UNIT 2 IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION .

Structure I

7.0 Objectives
1.I Introduction
1.2 The Practical Concern
3.3 The social Science Perspective
.2.4 The Third World Perspective
2.5 Liberal Studies for Citizenship.
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2.6 Contributions of Public Administration
2.6.1 Epistemological
2.6.2 Technical
2.6.3 Omhudsmanic
2.6.4 Liberal-Educational
2.6.5 Professional
2.7 Let Us Sum Up
2.8 Key Words
2.9 Some Useful Books
2.10 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

Public Administration is of practical significance to every citizen in the contemporary

society. In this unit we shall discuss the importance of the study of Public Administration.
~ f i estudying
r this unit, you should be able to:
- describe how Public Administration responds efficpntly to diverse public needs and
pli~yspragmatic problem solving role
explain how Public ~dministrationfas a Social Science, organises knowledge about
governmental structure and processes
I
recognb and describe the ,emergence of the sub-discipline of Develop,ment
Administration; and
state its contributions to creative citizenship.

In the first unit you were introduced to the discipline of'Public Administration. You have
read &out its meaning, scope, character as well the distinction between Public'Administration
and Business Administration. In this unit we will explain to you the importance of the study,of
Public Administration in modern society.
The importance of Public Administration as a specialised subject gf study was well brought
out by Woodrow ~ i l s o nthe
i founder of the disaiplirie. In his celebfated essay on 'The
Study of Administration' published in 1887, he characterised government a'drninistration
as the practical or business end of government that could be separated fram the rough and
tumble of 'politics'. Urging .for the establishment of an autonomous field of academic
inquiry, Wilson observed:
"There should be a science of administration which shall seek to straighten the paths of
government, to make its business less unbusiness like, td strengthen and purify its
organisation, and to crown its duties with dutifulness."

2.2 THE PRACTICAL CONCERN

Since government ha$ to respond to diverse public needs, Public Administratign's first and
Ibremost objective should be to efficiently 'discharge the publi.c!s business. The Wilsonian
 The Nature of Public definition of the subject as an efficiency-promoting, pragmatic field was the first explicitly
' Administration articulated statement on the importarlce of a separate discipline of Public Administration.
This view of the discipline emerged at a time when there had been a felt need for increased
social prod~ctivity~and for a positivistic role of the govemment as the chief regulator of the
social order and a facilitator of socio-economic development.
Classical administrative theory about \;hich we wciuld discuss in detail in the next
block, reigned uninterrupted for about three decades since the beginning of the :sent
century. It laid special emphasis on improvement in the machinery of governmer.,. 4 s
the tasks of modem administration increased,enormously, it was just proper tb look
into the cau5es of apmlnistrative incompetence. tie Haldane Committee Report (1919)
in Britain and the Pre.sident's Committee on ~dmihistrativeManagement (1937) in the
United States are examples of official efforts to streamline Public Administration to
make it a fit agency of social development. In India, also several committees had been
set up during the British period as well as after independence. One of such major effort
was undertaken by the Administrative deforms Commission (1966) which was set up
with the identical purpose of making Public Administration a suitable agency for
effective and efficient socio-economic development.
The overdependence of administration on "po~itidswwas criticised by the reformers of
Public Administration. On the basis of studies made by the practising administrators and
'academicians, a iew'faith was- born in t h i f o 6 of a 'science' of administration that would
have great applied value in scientific restructuring of Public Administration.
The classical 'principles' of administration have severely been criticised. Despite
criticisms they have never been totally discarded. These were the precursors of later-day
sophisiicated methods and techniques of administrative improvement such as cost-benefit.
analysis, .operations research, etc.
* With increasing social complexity and international tensions, governments everywhere
had gradually come to assume more and more interyentionist postures. Trade. '
Cominerce and Industry eiparided and new kinds of productive enterprise sprang up. .
There were increasing social demands for State intervention in industrial regulations.
' Poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy and other social evils had becoqe central concerns of
public policy. The era of the laissez-faire state had thus come to an end. Instead, it
positivist-interventionist welfare,state has emerged steadily.
The State's increasing concern for social regulation and general social welfare meant a
quantum leap in governmental activities. The academic interest in the study of , ,
govemment and administration accompanied this historical expansion in state activities.
As Leonard White has put it:
"In their broader context, the ends of administration are the ultimate object of the state
itself-the maintenance af peace and order, the progressive achievement of justice, the
instruction of the young, protection against disease and insecurity. the adjustment and
'compromise of conflicting groups and interests-in short, the altainment of the good
life". 1

I
Rising popular demands and expectations from government coincided with a lively
interest in 'efficiency' in Public Administration. How can governmental activities be
made more cost-effective? How can the budgqary practices in govemment be
streamlined and made more and more management-oriented? Are there better ways of
organidng the administrative machinery? What could be done to ensure a steady and
timely flow of skilledmd motivated personnel within the governmental machinery?
After all, it is popular satisfaction and fulfilment of popular demarids that provides the ,
rationale for Public Administration. So, what methocis could be invented to monitor
popular reactions to administrative action? How can people's satisfaction be measured?
Apart from these, larger issues of public policy formulation, policy execution and
monitoring and evaluation of policy outcome had come to assume crucial significance
in governmental operations. After the seminal contribution of H&beft Simon to
decision-theory, Public Administratjon has received policy science prientation. This has
greatly enhanced the utility of the discipline for practical policy analysis and
policy improvement in the government. Writers like Dmr and Dye have greatly enkched
policy analysis as a major area of Public Administration.
* These objectives and practical requirements of govemment gave a fillip to the academit:
development of the new discipline af Public Administration. The'importance of the new
 discipline came to be recognised, as sustained academic inquiry and interest started ' Imporlilrce of Publk
,.- Administration
producing new techniques and methods of improving governmental performance.
Public Administration's increasing practical concern for publii' problem-solving has
steadily legitimised its.place in the larger family of Social Sciences.
Complexity and larger scale of governmental operations have prompted innovations in
organisational designs, In order to meet the needs of rapidly changing $cia! situations,
governments have been groping for new.organisational formats that would'match the
specific situational needs. Organisation theory has, in recent years, assumed the
character of a well-developed discipline. The theories of organisat ion have Reen
co-ppted by Public Adminisqation and there is widespread application now of
.
P
organisation theories to adm'~istrative design problems. The organisation theory
perspectrve is now an integr I part-of Public' Administration discipline. 'This hiis made
the discipline much more useful then ever before for organisational development and
.

, structural experimentations in govemment. Thus in recent years the discipline has . '
acquired considerable strength. It is in a position tb suggest'~lternativeways (if
organising governmental activities to optimise the results.
.. Application of &havioural science knowledge 93s also facilitated more sophisticated
analysis of public personnel systems. Research as bn motiv~tionand morale. group and
intergroup behaviour, and interpersonal relationships have produced .rich.conceptual
and theoretical toolkits that are currently being uskd b> Public Administration-analysts,
The crucial importance of the human element.in administration,'which was. large1y
ignored in the classical model, is currently being emphasised. As i n applied science,
Public Administration has thus been of direct use in public personnel management.

A SOCIAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE

. So far we have presented Public Administration as a pragmatic and problem-solving
discipline. This is a one-sided analysis. Now we will examine an equally important fact$
of Public ~dministrationri:., it:; social-scientific status. Since government touches on
almost all aspects of life in the contemporary world, how the government is organised and
I how it operates in practice should naturally attract our attention. The importance of public
Administration as social science lies in its methddical study of government and in attempts
, to organise knowledge about governmental structure and operations. In'this role, Public
I' Administration as'a discipline is more interested in providing scientific explanations rather
than merely solving public problems.
d

Administration is looked at, in this perspective, as'asocial activity. Hence the concern of
academic inquiry would be to understand the impact of government policies and
operations on the soc'iety. What kind of sociely do the policies envis~ge?To what'extent
i administrative action is 'class' oriented:' In other words, how is Public .
Administration and what are the immediate and long term effects of governmental action
on the'sociai structure. the economy and polity? From this social science perspective,
Public ~dministration,as a discipline, has to draw on a variety olkirlcrr dijciplines {uch as
History, S(xit)lopy. Economics, etc., the aUwtive,being to "explain" find not just to"

"prescribe".
-
Check Your progress 1 . .
Note : i) Use the space below for your answers.
ii) Check your answkrs with those given at the end of the unit.
I ) Explain how the interventionist role of Government is increasing.
ÿ he ~ i t u r of
e Public
Administration
!) How do behavioural sciences help in the analy\i\ of Public Administra~lon'

. .3) How adrnini51ratlon I \ ioob.ed a i b &,or&a!~ L I I V I I ) ' !

2:6 THE THIRDbWORLD PERSPECTIVE '

Plrblic Administration's special status in the "developing countrie~"has been u ~ d e l j

acknowledged. The post-colonial, "third world" countries have everywhere embarked upon '

speedy socio-economic development. These countries have naturally to rely on the

government to push through speedy 'development'. This means Public Adminlstration,has
to be organised and operated to increase productivity quickly. Similarly social welfare
activities have to be efficiently and effectively executed. The government-sponsored
'planned development activities have necessitated the birth of new sub-discipline of
"Development Administration", about which you would know more in Unit 5. Ba\ed on u I

i
series of country studies. Development Administration has emerged as an extremely u\eful
field that has great practical utility in the special circumstances of the developing
I
countries. The'emergence of 'Development Administration' is indicative of a felt need f i x
a body of knowledge about how to study the thlrd world administration and at the \ame
time to bring about speedy socio-economic dev,$opment with government intervention. All
the developing countries in the third world depend on the gcvemment's aggressive role in
nation-building and socio-economic reconstruction. Development Administration, therefore
has emerged as a special sub-discipline to serve the cause of development. This is a
distinct branch of the discipline, sewing a distinct cause, viz. development.

LIBERAL .STUDIES FOR CITIZENSHIP

'

Another general utility of Public Administration as a'discipline lies in its contribution

to credtive citizenship. In a democracy, the citikns must be well-informed about what the
government does or does not do. Governmental literacy is a sine-qua-non of good
I
- citizhnship. People must get. to 'know about the organisation of government, the activities it. ,
undertakes and the manner in which these are actually performed. As a discipiinel,~ublic I
Administration has ample scope to educate the lay citizens a b u t the machinery and
. . procedure of-work in the government. '

CONTRIBUTIONS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

J .
As already stated. the expanding role of government in every country, especially in the
develbping nations, has encouraged many-sided inquiries into governmental ,operations. - .;
Since government touches on almost every conceivable'aspect of lifp in a democratic ,
society, the citizens must have access to informqtion about government and about how.it is'
I
I ,
 1

actually orgeised and pressed into social regulation and citizens' welfare. Public Imporl:~ncc of [4uhlic
.idrnini>tr;~lion
Administration as an intellectual discipline has, therefore, been gaining in importancejwith
the increasing interventionist role of goveniment in social life.
The importance of a well-developed discipline of Public Administration' lies in its five
kinds of major contributions to organised social life which we will discuss iiow;
* epistemological
* technical
e ombudsmanic
e liberal-educational, and
professional.

The fiist type of contribution arises out of the discipline's capacity to build up a rigorous.
systematic and scientific body of knowledge about governmental structure and operations.
Publio Administration alone has the exclusive responsibility to study the government in action
in all its aspects. In dischargihg this responsibility, it has been striving to collect reliable
information and data, analysl: administrative structures and operations, and build
explanatory theories for enhancing knowledge about administrative practices.

2.6.2 Technical
The second type of technical contribution of the discipline flows from its first major role as
stated above. Since the days of the pioneers like Woodrow Wilson, it has been the
endeavour of Public Administration specialists to apply knowleqge to act~ial-public
problem solving. With reliable theoretical equipment and on the basis of "clinical" studies
of administration situation, the technical consulting capacity of the experts in the
I discipline has increased considerably. Advising government and solving practical
problems in administration are legitimate expectations from Public Administration
analysts.

.The third type of contribution of the discipline can came out df investigative studies of
critical sectors of administration. Case studies on citizens' grievances, administrative red
tape, corruption, etc. may be widely circulated to familiarise the general public,.the press
and the legislature about the actual goings-on inside the bureaucracy. By disseminating ,
knowledge and information, the experts in Public Administration can play a socially useful
role akin to the ombudsmanic institution as established in many countries.

2.6.4 Liberal Educational

Public Administration as a discipliqe has the fourth important responsibility to create
enlightened citizenship. In a democracy, knowledge of how the government and the
administration functions must be universally disseminated. This is what can be called
governmental-administrative literacy. Public Administration is the only social science
, discipline that,can perform this role of a universal educator of "government and
administration" for all the citizens.

2.6.5. Professional
Public Administration has also served the cause of vocationalism. The discipline has been
greatly useful in training civil servants and equipping students to join the professional
stream of practising administrators. Institutes and schools of Public Administration, Public
Affairs and Public Policy Analysis are engaged in the ofganisation of professional courses,

Check YOU; Progress 2

Note: i) Use the space below for your answers. I .
ii) Check your answers wih those given at the end of the unit. '.
1) Why Public Administration is of special importance in developing countries?
 .......,.................................................................................................................,...............
2

2) In which a r m a n Public.Administration contribute to o~anisedslciallife? :

:*r

. . . -.
2.7 LET. US
. SUM UP f
I

The importance of Public Administratioh as a discipline has been highlighted in this unit. '
Subsequent developn~entsin the discipline in response to both practical problems and
academic:questions have further enhanced its importance as an autonomous field. In the ,
contemporary world, the burden of public duties on government has been steadily i
increasing. To expect that the days of,laiskz-faire wobld return again is mere day-
*
dreaming, The positivistic-interventipnistrole of government would automatically find
reactions ih academic inquiry. And as history has shown, the importance of Public I

Administration as a discipline has been closely associated with the increasingly activist
role of govemment everywhere.,
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As regards the 'de;eloping* or 'thidworld' countries, 'Development Administration' as a
sub-discipline has a special role to play to systematise knowledge about 'development' as . , I
j

I
well as to facilitate successful and effective governmental intervention in radical socio-
economic 'reconstruction.
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* , I
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2.8 KEY WORDS
"

; $ 1

Laissez-faire : Policy of non-interference. 1

Ombudsmaniq: Investigation of individual's complsints against public authorities.
Positivist : One who recognises only positive facts and observable phenomena.

1 /

" 2.9 SOME USEFUL BOOKS . I

I
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'
~hattacharya,Mohit. 1987. Public Administration: Chapm-Z: The World b s s Rivae
Ltd:: Calcutta. d
, 'I
Golanbiewski, Robert T,1977. PLMic ~ckinistratimas a ~ ~ e i o bisc&liie;
g n ~ Vol,J; .
Marcel b k k e ~New
: Yo*.' I
,
.~enri.Nicholas. 1975. Public A&ninistratioy and Public ~ffdirs:Rcntia Hall.
Englewood-Cliffs: New Jersey. I
N i p . Felix A. and Niw. Lloyd 0. 1980. Modern Public Adminirtration; -Harperand
Row: New Yotic. .
While, LSDe. 1968. In!rodrcrion to the Study of P ~ I Ahinistroion;
~ C @unriahblishing ,
House: New Delhi: . -., ,
 EXERCISES '

check Your l~rGress1

1 ) See Section 2.2
2) See Section 2.2
3) See Section 2.3
L
I CheckYourProgrcess2
1 ) See Section 2.4 li ---
2) See Section 2.6