CHAPTER ONE

DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

The art (practice) of administration has existed since the
earliest time, has been one of the essential human
possessions ever since the sprouting of social
organizations.
 Every increase in the complexity of society
correspondingly enhances the importance of the
administrative process.

What do you understand by the phrase Pubic

Administration?
• the word ‘administer’ is derived from the combination of
the Latin ad + ministrare, meaning “to serve”, to care for or
to look after people, to manage affairs.
• Hence Administration means management of affairs,
public or private.
• Administration is inevitable in any given situation where a
piece of work has to be done, and this piece of work
requires the effort of more than one person to accomplish
it.
• Luther Gulick has said, “Administration has to do with
getting things done.
• James L McCanny “Administration is the organization
and use of men and materials to accomplish a purpose.
• L. D. White (1955:1) explained, "Administration is a
process common to all group effort, public or private,
• Administration is thus a rational action, an
endeavor to maximize the achievement of goals
or objectives, by a group of human beings.
Public Administration ?
 practice of administration in a particular segment of the
society, that of the public sector.
 Public administration is the management of
governmental affairs or issues at all levels or tiers,
national, regional (state), and local.
 public administration is government administration,
government in action, or a socio-economic and politico-
administrative , ‘the application of a policy of a state
through its government.
SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
The scope of Public Administration varies with people’s
expectations of what they should get from the
government. There are two views in which the
activities of the government are included in the study
of public administration.
1. comprehensive sense (broad approach) to include all
the activities of the government, falling in the sphere of
legislative, executive or judicial branches of the
government( Woodrow Wilson and L D While one of the
known exponent of this perspective )
It covers all the three branches of government.
2. narrow perspective(managerial) `public administration’
is concerned only with such activities of the government
which pertain to the executive branch (Luther Gullick is
the main exponent of this perspective).
 regarded as POSDCORB view. It stressed on the
tools of Public Administration. only the execution
which is supposed to form part of public
administration according to this narrow view
The Art and Science Expositions of Public Administration?
There has been a controversy over the status of Public Administration
• there are certain fundamental principles of general application in
public administration analogous to those characterizing as a science.
Social Science Art

a science of observation than Administration, as has been established

experiment, a science of observation over the years, requires specialized skills
than experiment

“generalizations” and “principles” are  administration requires a body of special

bound to be constantly revised and talents to be managerSuccess in
restated. administration is directly proportional to the
extent of skills applied

Pubic Administration is both a ‘Science” and an “Art” holds two

meanings; firstly it stands for the activity of administering
governmental affairs, secondly it is also an academic discipline
1.3 Public Administration versus Private Administration
 concern of administration is to properly organize men and
material for achieving desired ends.
 administration occurs in both public and private institutional
settings.
 A fundamental difference can be argued by pointing at the
prerequisite of public administration for ensuring
liberty, safety, and justice, requiring authoritative powers to keep
private strive and action in check.
 Debates usually are framed in terms of opposing concepts such as
“state” versus “market”, or profit” versus “non-profit
 Public administration is governmental
administration concerned with achieving state
purposes, determined by the state.
 While Private administration, is concerned with administration of
private business organization
• Principle of Uniformity
• Principle of External Financial Control
• Principle of Ministerial Responsibility
• Absence of profit motive
• Service and Cost
• Large-scale administration
• Lower level of Efficiency
• political character PA differs from private administration
Public Administration is far more closely tied up with the constitution
and formal laws of a country than private administration.
 Regardless of the difference public and private administrations are
the undifferentiated members of the genus administration. There
is only one administrative science, which can be applied equally
well to public and private sectors.
 rely on common skills, techniques and procedures, personnel
management, hierarchy and management systems. principle of
profit motive is not peculiar to private administration
• The Environment (Ecology) of Public Administration
Public Administration cannot operate in vacuum. It has to interact with
the political executive, social political interest
groups, commercial and economic organizations
above all with people.
 Environment in the context of this topic refers to actors
and forces that affect or determine public
administration.
 interdependence of Public Bureaucracy and its environment.
Generally, environment of public administration cab be classified as
internal and external factors
 Internal environment refers to those conditions, which are in most
cases within the control of the administration;
organization itself, groups and individuals within the organization, the
material, financial, and other resources available for the
 External environment on the other hand is that, which is outside the
control of the administration . Political environment, Economic
environment, Social environment, Technological environment
THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Public administration has a very important place not only
as an instrument of governance, as an important
mechanism for preserving and promoting the welfare of
community in the era of welfare states, as instrument of
change in the society as an institution which plays vital
role in the life of the people, as an instrument for
executing laws, policies, programs of the state,
stabilizing force in the society as it provides
continuity, an instrument of national integration
in the developing .
Public Administration as an Activity
 Basis of the Government no Government can exist without administration
 An instrument for providing services
 An instrument for implementing policies
 A stabilizing force in society major force for bringing stability in society.
continuity between the old and the new orders is provided by public
Public Administration in Developed and Developing Countries
A, Public Administration in Developed Countries
 Developed" or "industrial" societies refer to those countries of
Western Europe and USA; administrative modernization is a typical
or exclusive feature of developed countries.
 important features of administrative systems of developed
countries are
 bureaucracy is marked by a high degree of specialization Recruitment is
based on merits
 Laws and political decisions are largely rational
 Public administration is more responsive and responsible to the public
Provide three functions
 Regulatory and preventive functions, enforcing laws, collecting revenue, and
protecting the state against external aggression.
 Service functions, providing services
 Entrepreneurial (commercial) functions, operating industrial enterprises,
loaning funds
B. Public Administration in Developing Countries
• The basic pattern of public administration is imitative (copied)
rather than indigenous (original).
• Emphasis to non-productive orientations is another tendency
(trend) of the bureaucracies
• Non-merit considerations influence greatly assignments,
promotions, dismissals
• Widespread corruptions