Public

Administration
Definition, evolution and difference with Business
Administration
 Definitions of Public
Administration
 Administration can be defined as the activities of
groups cooperating to accomplish common goals.
By Public Administration is meant, in common
usage the activities of the executive branches of
national, state and local governments; independent
boards and commissions set up by the congress
and state legislatures; government corporations;
and certain other agencies of a specialized
character. Specifically excluded are judicial and
legislative agencies within the government and
non-governmental administration. (Simon,
Smithburg and Thompson)
 Definitions of Public
Administration
 Public Administration is concerned with the
administrative activities of government, it
means to care for or to look after people, to
manage affairs: the administrator is a servant
and not a master. (E N Gladden).
 Public Administration as a field is mainly
concerned with the means for implementing
political values. (Pfiffner and Presthus)
 Definitions of Public
Administration
 Public Administration is the management of public
programmes. (Denhardt and Grubbs)
 Public Administration in all modern nations is
identified with the executive branch. (Fesler)
 Public administration …is action part of
government, the means by which the purposes and
goals of government are realized (Stillman)
 Public administration as a field is mainly
concerned with the means for implementing
political values.. (Stillman)
 Public administration can be best identified with
the executive branch of the government. (Stillman)
 Definitions of Public
Administration
 The process of public administration consists of the actions
involved in effecting the intent or desire of the government. It
is thus the continuously active, ‘business’ part of a
government, concerned with carrying out the law, as made by
legislative bodies (or other authoritative agents) and
interpreted by the courts, through the processes of
organization and management. (Stillman)
 Public administration: (a) is 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 is
thus 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.
(Stillman)
 Public and Private
Administration
Public Administration Private Administration
 Works in a legal  No accountability to statute
framework  No attention to criticism
 Susceptibility to criticism. even if faced
 Evaluation in terms of  Evaluation in terms of profit
value added to the
society  Quick promotion and
 Slow promotion process, speedy processes
characterized with red-
tapism and least
innovation
 Public and Private
Administration
Public Administration Private Administration
 Fosters legalistic and self  No self protective attitude
protective attitude so more adaptability
 Multiple objectives  Single and clear objective
 Pluralist decision making  Limited scope of decision
 Publicness (“living in a making
goldfish bowl”)  Privacy
Evolution of the study of
Public Administration
 As a study it is an invention of 20th century but as a
practice, it is as old as man.
 Many administrative activities were being performed
throughout the history but the academic status of
Public Administration was recognized after first World
War.
 Public Administration was first taught as a part of
training program in Persia.
 In English speaking countries, no emphasis was made
on Public Administration.
 Essay by Woodrow Wilson (1887) paved the way of
Public Administration in US.
Evolution of the study of
Public Administration
Stages of Evolution (First Stage)
• First stage of evolution began with the publication of
Woodrow Wilson essay.
• This era is also known as politics-administration dichotomy.
• Impact of reform movement in US helped popularizing the
study of Public Administration in US universities.
• American Political Science Association (1914) declared
preparing specialists for government positions as one of the
objectives of teaching Political Science.
• First book on the study of Public Administration was written
by L.D. White (1926) titled as “ Introduction to the Study of
Public Administration”.
Evolution of the study of
Public Administration
Stages of Evolution (Second Stage)
• Reinforcement of the idea of politics-administration
dichotomy and to evolve a value free science of management.
• W.F.Willoughby’s “Principles of Public Administration” in
1927.Mooney and Reliey’s “Principles of Organization”, Mary
Parker Folletts’s “Creative Experience”, Fayol’s Industrial
and General Management and papers on Science of Public
Administration by Gulick and Urwick.
• Pure scientific approach along with the politics-
administration dichotomy.
• POSDCORB (Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing,
Coordinating, Reporting & Budgeting) was coined by Lyther
Gulick and F W Tylor professed for scientific management.
Evolution of the study of
Public Administration
Stages of Evolution (Third Stage)
• This era is characterized by the reaction
against mechanical and scientific approach.
Focused on interpersonal and human relations.
• Major contributions are “Hawthorne
experiment” in (1953) by Elton Mayo,
“Functions of Executives” and “Organization
and Management” by Chester Barnard and
“Practice of Management” by Peter Drucker in
1954.
Evolution of the study of
Public Administration
Stages of Evolution (Fourth Stage)
 Two significant publications took place. “Administrative Behavior”
by Herbert Simon and “The Science of Public Administration” by
Robert Dahl.
 Simon rejected the classical principle of Public Administration and
politics-administration dichotomy and widened the scope of Public
Administration.
 Robert Dahl identified three problems in the evolution of Public
Administration:
 Impossibility of excluding values
 Compulsory inclusion of the study of human behavior.
 Deriving principles based on limited national and
historical setting.
Evolution of the study of
Public Administration
Stages of Evolution (Fifth Stage)
 Post war development with the transformation in
both theory and practice of Public Administration.
 Development of two approaches
 Comparative study approach
 Separate study of Public and Private Administration.
 Major work by F.W.Riggs in “The Ecology of Public
Administration” in 1961.
 “The New Science of Management” By Simon.
Evolution of the study of
Public Administration
Stages of Evolution (Final Stage)
 Honey Report on Higher Education for Public Service (1967).
 Philadelphia Conference in 1967 in US on theory and practice of
Public Administration.
 Minnowbrook Conference in 1968 introduced “New Public
Administration”. Two factors were focused
 1960 was a turbulent period with no active participation by Public
Administration
 Need of young scholars.
 Frank Marini and Dwight Waldo were the representatives of this
school of thought . F.Marini edited a publication “Toward a New
Public Administration: Minnowbrook perspective in 1971”. While
Waldo has edited a publication of “Public Administration in a time
of turbulence” in 1971.
Epistemology of Public
Administration
 The field of Public Administration, since its inception,
has been struggling by questions surrounding its
“identity”. What is public administration?
 These and other questions persist in public
administration from the standpoint of study, teaching
and practice.
 At this point in the history of public administration,
the debate over its identity may seem somewhat
boring, dull and even irrelevant. Public administration
has a very rich and intellectual heritage which guides
its research, teaching and practice. Question is not
on its legitimacy as a discipline but disagreement is
on “how we should study public administration?”