good governance are:
a. Accountability
b. Transparency
c. Legal framework for development
d. Information to citizens
• Improving governance hence would begin from assessment of its institutional
environment i.e. making it accountable, transparent, open to public, based on
rule of law etc.
• World Bank has contrasted good governance against the poor governance and
has said that poor governance is a formulation characterized by arbitrary policy-
making, unaccountable bureaucracies, un-enforced or unjust legal systems, the
abuse of executive power, a civil society unengaged in public life and
widespread corruption’
• Another World Bank document, Governance and Development (1992), defines
governance as ‘the manner in which power is exercised in the management of
a country’s economic and social resources for development’. It thus talks about
relationship of good governance with a) the type of political regime in the
country b) the process through which power is exercised and c) the capacity of
the government to design, formulate, and implement policies to discharge the
government functions.
• The United Nations Development Programme (1997) has provided eight
important characteristics for good governance which are as follows:
a. Participation – Participation must be by both men and women. It could be
direct or indirect i.e. through representatives or legitimate institutional
mechanisms. By participation, it does not necessarily mean that demands of
the vulnerable sections of the society will always be incorporated in decision
making. It means that the participation by the public should be organized

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and informed i.e. freedom of association and expression along with role of
civil society must be promoted.
b. Consensus oriented – There should be representation/consensus of all the
stakeholders in the society so that decision making reflect the best interests
of the society.
c. Accountable - Accountability is a key tenet of good governance. Who is
accountable for what should be documented in policy statements. In general,
an organization is accountable to those who will be affected by its decisions
or actions as well as the applicable rules of law.
d. Transparent – It means that the information with respect to law making or
decision making must be available out in open for it proper investigation and
securitization.
e. Responsive – It means that govt. and its decision making should be sensitive
to the need and interests of the public and that too in a reasonable time
frame.
f. Effective and Efficient – It means that while ensuring that the govt. works as
per the needs of the society, they must also make sure that there is proper
utilization of resources without any wastage.
g. Based on Rule of Law – Meaning the workings of the government must
respect and should be according to the law of the land.
h. Equitable and Inclusive – It means that it must allow fair and just
involvement of public and their needs in decision making process.
• Good Governance assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities
are taken into account, and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society
are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future
needs of society.

• Importance of good governance is clearly inscribed in Indian Constitution

through principles of Sovereign, Socialist, Secular and Democratic Republic
committing itself to democracy, rule of law and welfare of people, Fundamental
Rights, DPSP etc.

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• As per former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, "Good governance
is ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of law; strengthening
democracy; promoting transparency and capacity in public administration." He
also said that “Good Governance is perhaps the single most important factor in
eradicating poverty and promoting development”.

Initiatives of Good Governance in India:

• Right to Information
• E-Governance - Focus on 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance
• Ease of Doing Business
• Decentralization – Introducing Grass root level governance through 73 rd and 74th
Constitutional Amendments
• Niti Aayog
• Good Governance Index – It launched on Good Governance Day on 25
December 2019.

The Good Governance Index is a uniform tool across States to assess the
Status of Governance and impact of various interventions taken up by the State
Government and Union Territories.

The objectives of Good Governance Index are to provide quantifiable data to

compare the state of governance in all states and Union Territories, enable
states and Union Territories to formulate and implement suitable strategies for
improving governance and shift to result oriented approaches and administration.
• Citizens Charter
• Lokpal and Lokayuktas
• Aspirational District Programmes - launched in January 2018 to transform the
lives of people in the under-developed areas of the county in a time bound
manner. The programme aimed at transforming 115 most backward districts with
focused interventions in the field of health and nutrition, education, agriculture
and water management, financial inclusion and skill development.

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• And many more.

Challenges to Good Governance:

• Criminialisation of Politics
• Corruption
• Delay in justice
• Increase cases of Violence
• Disrespect of rule of law
• Marginalization of social, economic, and educational backward communities
• Centralization of administration and power

Role of Civil Society and Individuals:

• Civil society is refereed as the third sector of the society that represents the
shared interests, values, purposes and behaviour of the public. It is distinct from
government and commercial (for-profit actors).
• They in other words manifests the will and interests of the common people,
family, and the private sphere.
• It includes charities, development NGOs, community groups, women's
organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, trade unions,
social movements, coalitions, and advocacy groups etc.
• The inclusion of civil society voices is essential to give expression to the
marginalized and those who often are not heard. Civil society actors can
enhance the participation of communities in the provision of services and in
policy decision-making and therefore plays a vital role in ensuring that good
governance is implemented by the official authorities.
• They facilitate better awareness and a more informed citizenry, who make better
voting choices, participate in politics, and hold government more accountable as
a result.
• The role of civil society in society was promoted by many classical liberal
theorists such as Hegel, Marx, Alexis de Tocqueville, Ferdinand Tonnies etc.

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• Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba in 20 th century have further expressed their
role in decision/policy making by emphasizing on their contribution in a
democratic order.
• Robert Putnam opines that such non-political organisation are vital for
democracy to work as they help in building mutual trust, cooperation, social
capital, values etc. which by transferring to political system helps in keeping the
society intact and together.
• However, theorist like Partha Chatterjee believes that the scope of ‘civil society
is demographically limited’.

Contribution by civil society in India: The civil society has influenced government
decisions time and again through PILs (Public Interest Litigations), social
movements, with the help of media, lobbying etc. Some of the examples are as
follows:

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• Chipko Movement
• Narmada Bachao Andolan - Medha Patkar and Baba Amte, have
received the Right Livelihood Award in 1991 for their contribution.
• Right to Information – MKSS in Rajasthan
• Child trafficking – Bachpan Bachao Andolan founded by Kailash Satyarthi
received Noble Peace Prize along MalalaYousafzai in 2014.
• LGBT Rights – In 2017, SC declared section 377 of Indian Penal Code
as null and void. Few organisations such Naz Foundation, Ondede
(founded by Akkai Padmashali), National AIDS Control Organisation etc.
played significant contribution.
• Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace 2013 – Vishakha and Others
vs State of Rajasthan
• Movement for prevention of environment and Pollution control measures
such as M. C. Mehta v. Union of India under which the court shut down
numerous industries and allowed them to reopen only after controlled
pollution disposal in the Ganga basin
• NGOs such as Administrative Democratic Reforms and People’s Union for
Civil liberties have played significant contribution by filing PILs to improve
the election procedures in India:
a. Disclosure of Candidate Background (Criminal, Educational & Financial) to
Election Commission (2003) - filed by ADR in December 1999 culminated into a
landmark Supreme Court Judgement.
b. The Supreme Court's Judgement On NOTA (September 2013) – Both PUCL and
ADR played a significant contribution in inserting the NOTA button in the EVM
machines first time during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
c. Disqualification Of Convicted MPs/MLAs (2013) - On a petition filed by Lily
Thomas and Lok Prahari NGO, where ADR also intervened, the Supreme Court
stated that if a sitting MP/MLA is convicted (not only charged) then he/ she
would be disqualified immediately and the seat would be declared as vacant.
d. Introduction of VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) (People’s Union for Civil
Liberties vs. Union of India case - 2013)

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