Dimensions of Public Administration and Governance

Public Administration is the implementation of policy, largely by the executive branch.

A field of study that prepares a person for careers in public service.

Public Administration as a field of study evolved from Political Science. A stem from the branch.

Embraces school of thoughts coming from the field of behavioral sciences.

The definition of Public Administration has changed and shifted overtime, evolving from one
perspective to another.

Due to its dynamism and volatility, no single definition of Public Administration has been
produced over the years, in which scholars and practitioners all tend to agree — Richard
Stillman

Its scope and meaning have defied standard definitions, various perspectives have offered to
explain what it is, and what it must be.

Resulted to difficulty in defining its parameters.

Public Administration is a slippery term without a single conclusive and acceptable definition
accepted by scholars — Waldo

Any definition "would be either so encompassing as to call forth the wrath or' ridicule of others,
or so limiting as to stultify its own disciples." — Caiden

In its generic sense, Public Administration is understood today both as an academic subject
matter, and as the activities and dynamics of the management of public organizations and the
practice of the profession.

Its scope, meaning, coverage and foci have remarkably expanded in recent years in terms of:

1) being simply the study of institutions that are limited to the executive branch of government
and the bureaucracy to one that encompasses the dynamics of administrative processes in the
legislative and judicial departments;

2) from simply being concerned with the internal affairs and operations of government to one
that addresses the social milieu and the impact of government administration on its public, a
feature that has evolved and gained currency in the client centered, philosophies that started in
the 70s; and

3) from a definition that refers, only to the operations of government to one that has become a
distinct field of study.

Evolution of Public Administration Definition

Simon, Smithburg and Thompson (1950) Public Administration refers to the activities of the
executive branches of national, state and local governments; independent boards and
commissions; and certain other. agencies of a specialized character; Specifically excluded are
judicial and legislative agencies within the government.
Leonard White (1955) the composite of all the laws, regulations, practices, relationships, codes,
and customs that prevail at any time in any jurisdiction for the fulfillment and execution of public
policy.

Dwight Waldo (1955) in his earlier works identified public administration the organization and
management of men' and' materials to achieve the purposes of government. He also added, PA
as the art and science of management as applied to the affairs of the state.

Fritz Morstein Marx (1959) Public Administration embraces every area and activity governed by
public policy including the formal processes and operations through which the Legislature.
Exercises its power the functions of the courts in the administration of justice and the work of
the military agencies

Nigro and Nigro (1977) defined public administration as the client or public it is purported to
serve. Thus, public administration is described in the following manner:

1) is a cooperative group effort in a public setting,

2) covers all three, branches executive, legislative, and judicial and their interrelationships,
3) has an important role in the formulation of public policy and is thus part of the political
process,
4) is different in significant ways from private administration, and
5) is closely associated with numerous private groups and individuals in providing services to
the community.

Dimock and Dimock (1983) Public Administration is the production of goods and services
designed to serve the needs of citizen consumers.

Rosenbloom (1986) the use of managerial, political, and legal theories and processes, to fulfill
legislative, executive, and judicial governmental mandates for the provision of regulatory and
service functions for the society as a whole or for some segments of it.

Nicolas Henry (1989) Public Administration is a broad ranging and amorphous combination of
theory and practice.

Gerald Caiden (1982) includes anything that can be construed as the community’s response to
social problems which require collective [ not' individual resolution through some form of public
intervention outside social conventions and the private marketplace.

Bozeman and Strausmann (1984) Although its subject has existed since the dawn of history, it
remains today as experiencing the predicament "of justifying itself to itself and to the bigger
community in general.

Caiden (1982) It is a field "that is assaulted from all sides, that it is part of something else, of
some other discipline and that it has no right to exist intellectually with a self contained, separate
identity."

Early Challenges in the Study of Public Administration in the United States

Alexis Charles Henri Clevel de Tocqueville

A French magistrate came to America in 1831 to study the American penal system. Travelled
across America where he meticulously collected notes and observations not only of American
prisons but of the workings of American democracy and government. After publishing a
comprehensive report of the American penal administration, he went on to produce a
remarkable two volume book on the United States Democracy in America, published in 1835
and 1840 This account has since been considered as one of the most "detailed, and
generalized studies of the United States,“ and rapidly became a best seller then and even
today. Tocqueville offered a view of the inner workings of American democracy and government
which fascinated Europeans, impressing upon them the viability of American democracy and its
system of government. Tocqueville lavished much praise on American governance, he also
called attention to what he saw as weaknesses of its, administrative system. He noted that
American public administration was "not taken seriously as a subject for study and that there
was little lasting content to public administrative ideas in the United States.

He liberally commented that "the public administration [in America] is, so to speak, oral and
traditional" Tocqueville became one of the earliest voices to call for a more serious treatment of
Public Administration as "science".

View of Public Administration as a Field of Practice

Waldo (1955) Public Administration has dual usages: as a field of practice and study. Example
of Public Administration practices:

Enacting a law, making a decision on the best policy concerning an issue, formulating MTPDP,
maintaining peace and order, processing of claims, building roads and bridges, issuance of
license, and setting standard and processes

Rossenbloom (1989) Public Administration differs from political science and its emphasis on
bureaucratic structure, behavior, and methodologies. Examples of Public Administration as the
field of study:

Empirical studies, case method analysis, surveys, and quantitative analysis, how a policy is
made and implemented, interrelationship between government institutions, Human resource
development, impact of environmental regulation on communities, behavior and attitude of
public officials, leadership styles of public managers, mechanisms adopted by poverty-focused
programs, and the relationship between government and the citizens.

Examples of Public Administration as an Applied Discipline:

It has a practical use for government, particularly in improving government performance, and it
prepares persons for careers in public service and trains them to become good public
administrators.

Public Administration as an Art — involves creativity, leadership, a good sense of the

intangibles in administration.

Public Administration as a Science — there is a body of knowledge or theories that can explain
or predict phenomenon or variables in the field of Public Administration. Theories and concepts
are built based on empirical research using systematic methods. These theories can be used
not only to explain, but to also improve the art and practice of PA — Bautista, 1990.

Fry (1989) Public Administration is policy-making. It is not autonomous, exclusive or isolated

policy-making. It is a political process by which people achieve and control governance.

De Guzman (1993) Public Administration can also be referred to the processes and contents of
the policies and programs. It can also referred to as cooperative human action, whether within
the bureaucracy, private sector, and non-governmental institutions aimed at delivering services
to the people.

Rossenbloom (1989) the process of Public Administration consists of the actions involved in
effecting the intent or desire of the government.

Public and Private Administration

Relations to government:

Public Administration — subject to public scrutiny, public demand and expectations, political
pressures

Private Administration — less exposed to public inspection, internal practices are kept from
public, response to public are guided by market dynamics.

Accountability:

Public Administration — accountable to the public, transparency in transactions are expected.

Private Administration — management accountable to owners of firms/corporations.

Measure of Performance:

Public Administration — general public satisfaction is the gauge in the improvement in the
quality in life

Private Administration — profit is bottom-line.

Nature of Goods and Services:

Public Administration — open to all.

Private Administration — based on the ability to pay.