PM 208

Study Guide on the Meaning of PAS and Related Concepts

There are two sub-topics under Concepts and Frameworks. The first one is
“Understanding the Meaning of PAS and Related Concepts.”
One of the purposes of this sub-topic is to give the students a good foundation or
grounding on the meaning of basic PA and PAS-related concepts. PA is the academic
discipline, PAS is the practice side, and understanding these concepts will help the
students describe, explain and analyze events and situations and offer solutions from the
perspective of the discipline.

Another purpose is to have a common understanding of these terms. Since I started

teaching, I have always started the course with the definition of terms so that we will all
have common terms of reference, that is, we have the same understanding of the term
or concept that will be used and discussed in class. It has been very effective and useful
for me, as the teacher, and the students as well “being on the same plane.” You will see
that arriving at a common understanding of a term or concept is not that easy but we
will try to do that here in our course. There will definitely be many other definitions but for
purposes of our class, we will agree that this is how we define and understand the term/s.

In the literature on Public Administration, three concepts are interchangeably used by the
authors and scholars, namely: bureaucracy, civil service and the Philippine
Administrative System. Recall the lessons and discussions in your PM 201 on
bureaucracy and civil service. So this will serve as a review of these terms. For those
who are taking this course along with PM 201, this will give you a snippet or preview of
what is to come in your PM 201. For those who are taking this course without having
taken first PM 201, please tell me if further explanation should be made.

Learning Objectives
1. To review the various meanings and definitions of bureaucracy and civil service,
concepts that are central to the study on the Philippine Administrative System
(PAS)

2. To clearly define and explain the meaning of PAS, its scope and coverage, roles
and functions

3. To arrive at a common understanding, have a common terms of reference in order

to have the proper perspective when using and discussing them.
PA and PA-related Concepts
1. Bureaucracy
Two things might immediately come to mind when one hears or comes across the word
bureaucracy. One is Max Weber, its proponent. A review of your PA 201 lessons will
remind you that Weber's bureaucratic theory of organization belongs to the classical
theories of administration characterized by rigidity, impersonality, concern for productivity,
efficiency, economy.
According to Weber's theory, bureaucracy is the most efficient, developed and most
rational form of organization for administration purposes and is characterized by formality.
More specifically, it espouses the following principles:
•Specialization of functions or division of labor
•Hierarchy of officials each with specific, fixed amount of authority
•Presence of impersonal rules and regulations
•Keeping of official files or records for continuity in the organization
•Expert training for the job/professionalization.

The other one is how the term is used and understood at present. All organizations exhibit
one or two if not all of these characteristics. What is worth noting is the big difference,
almost the opposite of how bureaucracy is regarded then and now - from the positive
most efficient to a negative inefficient organization, synonymously identified with
bureaucratic red tape. What could have brought this about?

Filipino historian Veneracion (1988) posits that bureacracy "probably started as a term
that referred to big organizations irrespective of their intended purposes, but later on used
to refer to the administrative machinery of the State."

For PA scholars like de Guzman and Carino, the meaning of bureaucracy takes on the
PA perspective in the local context, emphasizing its role and functions:

- Principal instrument and partner of the executive in its struggle for supremacy over the
other social forces and its efforts to lead the country to development, democracy,
greatness – whatever it envisions as its goals (Carino 1992)
- Formal administrative machinery through which the different policies, programs and
projects of the government are carried out and through it, the resources of the country
are best rationalized and transformed into concrete programs and projects towards
attaining the goals of development (de Guzman, et al 1988).

We will adopt de Guzman's, et al, definition of bureaucracy, but always mindful of its
characteristics as defined by Weber in his bureaucratic theory of administration.

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Civil Service

Veneracion (1988) characterized civil service as that part of government service entered
by examination and offering permanent tenure. An applicant to a government agency
must possess a civil service eligibility or other forms of eligibility as the position requires.
It espouses the principle of merit and fitness which is at present measured through the
setting of qualifications standards consisting of eligibility, education, experience and
performance. Among the principles of the civil service are political neutrality/non-
partisanship and equal pay for equal work.

The 1987 Phil Constitution and EO 292, the Revised Administrative Code of 1987
however defined civil service in the broadest possible terms:
- embraces all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities and agencies of the
Government, including GOCCs with original charters
- men and women employed in the government to carry out public services in all its
branches, subdivisions and instrumentalities, both national and local, including GOCCs.

It can therefore refer to both the government institutions as well as the people working in
these government institutions.

Veneracion, de Guzman and Carino exclude the military, cabinet members, other
Presidential appointees or third level officials, the judiciary, elected officials, and positions
that are confidential in nature from the coverage of the civil service.

In this course, we will subscribe largely to Veneracion's definition of civil service.

Bureaucracy and Civil Service

In the definitions of Corpuz (1957) and de Guzman (1988), bureaucracy and civil service
seem to take on the same meaning but some differentiation was made by these authors.
Corpuz broadly defines bureaucracy as equivalent to the entire governmental
organization but according to him, if restrictively defined, it refers to the civil service. De
Guzman et al (1988) follow the same understanding, adding the definition of bureaucracy
as consisting of men and women and other resources and materials in administrative
agencies. But if defined in a narrow sense, it could also refer to the civil service. Similarly,
Veneracion (1988) referred to the civil service as a smaller aspect of the State
bureaucracy but brought it back to the concept of bureaucracy by noting that the
expanding functions of government have created large, permanent civil service which
have been termed as bureaucracy.

The PAS

Now we finally go to the meaning of PAS.

In our course, I am proposing the use of a holistic and more concise definition.

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Philippine Administrative System (PAS) refers to the executive branch of the Philippine
government and encompasses the following:
-its organizational machinery consisting of structures/institutions/agencies
-its operations that include functions, processes, systems and procedures
-its resources including human, financial and physical
-public goods and services it delivers.

Its primary function is to carry out or implement public policies, programs and projects in
order to provide and deliver public goods and services to the people. Under a free market
economy, regulation becomes an important function of the PAS.

It is important to always bear in mind that the PAS is a system. Internally, the PAS consists
of parts or components and their interrelationships and interdependence (closed system).
Externally, the PAS affects and is affected by its environment (open system). So both of
these internal and external aspects affect the effective functioning of the PAS.

In this course, civil society organizations (CSOs) will be considered as part of the
administrative system in the sense that they perform functions that traditionally were the
responsibility of government (e.g., deliver services such as health, organize communities,
provide training and livelihood). In the good governance paradigm, the CSOs comprise
the third sector or pillar of society, the first two being government or public, and business
or private sector.

References and Suggested Reading Materials*

Books
Carino, Ledivina V. (1994). Bureaucracy for Democracy, College of Public Administration,
U.P.

Corpuz, Onofre D. (1957) The Bureaucracy in the Philippines, Manila: Institute of Public
Administration, UP.

De Guzman, Raul P., Alex B. Brillantes, Jr. and Arturo G. Pacho (1988) “The
Bureaucracy” in de Guzman, Raul P. and Mila A. Reforma (eds), Government and Politics
of the Philippines, Singapore, Oxford University Press.

Veneracion, Jaime (1988) Merit or Patronage: A History of the Philippine Civil Service,
QC, Great Books Trading.

Manual
Alfiler, Ma. Concepcion P. (1999). PM 208 The Philippine Administrative System,
Philippines, UP Open University.

Government Documents

1987 Philippine Constitution

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Executive Order No. 292, Revised Administrative Code of 1987

Useful link: www.gov.ph

Online resources
Kast, Fremont E. and James E. Rosenzweig, The Academy of Management Journal, vol
15, no. 4, General Systems Theory (Dec 1972), pp.447-465.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/225141.

Weber, Max (1921/1968). Economy and Society, G. Roth, C. Wittich, Eds., G. Roth, & C.
Wittich, Trans.) Los Angeles: University of California Press, Ch XI, pp. 956-958.
http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Weber/Weber1921.pdf.

khanacademy.org “Characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy”.

https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/individuals-and-society/social-
interactions/v/characteristics-of-an-ideal-bureaucracy

* You may also refer to your Reading Materials in PM 201.