THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION

Ramon B. Torres, CESE

Chief of Staff (Office of Rep. Pablo C. Ortega)
House of Representatives
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the session, the students are expected to:

1)  Understand the nature and scope of public administration – its

meaning, approaches and environment

2)  Comprehend the origin and development of public

administration (theories of public administration)

3)  Appreciate the development and nature of Philippine

bureacracy
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

„ Concerned with action in particular concrete situations, but

in accordance with long-range objectives (Leonard White)

„ Managing men and materials so that objects of the

government may be accomplished

„ Implementation of government policy, and the academic

discipline that studies this implementation and prepares civil
servants for working in the public service
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

„ as a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental

goal... is to advance management and policies so that
government can function” (Rabin, et.al. 1989)

„ "centrally concerned with the organization of government

policies and programmes as well as the behavior of officials
(usually non-elected) formally responsible for their
conduct" (UN, 2006)
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

„ Broad perspective: refer not only to those activities in

carrying out or in implementing the policies and programs
of the government but also to the processes and contents
of these policies and programs

„ Broader perspective: refer to cooperative human action

whether within the public bureaucracy, the private sector
or in non-governmental organizations aimed at delivering
services to the people (De Guzman, 1993)
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

„ “Government in action”, so where there is government

there is public administration (simplistic definition)
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

①  Is a cooperative group efforts in a public setting

②  Covers all three branches 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

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
①  Constitutional-legal
APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
ü  Functions and Roles
②  Structural-descriptive ü  Techniques
ü  Procedures
ü  Delineation of functions
APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
③  Institutional approach

formal relationships accountability

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
④  Behavioral approach

Leadership/management
motivation
APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
⑤  Systems approach Organizational
goals

Improved service
delivery

“NUTS AND BOLTS”

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
⑥  Contingency approach

“IT DEPENDS”
“NO BEST TYPE”
SITUATIONAL
ROLES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Change agent
Executive leadership
Designing policy
SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
①  Government activities to protect society

②  Governmental activities to provide economic and social

services and opportunities

③  Government activities to exercise proprietary and corporate

powers

④  Government activities to regulate business, trade and marketing

ROLE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
①  Sustaining economic growth
②  Promotion of social development
③  Facilitating infrastructure development and protecting the
environment
④  Promoting public- private partnerships
⑤  Managing development programmes
⑥  Maintaining a legal framework for development
EFFICIENT PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
(E N GLADDEN)

①  It needs to meet the functional aims for which it has been

created

②  It must be able to meet the long term needs which might arise
due to change in administrative techniques or the changes in
social environment which are more important and influential

③  It needs to conform to a centralized plan but also

accommodate the specific and special demand of particular
department units
 ADMINISTRATION VS MANAGEMENT
Administration Management
Definition Formulation of broad objectives, Art of getting things done
plans and policies through others by directing their
efforts toward the achievement
of goals
Nature Decision-making function, thinking Executing function, doing function
function
Scope Major decisions of an enterprise Decisions within the framework
as a whole set by the administration
Level of authority Top level activity Middle level activity
Influence Influenced by public opinion, Influenced by the values,
government policies, customs, etc. opinions, beliefs and decisions of
the managers
Main functions Planning and organizing Motivating and controlling
Abilities Handles the business aspects such Handles the employees
as finance
GOVERNANCE

ü  Relates to the process of interaction and decision-making

among the actors involved in a collective problem that lead
to the creation, reinforcement, or reproduction of social
norms and institutions
ü  In its most abstract sense, it is a theoretical concept
referring to the actions and processes by which stable
practices and organizations arise and persist
ü  The manner in which power is exercised in the
management of a country’s economic and social resources
for development (World Bank)
GOVERNANCE

ü  UNDP: The rules of the political system to solve conflicts

between actors and adopt decision (legality); the proper
functioning of institutions and their acceptance by the public
(legitimacy); used to invoke the efficacy of government and
the achievement of consensus by democratic means
(participation)
GOOD GOVERNANCE

①  Accountability
②  Transparency
③  Follows rule of law
④  Responsive
⑤  Equitable and inclusive
⑥  Effective and efficient
⑦  Participatory
ORIGIN OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Before 18th century

Tax collectors administer

business of government

Nepotism, favoritism and

political patronage

Administrators were “eyes

and ears”
ORIGIN OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
18th century

On ascending the throne in 1713 the new

King sold most of his fathers' horses,
jewels and furniture; he did not intend to
treat the treasury as his personal source
of revenue the way Frederick I and many
of the other German Princes had. During
his own reign, Frederick William I did
much to centralize and improve Prussia.
He replaced mandatory military service
among the middle class with an annual
tax, established schools and hospitals, and
resettled East Prussia (which had been
devastated by the plague in 1709).
King frederick william i of prussia
ORIGIN OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
18th century

Created professionals to train new

class of public administrators

“He dictated the manual of Regulations

for State Officials, containing 35 chapters
and 297 paragraphs in which every public
servant in Prussia could find his duties
precisely set out: a minister or councilor
failing to attend a committee meeting, for
example, would lose six months' pay; if he
absented himself a second time, he would
be discharged from the royal service.”

King frederick william i of prussia

ORIGIN OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
18th century

Founder of the science of public

administration

Public administration relies on pre-

established disciplines such as
ecology, political science,
administrative law and public
finance

Public administration as a science

ORIGIN OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
18th century

Father of public administration

1887 article “The Study of

Administration”

Separation of politics and administration

Comparative analysis
Business-like practices to improve
efficiency
Thomas Woodrow Management and training to improve
Wilson effectiveness
ORIGIN OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
18th century

Issues about the Evolution of

American Public Administration

1)  Definitional issue (art or

science)

2)  Crisis identity (which field?)

3)  Dichotomy between politics

Thomas Woodrow and public administration
Wilson
THEORIES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Classical Theories

ü  a man in the business is treated as a mechanical

worker who followed bureaucratic order
standardized by the management for maximum
efficiency and increased industrial outputs

ü  concepts and processes to increase management

efficiency, economy and effectiveness were the
major advocacies
CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

Frederick Taylor (1856-1915)

²  “Father of scientific management”

²  Published “The Principles of Scientific

Management” – used the concept of “time
study”

²  Approach developed is based on the concept

of planning of work to achieve efficiency,
standardization, specialization and
simplification
CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

Frederick Taylor (1856-1915)

²  Four (4) principles to improve productivity

§  Science, not rule of thumb (rules of

motion, standardized work processes and
proper working condition)
§  Scientific selection of workers
§  Scientific training of workers
§  Cooperation between the management
and workers
 CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

Frederick Taylor (1856-1915)

²  Characteristics of scientific management

1)  Division of labor and specialization (departmentalization)

2)  Unity of command and centralization of decision-making (top
management)
3)  One-way authority (top to bottom)
4)  Narrow span of control (limited number of subordinates)
5)  Reporting systems
6)  Development of standard operating rules, policies and
procedures
CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

²  main focus was on the fields of “motion
study and time study” combined with an
interest on the psychology of efficiency
and work

²  “one best way” to do any task

CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

²  In a nutshell:

a)  Reduce the number of motions in a task

to increase efficiency
b)  Focus on the incremental study of
motions and time to understand an entire
task
c)  The goal of increased efficiency is both
increased profit and greater worker
satisfaction.
 CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

²  Criticisms

a)  Too mechanical and impersonal and does not recognize workers’
social group and their informal relationships
b)  Too interested in techniques which bring about too much
pressure on workers
c)  Too much specialization brings about monotony
d)  Applicable in repetition production jobs
e)  Over-emphasized purely economic motivation
CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY/PRINCIPLES

Henry Fayol (1841-1925)

²  Published Administration Industrielle et
Generale (General and Industrial
Administration) in 1916 which outlines views
on the proper management of organizations
and the people within
 CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY/PRINCIPLES

Henry Fayol (1841-1925)

²  14 Management Principles
1)  Division of work or specialization
2)  Authority and responsibility
3)  Discipline
4)  Unity of command
5)  Unity of direction
6)  Subordination of individual interest to general interest
7)  Remuneration of personnel
8)  Centralization
 CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY/PRINCIPLES

Henry Fayol (1841-1925)

²  14 Management Principles
9)  Scalar chain
10)  Order
11)  Equity
12)  Stability of tenure of personnel
13)  Initiative
14)  Esprit de corps
CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY/PRINCIPLES

Mary Parker Follet (1868-1933)

²  Considered the "mother of conflict resolution

²  Stressed the interactions of management and

workers; making every employee an owner
would create feelings of collective
responsibility

²  Integrated the idea of organizational conflict

into management theory
CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY/PRINCIPLES

Mary Parker Follet (1868-1933)

²  Conflict resolution through Integration (i.e.,
identifying and meeting each party's underlying and
often compatible need, as opposed to attempting to
meet the frequently-incompatible expressed desire
of each) often results in a win-win situation

²  Genuine power is not "coercive" ("power over") but

"coactive" ("power with”)

²  True leaders "create group power, rather than

expressing personal power"
CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
BUREUACRATIC THEORY

Max Weber (1864-1920)

²  a German sociologist; he described a theory to
operate an organization in an effective way which
is known as the Bureaucratic management
approach or Weberian bureaucracy

²  bureaucratic management approach emphasized

the necessity of organizations to operate in a
rational way instead of following the “arbitrary
whims” or irrational emotions and intentions of
owners and managers
 CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
BUREUACRATIC THEORY

Max Weber (1864-1920)

²  Principles of Bureaucratic Management

1)  Proper Division of Labor

2)  Chain of Command
3)  Separation of personal and official property
4)  Application of Consistent and Complete Rules
5)  Selection and Promotion Based on Qualifications
 CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
BUREUACRATIC THEORY

Max Weber (1864-1920)

²  Features of a Bureaucratic organization

1)  High degree of Division of Labor and Specialization

2)  Well-defined chain of command
3)  Principle of Rationality, Objectively and Consistency.
4)  Relationship is Formal and Impersonal relations
5)  Rules and Regulations are well defined and are applied to everyone
6)  Selection and Promotion are based on Technical qualifications
7)  Only Bureaucratic or legal power is given importance
 CLASSICAL THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
BUREUACRATIC THEORY

Max Weber (1864-1920)

²  Criticisms to bureaucracy

1)  Excessive paperwork or “red tape”

2)  Slowness in handling problems
3)  Rigidity in the face of shifting customer or client needs
4)  Resistance to change
5)  Employee apathy
THEORIES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Neo-Classical Theories (Human Relations Era)

ü  recognized the importance of individual or group

behaviour and emphasized human relations

ü  the neoclassical approach introduced an informal

organization structure and emphasized the following
principles:
①  The individual
②  The work group
③  Participative management
THEORIES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Neo-Classical Theories (Human Relations Era)

ü  Elton Mayo (Hawthorne Studies and Human

Relations)
ü  Abraham Maslow (Theory of Human Motivation)
ü  Douglas McGregor (Theory X and Y)
ü  William Ouchi (Theory Z)
ü  Chester Barnard (social and psychological incentives
vs economic)
ü  Frederick Herzberg (Motivation Hygiene Theory)
THEORIES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Modern Theories

q  Systems Approach

q  Socio-Technical Approach

q  Contingency or Situational Approach