Theory

Chairperson : Prof.
Neeru
Department Co-ordinator : Dr. Purva Mishra
Course Leader : Dr. Anil Kumar
M.A. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SEMESTER – I

PAPER: I (ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY)
• Introductory letter (i - ii)

• Syllabus (iii - xiv)
CONTENTS
L. No. Title Authors Page
No.
1. Meaning, Nature and Scope of Public Dr. Sahib Singh and 1

Administration Prof. Swinder Singh
2. Evolution and Development of Public Prof. Swinder Singh 11

Administration
3. Public Administration in Developed and Prof. Swinder Singh 19

Developing Countries
4. New Public Administration Prof. Swinder Singh 29
5. New Public Management Prof. Swinder Singh 37
6. Principal Agent Theory Prof. Swinder Singh 45
7. New Public Service, Postmodernism and Prof. Swinder Singh 54

Post-Structuralism
8. Organizations: Meaning and Types Prof. Swinder Singh 65

9. Principles of Organization (Hierarchy Prof. Anil Moonga 77
Span of Control and Unity of Command)
and Prof. Swinder
Singh
10. Centralization and Decentralization Prof. Swinder Singh 94
11. The Chief Executive Prof. Swinder Singh 113
12. Line and Staff Agencies Prof. Swinder Singh 128
13. Headquarter Field Relationship Prof. Swinder Singh 137
14. Communication: Concept, Process and Prof. Swinder Singh 146

Barriers
15. Supervision: Concept, Process and Prof. Swinder Singh 159
Barriers
16. Coordination: Concept, Process and Prof. Swinder Singh 164
Barriers
17. Accountability of Administration: Prof. Swinder Singh 171
Legislative, Executive and Judicial
18. Citizen-Administration Interface: Prof. Swinder Singh 187
Concept and Philosophy; Citizen’s
Charter
19. Administration Reforms: Concept and Prof. Swinder Singh 201
Philosophy
20. Good Governance: Concept, Application Prof. Swinder Singh 219
and Rationale
Vetter: Dr. Anil Kumar
E-Mail of Department - coordpubadm@pu.ac.in

Contact No. of Department - 0172-2534311
(i)
INTRODUCTORY LETTER
Dear Students,
We accord you a hearty welcome on your joining, M.A. Semester-I Public

Administration, in the University School of Open Learning, Panjab University,
Chandigarh. We are sure that your pursuit for higher education through distance
mode will enable you to reach your cherished goals.
The study of Public Administration as a separate discipline gained
importance and greater significance in the modern civilized society. The success or
failure of the activities of the state depends upon the proper execution of national
plans and programmes. No plan, how so ever good it may be, can be successful
without clean, efficient and impartial administration. With the adoption of concept
of a welfare-state, the function of the modern government has increased manifold.
The state does not concern itself with the maintenance of law and order and
revenue collection only, but, it has also to look after the all-round development of
the country and the people. Public Administration stabilizes the social structure
and preserves human culture by setting social conflicts and also by creating unity
and harmony. It not only maintains and preserves the civilized social life, but also
functions as a great instrument of social change and improvement. It acts as a
dynamic force in the realization of the objectives of the state policy into practice.
Keeping in view the importance of this subject and the scientific and
technological developments in the art of administration it was decided to provide
opportunities for written material to the students of postgraduate classes. The
lessons are scientifically developed in the Self Learning Mode.
The University School of Open Learning will be making arrangements for
Personal Contact Programme at Chandigarh and the dates for PCPs are given in
your Prospectus. This will supplement reading material in your lecture scripts.
Yet another interesting component of your course is that students are
exposed to the system of Internal Assessment comprising 20 marks in each paper.
The USOL will send you separately the questions for these assignments. The
student would be required to submit assignments of each paper. The Assignments
for the internal Assessment are compulsory. The USOL would not be responsible in
any manner if the students are denied any internal assessment in case, she/he has
failed to submit the assignments for Internal Assessment.
This book in your hand is on Paper I, Administrative Theory. It provides you
the basic introduction to Public Administration, its evolution and growth, the basic
theoretical framework of Public Administration, other related basic concepts,
control over administration, administrative reforms, good-governance and other
significant topics. The paper is divided in four units.
The faculty members concerned are always there to help you. If you feel any
difficulty or problems, you can contact us personally or otherwise. However, it is
suggested that you may refer all academic enquiries to the Coordinator, Public
Administration (USOL).
Cordially yours,
Dr. Purva Mishra
Coordinator, Public Administration, USOL, P.U., Chandigarh
Syllabus
Semester 1
PAPER I: Administrative Theory
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PAPER-SETTERS AND CANDIDATES
 The Maximum Marks for the paper will be 100. The question paper will be of
80 marks and internal assessment of 20 marks. Time allowed will be 3
Hours. For private students, who have not been assessed for the internal
assessment, the marks secured by them in the paper will be proportionately
increased in lieu of the internal assessment.
The Paper-Setter must put a note in question paper in this regard.
 The candidate shall attempt 5 questions in all (one compulsory and one each
from four units). The compulsory question shall comprise of 15 short-answer
type questions, covering the whole syllabus, to be answered in 25-30 words
each, out of which the candidate would be required to attempt any 10. Each
question will carry 2 marks. Rest of the paper shall contain 4 units, each
unit having two questions, out of which the candidate would be expected to
attempt one. Each question from the units will carry 15 marks.
Objectives of the Paper: This paper will familiarize the student with the basic
concepts of Public Administration in developed and developing countries. In
addition, the course will also cover new areas and developments in the field of
Public Administration. The paper will also cover various theories of organization.
Apart from regular classroom teaching, special talks/lectures from experts as well
as practitioners will be organized to establish links between theory and practice
and develop the student’s critical skills.
Unit I
Meaning, Nature and Scope of Public Administration
Evolution of the discipline and its present status in developed and developing
countries
New Public Administration; New Public Management; Principal-Agent Theory
Concept: New Public Service; Post-modernism; post-structuralism
Unit II
Organization: Meaning; Types: Formal and Informal Organizations;
Hierarchy; Unity of Command; Span of Control; Centralization; Decentralization
The Chief Executive: Types, Functions and Role
Unit III
Line and Staff Agencies; Headquarter and Field Relationships
Communication: Concept, Process and Barriers
Supervision: Concept, Process and Barriers
Coordination: Concept, Process and Barriers
Unit IV
Accountability of Administration: Legislative, Executive and Judicial
Citizen and Administration Interface: Concept and Philosophy; Citizen Charter
Administrative Reforms: Concept and Philosophy
Good Governance: Concept, Application and Rationale
Essential Readings
Arora, R. K. (Ed.). (1979). Perspectives in Administrative Theory. New Delhi:
Associated.
Awasthi and Maheshwari (2017). Lok Prashasan. Agra: Lakshmi Narain Agarwal
Educational Publishers.
Awasthi and Maheshwari (2017). Public Administration. Agra: Lakshmi Narain
Agarwal Educational Publishers.
Bhambri, C. P. (2010). Public Administration Theory and Practice (21st ed.). Meerut:
Educational Publishers.
Bhattacharya, M. (2000). Public Administration. Calcutta: World Press.
Bhattacharya, Mohit (2007). Lok Prashasan Ke Naye Ayaam. New Delhi: Jawahar
Publishers.
Bhattacharya, Mohit (2016). New Horizons of Public Administration. New Delhi:
Jawahar Publishers.
Denhardt, Robert B. &Denhardt, Janet V. (2000). The New Public Service: Serving
Rather than Steering. Public Administration Review. 60(6): 549-559
Drucker, P. F. (1999). Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. Bombay:
Allied Publishers.
Etzioni, A. (1995). Modern Organizations. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Fadia, B.L. and Fadia, Kuldeep (2017). Bharat Mein Lok Prashasan. Agra: Sahitya
Bhawan.
Fadia, B.L. and Fadia, Kuldeep (2017). Public Administration in India. Agra: Sahitya
Bhawan.
Government of India Second Administrative Reforms Commission. (2008). First
Report: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions,
Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, New
Delhi
Henry, N. (2012). Public Administration and Public Affairs (12th ed.). New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.
Hersey, P., & Blanchard, K. H. (2007). Management of Organisational Behaviour (5th
ed.). New Delhi.
Nigro, F. A., &Nigro, C. (1989). Modern Public Administration (7th ed.). New York:
Lloyd Harper and Row.
Polinaidu, S. (2014). Public Administration. New Delhi: Galgotia Publications
Sharma, M.P. and Sadana, B.L. (2013). Lok Prashasan: Sidhant Evam Vyavhaar.
New Delhi: Kitab Mahal
Sharma, M.P. and Sadana, B.L. (2010). Public Administration in Theory and
Practice. New Delhi: Kitab Mahal.
Further Readings
Blumenthal, S. C. (1960). Management Information System: A Framework for
Planning and Development (5th ed.). Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice
Hall.
Denhardt, Robert B. &Denhardt, Janet V. (2010). Public Administration. New Delhi:
Cengage Learning.
Fox, N.J. (2014). ‘Post-Structuralism and Post-Modernism’. In Cockerham, W.C.,
Dingwall, R. and Quah, S.R. (eds.) The Wiley Blackswell Encyclopedia
of Health Illness, Behaviour and Society. Chichester: Wiley.
Golembiewsky, R. T. (1977). Public Administration as a Developing Discipline (2nd
ed.). New York: Marcel, Publisher CRC Press.
Government of India, Cabinet Secretariat. Performance Management. Retrieved from
http://performance.gov.in/RFD.html
Gross, B. (1964). The Managing of Organisations. London: Free Press.
Hicks, H. G., & Gutlet, R. C. (2008). Organisations: Theory and Behaviour (2nd ed.).
New York: McGraw Hill.
Kaushik, S. L., & Sahni, P. (Eds.). (1983). Public Administration in India: Emerging
Trends. Allahabad: Kitab Mahal.
Koontz, H., & O’Donnell, C. (1986). Principles of Management. 4th Edition. Tokyo:
McGraw Hill.
Marx, Fritz Morstein (Ed.) (1946). Elements of Public Administration. New York:
Prentice Hall, Inc.
Newman, W. M., Summer, C., & Warren, E. (1976). Management: Concepts,
Behaviour and Practice. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Niskanen, W. A. (2007). Bureaucracy and Representative Government. Chicago:
Atherton.
Osborne, D., & Gaebler, T. (1993). Re-inventing Government: How the
Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector. New York:
Addison Wesley.
Pfiffner, J., & Sherwood, F. (1984). Administrative Organization. New Delhi: Prentice
Hall.
Raadschelders, Jos C. N. (2011). Public Administration: The Interdisciplinary Study
of Government. New York: Oxford University Press.
Robinson, Mark (2015). From Old Public Administration to the New Public Service –
Implication for Public Sector Reform in Developing Countries. Singapore:
UNDP Global Centre for Public Service Excellence.
Tullock, G. (1987). The Politics of Bureaucracy. Washington DC: Public Affairs
Press.
Vickers, J. S., & Yarrow, G. K. (1997). Privatization: An Economic Analysis (7th ed.).
Cambridge: MIT Press.
Lesson - 1
MEANING, NATURE AND SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Genesis
1.3 Meaning and Nature of Public Administration
1.3.1 Managerial View
1.3.2 Integral View
1.4 Scope
1.4.1 Theoretical Aspect
1.4.2 Subject Matter View
1.4.3 Human Element
1.5 Public and Private Administration
1.6 Summary
1.7 Glossary
1.8 Further Readings
1.9 Model Questions
1.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this lesson, you should be able to:
 describe the Conceptual framework of Public Administration.
 appreciate the nature and scope of Public Administration.
 distinguish between Public and Private Administration.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Public Administration plays a prominent role in the lives of people. From cradle to
grave we are being looked after by Public Administration. In fact, administrative process is as
old as human society where as public administration as a process is as old as government.
In this lesson we shall discuss, genesis, meaning, nature and scope of Public Administration.
Attempt will also be made to discuss the distinction between public and Private
administration.
1.2 GENESIS
The study of Public Administration as a separate discipline is of recent growth and is
still growing further with the change in the environment of public administration and also
due to its relationship with other social sciences. The factors responsible in the emergence of
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administration as a self-conscious study were (a) change from a predominantly rural to

complicated Urban Civilization (b) rapid developments in physical technology and the
consequent need for more orderly process in both the private and public sectors. As a
separate social science, its existence, has been recognized recently but, as an art it has been
practiced from times immemorial. We can find traces of administrative thought in the Hindu
epics of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Kautilya’s Arthashastra, in the maxims and teaching of
philosopher King Confucious and also ‘Prince’ of Machiavelli. In the modern context it was
for the first time defined by Hamilton in the Federalists paper No. 72. Just close to the end of
eighteenth Century in U.S.A. and in 1812 Charles Jean Bounin in France wrote a book
entitled ‘Principles of Administration Publique’.
After the publication of this book a number of writers jumped into the field and
expressed their thoughts on the different aspects of administration. In 1887, Woodrow
Wilson wrote an essay “The Study of Administration”, published in Political Science Quarterly
of America which gave a big push to the infant science of public administration as a separate
branch of social science. In the 1920’s two important text books on the theory of public
administration were published in USA viz., L.D. White - ‘Introduction to The Public
Administration’ and Willghouby’s ‘Principles of Public Administration. Both of these books had
a technical approach and dealt with various techniques of administration.
The evolution and growth of Public Administration has been dealt with some details in
lesson number 3. Here we need to discuss the meaning, nature and scope of Public
Administration.
1.3 MEANING AND NATURE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
It is really not easy to give a precise definition of Public Administration. This fact has
also been supported by D. Wight Waldo by saying – “The immediate effect of all one sentence
or one paragraph definitions of administration is mental paralysis rather than enlightenment
and simulation.”
F.A. Nigro also subscribes to the view when he says that “The boundaries of the field
have never been precisely limited and that they have in recent years become increasing
indeterminate as both practitioners and scholars have broadened considerably, their concept
of what public administration covers”.
Before going further into the meaning and nature of Public Administration let us
briefly examine the meaning of ‘administration’.
The word ‘administration’ comes from Latin word ‘administrare’ which means ‘to
serve’. In its common use, administration means to manage the affairs or looking after the
people. When some people collectively work towards the achievement of common goals, it
involves an administrative activity “In its broadest sense”, say Simon, “Administration can be
defined as the activities of groups cooperating to accomplish goals”. In the words of Ordway
Tead “Administration is a variety of component elements which, together in action, produce
the result of a defined task done. Administration, primarily, is the direction of people in
association to achieve some goal temporarily shared. It is the inclusive process of integrating
human efforts so that a desired result is obtained”. He further adds, “Administration is the
central power house of the motivational impulsion and spirit which makes the institution
drive to fulfill its purpose.” J. McCanny defines it as “Administration is the organization and
use of men and materials to accomplish a purpose. It is the specialized vocation of manager
who have skills of organizing and directing men and materials just as definitely as an
3
engineer has the skill of building structures or a doctor has the skill of understanding the
human ailments.”
Administration can be public or private. It is private when it relates to private affairs
or private organization e.g. a club, a shop etc. It is public when it is referred to public affairs
or activities of government, such as, maintenance of law and order, supplies of commodities
and services, regulation of prices, provision of a number of services such as education and
public health etc.
The earlier writers, such as Luther Gulick, Merson, Henery Fayol and others defined
the subject as follows :
Luther Gulick says, “Administration has to do with getting the things done.........
Public Administration is that Science of administration which has to do with government,
and thus concerns itself primarily with the executive branch where the work of the
government is done, though there are obviously problems also in connection with the
legislative, and judicial branches”. Herbert A. Simon tried to give a precise definition to the
term administration by saying that it referred to decision making. According to his definition
Public Administration world then mean decision making in government. He further says that
Public Administration is meant in common usage, the activities of the executive Branches of the
national, state and local government. According to Merson “The administrator gets things
done, and just as the science of politics is an enquiry into the best means whereby the will of
the people may be organized for the formulation of policy so the science of Public
Administration is an enquiry as to how policies may best be carried into operation.” We may
take up some other definitions too. A simple one given by White is : “Public Administration
consists of all those operations having for their purpose the fulfillment or enforcement of
public policy.” While in the words of D. Waldo, “Public Administration is the art and science
of management as applied to the affairs of the State.” He further observes, “The process of
public administration consists of the action involved in affecting the intent or desire of a
government. It is thus the continuously active ‘business’ part of a government, concerned
with carrying out the law as made by legislative bodies (or other authoritative agents) and
interpreted by the courts, through the process of organization and management. The field of
study – putatively a science or discipline – of public administration focuses upon public
administration as a process.”
For M.E. Dimock : “Public Administration is the fulfillment or enforcement of public
policy as declared by the competent authorities. It deals with the problems and powers of the
organization and techniques of management involved in carrying out the laws and policies
formulated by the policy making agencies of government. Public administration is the law in
action. It is the executive side of a government.”
Thus, the above definitions emphasis that all the co-ordinated group activities which
are performed by the different organs of the government to achieve the set goals in the state
whether in the fold of justice or public welfare are included in the study of public
administration.
Nature : There are two different views regarding the nature of Public Administration :
Managerial view and Integral view.
1.3.1 Managerial View
This view is found in the writings of Luther Gulick, Merson, Henery Fayol and others
who belong to Management School of Thought. According to this view the activities of only
4
those persons who are engaged in the performance of managerial functions in an

administrative organization, constitute the study of public administration, i.e. the activities
performed by the clerks and peons in an organization can not be included in the study of
Public Administration. This view also identified administration with managerial techniques
which are common to other enterprises also Luther Gulick sums up these techniques in one
word ‘POSDCORB’ which stands for planning, organizing, staffing, co-ordination, reporting
and budgeting. Simon, Simithburg and Thomson favour this view point and say that “the
term administration is also used in a narrower sense to refer to those patterns of behaviour
that are common to many kinds of cooperating groups and that don’t depend upon either the
specific goals towards which they are co-operating or the specific technological methods used
to reach those goals.”
1.3.2 Integral View
According to this view public administration is a sum of total activities which are
taken up to achieve the objectives L.D. White is of the view point that Public Administration
consists of all those operations having for their purpose, the fulfillment of enforcement of
public policy. He further says, “a system of public administration is the composite of all laws,
regulations, practices, relationships codes and customs that prevail at any time in any
jurisdiction for the fulfillment of execution of public policy.” This definition includes every
administrative operation-military as well as civil affairs, much of the work of courts and all
the special fields of government activity, such as police, education, health, construction of
public works, conservation, social security and many other fields. Woodrow Wilson, M.
Dimock and J. Pfiffner also belong to this school of thought. For instance, Domick explains
the nature of Public Administration as, “administration” is concerned with the what are how
of the government. The ‘what’ is the subject matter, the technical knowledge of a field which
enables the administrator to perform his task. The ‘how’ is the technique of management the
principles according to which co-operative programmes are carried to success.
In short, we can say that the managerial view depicts the narrower concept of public
administration, which confines to subject only to management techniques and internal view
explains the broader concept of the subject which covers in its field, the entire area and all
activities of the government in the discipline of public administration. But it may be
mentioned here that both views have their respective merits and demerits and exact nature
of administration would depend on the context in which the term is used.
1.4 SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Let us now discuss the scope of Public Administration. Several writers have tried to
explain the scope of Public Administration in different ways but for the sake of simplicity, the
same can be discussed under the following heads :
(i) Theoretical Aspect and POSDCORB view;
(ii) Subject matter view; and
(iii) Human Element
1.4.1 Theoretical Aspect and POSDCORB View
This view has been described by writers like L. Urwick and Henry Fayol. But more
concrete shape given to the above-mentioned problems of Public Administration by Luther
Gullick in the letters called POSDCORB. According to Henry Fayol an administration has the
following main aspects i.e., Planning, Organization, Command, Co-ordination and Control
5
which follow in succession. L. Urwick supports this view. American writer, Money says that
every principle has its process and effect and these principles and effects constitute the
various parts of administration. For further clarification it is to be described as under:
Principle–Investigation–Appropriateness–Order.
Process – Forecasting – Organization – Command.
Effect – Planning – Co-ordination – Control.
To understand the meaning of POSDCORB we analyze the meaning of the letters as
they stand for :
P - Planning, O - Organization, S - Staffing, D - Directing, C - Co-ordinating, R -
Reporting, B - Budgeting.
Planning : The first important activity of Public Administration is planning. Planning is
the working out, in broad outline the things that need to be done, the method to be adopted
to accomplish the purpose set for the enterprise. For example, India has made five-year plans
for the economic and social development of the country.
Organization : After planning an organization is created to accomplish the tasks.
Organization is the establishment of the formal structure of authority through which the
work is sub-divided, defined and co-ordinated for the objective.
Staffing : After organization the personnel are appointed to run its various units.
Directing : In order to guide the human beings decisions are made embodying them in
specific and general orders.
Co-ordinating : In order to inter-relate the various parts of the organization, there is a
need for co-ordination to remove friction.
Reporting : Reporting is necessary to keep the executive informed as to what is going
on in the organization. It also includes keeping the agency itself and its subordinates
informed through records, research and inspection.
Budgeting : Budgeting in an important and basic activity of Public Administration
finance is known as the fuel of public administration. It includes fiscal planning accounting
and control.
These POSDCORB activities are common to all large scale organizations. These are the
common functions of management which are found in the different agencies regardless of the
peculiar nature of work they do. These common activities are performed by Public
Administration irrespective of the fact whether it is involved in military or in civil
administration or in the administration of Central State Government or Local Bodies.
1.4.2 Subject Mater View
POSDCORB lays emphasis only on administrative theory and not on applied
administration. But the study of Public Administration should not ignore one fact that the
nature and character of various government agencies and the services they perform differ
from each other. There are specific administrative problems involved in different public
agencies, the administration of Health Department involves different public agencies. The
administration of Health Department involves different kind of work than that of Agriculture
Department.
6
In reality, both the views are incomplete in themselves. These are not contradictory
but, complementary. POSDCORB view emphasizes the theoretical aspect of public
administration. To get a complete picture of public administration, both the aspects are
essential. Thus, it is right to say that Public Administration is like two blades of scissors, one
blade is the POSDCORB while other is the knowledge of the subject matter. In order to make
the Public Administration efficient, it is necessary to have the knowledge of both.
1.4.3 Human Element
The Hawthorne experiments have been primarily responsible to show that the
productivity was related to the conditions of psychological and the sociological changes,
taking place within the groups involved in the studies. The workers are human beings with
complex array of needs desires and prejudices. They cannot be ignored in administration.
According to Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, “Administration like most things, in the last analysis, in
a problem to deal with human beings, not with some statistical data...... the administration
may think in abstract of the people he deals with, come to conclusions which are justifiable
apparently.” After all whatever department you deal with, it is ultimately a problem of human
beings, and moment we forget them we are driven away from reality.
We can summarize our discussion regarding the scope of Public Administration with
the help of following chart :
Scope of Public Administration
Theoretical Aspect Subject Matter Human Element Ecology Aspect

or
Applied Aspect
(a) Planning Educational, Administration Psychological Symbol, Norms
(b) Organisation Police Administration Economic Institutions and
(c) Staffing Health Administration Sociological Political Culture
(d) Directing Agriculture Administration Economic
(e) Co-ordination and so on. Geographical
(f) Reporting
(g) Budgeting
Self-Assessment Questions
1. Who coined the term POSDCORB
2. Name the authors who advocated Managerial View.

7
1.5 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ADMINISTRATION

After understanding the nature and scope of Public Administration now the question
arises as to how a private (e.g. business) and public administration can be distinguished
from each other. In fact no study of public administration is complete in itself unless, we
understand the nature of business administration. Do we have somewhat different principles
for Public and Private Administration ? Or there is no distinction ? The answer to this
question is not simple one. Impact there are some similarities as will as differences between
public and private administration. So far as the method and techniques of management are
concerned they are almost common to both.
Some writers, like Henry Fayol, Mary P. Follet and L. Urwick argue that there is no
difference between Public and Private Administration. Both exhibit the same characteristics.
For example, Henry Fayol says, “The meaning which I have given to the word administration
and which has been generally adopted, broadens considerably the field of administrative
science. It embraces not only the public services but enterprises of every size and
description, of every form and every purpose. All undertaking requires planning,
organization, command, co-ordination and control and in order to function properly, all must
observe the same general principles.” Hence, it is obvious that there is great similarity
between Public and Private Administration. In activities like account keeping, filing etc. both
exhibit the same uniformity. Moreover, the emergence of public sector undertakings
combining the merits of both public and private administration, is also a pointer in this very
direction.
Despite this aspect of similarity, it must be clearly understood that the different
environments in which public and Private administration function mark them off from each
other. Prof. Simon has given three main points which sharply distinguish public
administration from private administration :
(1) Public Administration is bureaucratic while private administration is business
like.
(2) Public Administration is political whereas private administration is non-political.
(3) Public Administration is characterized by red tape from which private
administration is free.
Thus, Public administration has acquired certain distinctive feature differentiating it
from private administration.
1. Political Direction : The most important difference between the Public and
Private administration is that the public administration is subject to political direction, i.e. it
has to carry on the orders received from political executive with no option. On the other
hand, private administration is not subject to political direction. However, in some of the
democratic countries of the world, the practice seems to be different. Private Administration
cannot remain free from the influence of politicians. Formally it is not obligatory on the part
of private administration to accept the political directions but informally private
administration is subject to the political directions given by either politicians or ministers
from time to time.
2. Profit Motive : The main aim of private administration is to make profits
whereas main objective of public administration is to serve the public interest. A private
administrator will never start an enterprise if it does not bring profit to him. On the other
hand, public administration has no such primary consideration. However, if we view it from
8
the wider perspective, we find that public sector forms a major part of public administrative
system and no country can survive if the public sector does not deliver the goods. For
instance, in India public sector is an instrument of economic and social development. From
economic development public sector undertakings would have to run on profit considerations
along with social objectives. They will have to generate internal resources by showing some
rate of return on the capital invested. Similarly private administration on the other side
cannot ignore their social obligations also along with earning profits. It would be right to say
that public and private administration are coming closer to each other, on this count also.
3. Nature of Functions : Public administration is more comprehensive. It deals
with various types of needs of the people. Felix A. Nigro observes that its real core is the
basic service which is performed for the public, such as police, and fire protection, public
works, recreation, sanitation, social security, agricultural research, national defence and others. It
is for this very reason that the field of public administration is so broad, because each of these services arise
out of different needs of individuals in a modern society while the private administration does not usually
cover these aspects of human life. In socialist countries, the task of public administration is still larger
because the basic aim is the happiness of the greatest number and all the section of society.
4. Public Accountability : Public Administration has responsibility to the public.
The officers of the government are to act in accordance with the wishes of the people
expressed through their representatives. In the words of Appleby “Government
administration differs from all other administrative work by virtue of its public nature, the
way in which it is subject to public scrutiny and out-cry.” But private administration does
not have any such responsibility towards the public. However, we cannot say that it is not at
all responsible to the public. It has to see the demands of its clients.
5. Uniform Treatment : Public Administration observes, or should observe the
principles of consistency of uniform treatment. It cannot afford preferential treatment to
some segments of the community and the exclusion of others. Private administration
generally does not follow this practice. The government officials must give equal treatment to
all citizens without favor or prejudice. Theoretically, uniformity in treatment is a general rule
but in practice we find that public officials to give preferential treatment to high ups and the
so-called elite.
6. Public Relations : The concept of public relations is highly developed in private
administration than in public administration. In the business world it has been developed as
a method of winning customers, whereas public organizations bothered about this. The full
application of public relations has not been carried out in public administration. The
government departments of Public Relations have been set up but in actual practice these
are being used mainly to defend the policies of the government. Two-way communication
between the people and public has not been developed.
7. External Financial Control : Public administration is subject to external
financial control. It is the legislature that passes Appropriation Act, authorizing the executive
branch of the government to spend money. No money can be spent and no money can be
raised without the assent of the legislature. There is no such practice in private
administration.
8. Monopolistic Nature : Many activities of public administration such as
railway, electric generation are monopolistic in nature and as such there is no competition.
There is absence of such a monopoly in private sector.
9
9. Efficiency : Some of the thinkers opine that private administration is efficient

in comparison to Public Administration. There is a wide spread conviction that the
government officials are inefficient. Reasons are quite clear because in a private
administration the incentive of more profit impels the individuals to devote themselves whole
heartedly in their work. But it does not mean that private administration is always efficient.
In developing societies private administration is also not as efficient as in advanced
countries.
When we look at the difference between public and private administration, we find
that these differences are largely in degree only rather than in absolute terms. We can note
that both government and non-government organizations are usually based on law. Activities
of a government agency have to be authorized by executive order, based on statutory
authority. At the same time private companies also function under the companies’ law. Thus,
both types of organizations have to carry out their activities within the law. However, the
duties and responsibilities of Public Administration will usually be described by law in much
greater detail than those of a private administration. Also, there are generally greater
possibilities for holding the public administrator accountable in a court of law for the
discharge of their duties in a lawful manner. Thus, a purchase must ordinarily satisfy legal
requirement, which respect to calling for tenders: authorizing the expenditure and so forth. A
private business firm by contrast can authorize its officers and employees to make purchases
for it under procedure which the Board of Directors must approve. Public Administrator is
accountable to the legislature for investigation and criticism. The private administrator may also be subject
of investigation but he is much less likely to be controlled in routine manner and then usually only in cases
where his business is subject to public regulation or where he has transactions with a government agency.
1. Name the authors who say that there is no difference between Public & Pvt.
Administration.
2. On what basis Simon distinguishes Public and Private Administration.
1.6 SUMMARY
The study of Public Administration as a separate discipline is of recent origin and is
growing with the change in the environment of Public Administration. Public Administration
is a cooperative group effort in public setting. It covers all the three branches – executive,
legislature and judiciary and their inter-relationship. There are two different views regarding
nature of Public Administration i.e. Managerial and Integral views. In spite of controversies,
both the views are acceptable. Managerial view lays emphasis on theory and integral
viewpoints pertains to applied part of administration which forms the part of the scope of
Public Administration. Public Administration is generally differentiated from private
administration. Infect there are similarities as well as differences between these two sides of
the same coin. The same theories, principles and techniques are applicable to both the types
of administration but due to different kinds of environment in which they function there are
major practical differences between the two.
1.7 GLOSSARY
 Integral View - A sum total of all types of activities.
10
 Appropriateness - Aptness, Fairness

 Accountability - Responsibility and Answerability of Work/actions
 Transparency - Clear, open to public scrutiny
 Monopoly - Exclusive rights, No Coemption
 Red Tapism - Excessive regulations, rigidity, unnecessary hurdles.
1.8 FURTHER READINGS
1. F.A. Nigro and C. Nigro : Modern Public Administration, New York : Harper,
Latest edition.
2. Mohit Bhattacharya : New Horizons of Public Administration, Jawahar
Publishers, New Delhi, 2008.
3. Robert T. Golembiewsky : Public Administration as a Developing Discipline,
New York, 1987.
4. H. Koontz & C. O’Donnel : Principles of Management, Tokyo; McGraw Hill,
Latest edition.
5. Nicholas Henry : Public Administration and Public Affairs, Prentice
Hall of India, New Delhi, 2005.
1.9 MODEL QUESTIONS
1. Define Public Administration and discuss its nature and scope.
2. What does POSDCORB stand for ? Name who coined this word ? Elaborate its
significance.
3. What is Subject Matter View of Public Administration ? Discuss the similarities
and differences between Public and Private Administration.
Suggested Answers to Self-Assessment Questions

I 1. Luther Gullick
2. H. Fayol, Gullick, Urwick, Merson
II 1. H. Fayal, Follet, Gullick-Urwick
2. Bureaucratic Nature, Political Control & Red Tapism in Public Administration.
11
Lesson - 2
EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Genesis
2.3 Symbolic Beginning (Politics Administration Dichotomy)
2.4 Scientific Principles of Administration
2.5 Crisis and Challenges
2.6 Development Administration and Comparative Public Administration
2.7 Public Policy Approach
2.8 New Public Administration
2.9 Public Choice and New Public Management Perspective
2.10 Public Administration and Good Governance
2.11 Summary
2.12 Glossary
2.14 Model Questions
2.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson, you should be able to :
 describe the origin of Public Administration
 trace its growth since its origin
 enlist the various problems faced by the discipline of Public Administration
2.1 INTRODUCTION
As noted earlier, the study of Public Administration as a separate discipline is of
recent origin. It is growing further with the change in environmental of Public Administration
and also due to its inter-relationship with other social sciences. As an activity, public
administration is as old as government and state. Infact public administration has been co-
existing with every political system as the action part of government for the fulfillment of the
objectives set by the political decision makers. Functioning of the governmental structure
and its agencies has been attracting the attention of scholars and observers since the time of
recorded history. However, in the modern times, the symbolic beginning of the discipline of
12
Public Administration is generally associated with the writings of Woodrow Wilson of USA.
Infact most of the initial literature and the major academic activities in the field of Public
Administration came up in the west mainly the USA. Turning one and a quarter century of
its formal existence and its separation from its another discipline Political Science, the
discipline of Public Administration has evolved through various stages of growth, crisis and
challenges. In this lesson we’ll try trace the origin and study briefly the stages of growth of
the discipline of Public Administration.
2.2 GENESIS
The study of government and the functioning of its machineries has attracted the
attention of scholars since the time of recorded history. The Mahabharata, the Ramayana
and Kautilya’s Arthsasthra contain various insightful observations about the structure and
working of governmental machineries. In the history of western political thought, Aristotle’s
Politics and Machiavelli’s The Prince are the significant works on government and
administration. In the modern period, the meaning and scope of Public Administration was
explained precisely for the first time by Hamilton in the Federalists Papers No. 72. Just close
to the end of the eighteenth century in the USA. After that in 1812 in France. Charles Jean
Bounin wrote a book entitled “Principles of Administration Publique”. Similarly, the German
scholars also initiated academic persuits in the field of public administration of western
European countries. Infact, broadly two systems of public administration had developed in
the west : the Anglo American and the French. The first, as L.D. White explains, has been
“based on a deep-seated preference for self-government in local communities, wide citizen
participation, dispersion of authority, well established responsibility of the administrative
system to the legislative body, and the responsibility of officials to the ordinary civil courts at
the instance of the private citizen”. On the other hand, the French system which was
formulated by Napoleon, has been “based on the concentration of executive power, on the
dominance of national over local authorities, on the professionalization of the public service
and its psychological separation from the body of citizens, and on the responsibility of
officials to a separate set of administrative courts”. However, despite some sharp contrast,
the two systems have come much closer over the years due to the growing significance of
public administration. Infect it is the awareness of the need for better management of public
affairs by the practitioners and academicians which led to the foundation of Public
Administration as a specialized field separate from Political Science. And the symbolic
beginning of Public Administration was made through an essay by Woodrow Wilson in 1887
who advocated that “there should be a science of administration.”
Since 1887, Public Administration has evolved through a number of phases crises and
challenges which have been briefly depicted in the following pages.
2.3 THE SYMBOLIC BEGINNING OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (POLITICS-
ADMINISTRATION DICHOTOMY)
As noted earlier, there were a number of writings on administration prior to the
landmark essay by Woodrow Wilson but none of these writings could not make as strong the
impact as that of Wilson towards the study of public administration. Woodrow Wilson’s
essay: The Study of Administration in the Political Science Quarterly is generally regarded as
the foundation stone towards the independent study of Public Administration and because of
this path breaking work Wilson came to be regarded as the founding father of Public
Administration. This essay gave a big push to the infant science of Public Administration.
According to Wilson “The field of Administration is the field of business and it needs to be
13
removed from the hurry and strife of politics”. He added that “it is getting to be harder to run
a constitution than to frame one”. He therefore stressed the business and operational side of
government and gave the administration in the USA a new stature and significance. He
emphasised the fact that the ‘Politicians’ stood for keeping the reins of the government in his
own hands by winning elections, but the ‘Administrator’ was a technician who worked in the
field assigned to him in the administration. Upto the 19 th century, he noted, the predominant
concerns of the study of government affairs were political philosophy, constitutional
arrangements and law making. However, with the change in socio-economic life and the
increase in the functions and size of governmental machinery there was a big shift in the
emphasis of studies. Woodrow Wilson asserted: “There should be a science of administration
which shall seek to straighten the paths of government, to make its business less
unbusiness like, to strengthen and purify its organization and to crown its duties with
dutifulness.”
Woodrow Wilson therefore created a clear dichotomy between ‘politics and
‘administration’ which was followed by later thinkers. Frank Goodnow for example, observed:
“The fact is that there is a large part of administration which is unconnected with politics,
which should be relieved very largely, it not altogether from the control of political bodies”.
He observed” “Politics has to do with policies or expressions of the state will......
Administration has to with the execution of these policies.” In his book Politics and
Administration, Goodnow therefore made a clear advocation of separation of Public
Administration as a discipline from that of Political Science.
Since the beginning of 20 th century, a systematic study of Public Administration had

begun. This interest got a further rise during the period immediately after the first World
War. In 1920’s, two important text books on Public Administration were published in USA
viz. L.D. White’s Introduction to Public Administration (1926) and Willoughby’s Principles of
Public Administration. In the words of Dimock and Dimock, “Public Administration as a
subject of academic study was now fully launched.”
2.4 SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES OF ADMINISTRATION
The second stage of evolution of Public Administration is marked by the tendency to
reinforce the idea of politics administration dichotomy and to evolve a value free ‘science of
administration’. The questions of value were no longer bothering the new science of
administration and the stress was on the identification and application of the principles of
administration to bring about efficiency, economy and effectiveness. The ‘public’ aspect of
public administration was virtually dropped at this stage and the focus was mainly on the
efficiently handling the business of administration. Principles of management were worked
out as readymade aids to practitioners. The administrative practitioners and the business
schools joined hands to emphasize the mechanistic aspect of management without bothering
about the political or human problems. The significant works contributing to this stage were:
– Industrial and General Management (1916) by Henry Fayol.
– Principles of Public Administration (1927) by W.F. Willoughby
– Onward Industry (1931) by Monney and Reiley
– Papers on Science of Administration (1937) by Gullic and Urwick
– Principles of Organization (1939) by Mooney and Reiley
14
Most Significant of these was the work by Gullick and Urwick which carried certain
universal principles derived through scientific research of administration. They stated that “It
is the general thesis of this paper that there are principles which can be arrived at
inductively from the study of human organization which should govern arrangements for
human associations of any kind. These principles can be studied as a technical question,
irrespective of the purpose of the enterprise, the personnel comprising it, on any
constitutional, political or social theory underlying its creation.”
Theorists generally regard this school as ‘scientific management’ or ‘administrative
management’ as the focus has been mainly only the supervisory and higher level of
organizations.
At the same time, while the political scientists were having difficulties with the idea of
founding separate schools of public administration, the American Society for Public
Administration (ASPA) was established in 1939 which continue to function as the nation’s
primary association of scholars and practitioners of Public Administration, and as the
sponsoring organization of the field’s premier journal, Public Administration Review. The
creation of ASPA is generally regarded as a reaction to What Public administrations were
experiencing within the departments of political science and it was an attempt to get public
administration free from any kind of restraints and to lead it to ‘professionalism’. Dwight
Waldo rightly points out, “The sense that political science as an academic discipline did not
adequately represent and nature the needs of those interested in improving performance in
public administration was a strong motivating force in creating the new organization. In
retrospect, it is clear that ASPA represented above all an attempt to loosen public
administration from the restraints of political science ”
2.5 CHALLENGES AND CRISIS
Broadly, in this stage the idea of ‘politics-administration dichotomy’ and the ‘scientific
principles’ were challenged. It came to the fore that administration is not only concerned
with the implementation of policies but also plays a significant role in policy formulation
which is the domain of politics. Also the classical approach based upon the ‘scientific’ and
mechanistic principles were challenged, first by the ‘human relations’ approach led by Elton
Mayo and behaviourists such as Herbert Simon. The human relations theory based upon the
Hawthorne studies shook the foundation of universalistic principles of administration for
neglecting the socio-psychological aspect of organizations.
Chester I. Barnard’s book ‘The Functions of the Executive’ was published in 1938 as
an important work in the field of organization theory and public administration. There was
no immediate impact of Bardnard’s work on Public administration, but it later had
considerable influence on Herbert Simon who came out with the famous work Administrative
Behaviour in 1947. Along with Simon’s work Robert Dahl’s essay entitled “The Science of
Public Administration : Three Problems” set a critique of the older Public administration.
More importantly they set forth the rigorous requirements of scientific analysis in public
administration. About some of the classical “principles”, Simon’s conclusion was that these
unscientifically derived and were “no more than proverbs”. He at the same time rejected the
politics-administration dichotomy. His approach provided an alternative definition of public
administration and widened the scope of the subject by relating it so other social sciences.
Robert Dahl’s essay identified three important problems in the evolution of a science
of public administration :
15
(i) The first problem arises from the frequent impossibility of excluding normative
considerations from the problems of Public administration. Scientific means to
achieve efficiency must be founded on some clarification of end.
(ii) The second problem arises from the “inescapable fact that a science of public
administration must be a study of certain aspects of human behavior”. He
criticized the machine concept of organization and neglect of psychological
aspect.
(iii) The unscientific nature of principles of administration which are based on a few
examples drawn from limited national and historical settings.
Dahl observed that no science of Public administration is possible unless there is
emphasis on normative values; human nature; and comparative and studies with the
consideration of environmental effects on administration.
Self-Assessment Questions I
1. Who is said to be the founding father of Public Administration and what was his main
contention?
2. Name the major contribution to the 'Principles' of Administration?
2.6 DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION AND COMPARATIVE PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION
After the second world war and the end of colonial era, a number of new countries
emerged in the world scene. They were having a large number of problems relating to
underdevelopment or backwardness such as poverty, illiteracy, disease, hunger, low
production and so on. The idea of ‘development administration’ as directly government led
effort to intervene in the process of socio-economic transformation was born at this juncture
of third world history.
The term ‘development administration’ originated in 1955 with an Indian scholar,
Goswami, but the conceptualization and elaboration of the concept were done by the
western, especially American scholars. The most important single contribution came from
the Comparative Administrative Group (CAG) – a small group of political scientists and
scholars of Public administration held in 1960-61 under the aegis of American Society for
Public Administration. Disappointed with the results of the US Government‘s technical
assistance programme for public administration in the developing countries, the members of
CAG undertook research and seminars on the administrative problems of selected third
world countries. As a longtime Chairman of CAG, F.W. Riggs came to be regarded as the
Prime mover of academic interest in the field of development administration.
Comparative Public Administration is basically interested in cross-cultural public
administration. Whereas some earlier writers like L.D. White thought that cultural factors
did not make any difference in administrative settings, as in their view, there were ‘universal
principles’ applicable to situations anywhere and everywhere. But writers, like Robert Dahl
and D. Waldo pointed out that cultural factors could make public administration in one
nation different from that in another and as long as the study of public administration is
not comparative claim for ‘science of administration’ sounds rather hollow.
16
2.7 PUBLIC POLICY APPROACH

With the abandonment of politics administration dichotomy and a general concern in
the social sciences for public policy analysis, there was an increased interest in public policy
approach in public administration. A large number of students of public administration
focused their attention on public policy analysis – public policy making, implementation,
evaluation and impact analysis. Since 1950’s a number of scholars such as Dror, Lasswell,
Dye, Lindblom, Wildavsky, Golembiewsky contributed towards policy sciences which got a
wide acceptance among the public administration scholars.
In the views of Robert Golembiewski, the public policy approach stage in the evolution
of public administration is built upon two basic themes :
(i) the interpretation of politics and administration at all or many levels; and
(ii) the programmatic character of all administration.
At this stage the study of public administration started gaining more in ‘social
relevance’ but the boundaries of the academic discipline were becoming blurred. It was losing
its focus as a separate science and was becoming more an area necessarily cross
disciplinary.
2.8 NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Another significant development in the field of study of Public Administration has
been the emergence of ‘new’ public administration. It was in the late sixties that a number of
young scholars and practitioners challenged the traditional public administration. This
group led by Dwight Waldo wanted to reshape the public administration making its theory
and practice more relevant to the changing environment. The starting point of the New Public
Administration was the conference of fifty members at New York which came to be popularly
known as the first Minnowbrook Conference.
As against the inefficient, unresponsive and unimaginative administration the lack of
respectable ideological philosophical frame of study and lack of sophisticated methodology
the conference came out with certain radical features of New Public Administration (NPA).
The literature on NPA lays emphasis on four major themes : Relevance, Values, Equity and
change. It also emphasized on proactive administrators, client-oriented administration and
scientific methodology. It advocated sensitive and humane administration having special
concern for problems like racial inequality, poverty, violence, physical plight and the like.
The Minnow brook Conference – I (1968) was followed by Minnowbrook II (1988) and
Minnowbrook-III (2008). In contrast to first conference, which challenged Public
Administration to become proactive with regard to social issues, Minnowkrook – II retreated
from an action perspective to cerebral examinations of democracy, ethics, responsibility,
philosophy and even economics. This was a discussion of classics (Bailey, 1989). The focus of M-
III was largely close to M-I, i.e. to critique and challenge the status quo. M-III is generally regarded
as a meeting of individuals with common interests and it was a debate without any big issue
relating to Public Administration.
2.9 PUBLIC CHOICE AND NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE
‘Public Choice’ approach to public administration is considered as another landmark
in the evolution of the discipline. The ‘public choice’ theorists such as Niskanen, Ostorm,
Bachanen, Rose and Peters, and Birth are of the view that governments are unable to keep
pace with the rising demands of the public. Governments are oversized and overloaded
17
mainly due to self-aggrandizing bureaucracies and self-seeking, vote gathering politicians.

The public choice approach deals with the possibility of institutional pluralism in the
provision of public goods and services. With plurality of public agencies and services there
tend be choices and preferences with the consumers. Vincent Ostrom, one of the
protagonists of the public choice school, sets a concept of ‘democratic administration’
alongside the idea of bureaucratic administration. “A variety of different organizational
arrangements can be used to provide different goods and services”. ‘Market forces’ when
allowed free play may function better than ‘government’.
Infact ‘public choice’ approach was a part of the emergence of the concept of new
public management (NPM). It has been characterized on a new ‘paradigm’ (model), changing
the way public administration has traditionally been looked at. Public Management denotes
the applied side of public administration with an increased emphasis on the management of
government business with specific objectives, specific accountability, performance
measurement and community orientation. It includes emphasis on the use of modern
management tools and techniques, rigorous cost-benefit analysis, private participation,
adaptability and flexibility, social orientation and enhancing efficiency, economy and
effectiveness. Osborne and Gaebler in their book ‘Reinventing Government’ have made an
elaborate case to transform the bureaucratic government into an ‘entrepreneurial’ one.
Clients and customers should be offered choices and rather than ‘bureaucratic’ mechanism
there should be ‘market’ mechanism.
2.10 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND GOOD GOVERNANCE
Of late there has been a shift of focus from ‘government’ to ‘governance’ and to ‘good
governance’. Like the concept of new public management, the concept of good governance
entered the lexicon of public administration in late 1980’s in Western countries under the
influence of neo-liberal theories of downsizing the bureaucracies and advocating the
increased role of market and the private sector. The World Bank is a 1989 document on sub-
Saharan Africa for the first time distinctly unfolded the concept of governance–its philosophy
and application. Four key parameters in the document defining governance were (a) public
sector management, (b) accountability, (c) legal framework for development, and (d)
information and transparency. The World Bank defined governance as “the manner in which
power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for
development”. Development assistance to the Third World countries became subject to the
condition of ‘good governance’ – and thus ‘good governance’ emerged as a new paradigm in
public administration. Good governance according to World Bank must have certain
ingredients such as, predictability, open and enlightened policy making, a bureaucracy with
professionalism, an executive arm of government accountable for its actions, a strong civil
society participating in public affairs and all behaving under the rule of law. In brief the
major features of good governance, which are being accepted widely are : efficiency and
effectiveness, equity and inclusiveness, transparency, rule of law, citizen participation and
responsiveness. The orientation towards good governance has really provided a new
paradigm in the study of Public Administration.
2.11 SUMMARY
The study of Public Administration as a separate discipline is not very old. The
historic essay by Woodrow Wilson provided a symbolic beginning to the systematic study of
Public Administration. Its evolution has revealed that it has two parents – political science as
a biological parent and management as a foster parent. Passing through various stages of its
evolution the separate study of public administration has experienced a number of
18
challenges and crisis, including the identity crisis. However, with the significant
contributions of certain eminent scholars from different disciplines, public choice theorists,
New Public Management perspective and good governance approach the boundaries of public
administration have certainly widened and deepened.
Self-Assessment Questions II
1. What were the challenges before Public Administration as a separate discipline?
2. Who called the principles of Administration as proverb.
2.12 GLOSSARY
 Dychotomy - Contrast Conflict, gulf
 Public Choice - People's aspirations for alternate service/goods
 Paradigm - Illustration, great lesson, ideal
 Market Forces - Economic factors, demand-supply factors, Competitiveness
1. Mohit Bhattacharya, New Horizons of Public Administration, Jawahar
2. Robert T. Golembiewsky, Public Administration as a Developing Discipline, New
York, 1987.
3. Dwight Waldo, Public Administration in Time of Turbulence.
4. David Osborne and T. Gaebler, Reinventing Government, New York, 1992.
5. Sahib Singh and Swinder Singh, Public Administration – Theory and Practice,
New Academic, Jalandhar, 2010.
6. Nicholas Henry, Public Administration and Public Affairs, Prentice Hall of India,
New Delhi. 1999.
2.14 MODEL QUESTIONS
1. Trace the evolution of Public Administration since 1887.
2. Discuss the major milestones and challenges in the growth of the discipline of
Public Administration.
Suggested Answers to Self Assessment Questions
I 1. Woodrow Wilson, He Stressed on scientific study of Public Admn. and
Separation of Politics and Admn.
2. Gullick, Urwick, Henery Fayol, Willonghby, Mooney, Reiley.
II 1. Identify Crisis for Public Admn., Rejection of Principles of Admn., Politics
Admn. Dychotomy, Human Element.
19
2. Herber Simon.
20
Lesson - 3
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN DEVELOPED

AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Significance of Public Administration
3.3 Administrative System of Developed Countries
3.3.1 Pattern of British Administrative System
3.3.2 Structure of American Public Administration Organizational Dimension
3.4 Administrative System of Developing Countries
3.5 Role of Public Administration in Developed Countries
3.6 Role of Public Administration in Developing Countries
3.7 Summary
3.8 Glossary
3.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson you should be able to :
 list the features of administrative systems of developed and developing
countries.
 elaborate the role of Public Administration in developed countries.
 compare the significance and role of Public Administration in developed and
developing countries.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
In the modern-day world, Public Administration has become an integral part of the
society. Every activity of the citizens from ‘cradle to grave’ is regulated or influenced by the
administrative agencies. Donham rightly points out that “if our civilization fails, it will be
mainly because of a breakdown of administration.” Gerard Laiden is of opinion that “the
society is becoming more and more dependent on the political system, which is turn is
becoming more and more dependent on the administrative system.” It is because of such a
significance of Public administration that today we really live in Administrative state.”
However, the role of Public administration varies from one country to another. And this
difference is significant when we compare the position in developed and developing countries.
In this lesson will examine the features of the administrative system of the developed
21
countries as well as those in developing countries. The role of public administration in both
these set of countries would also be examined.
3.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
As noted earlier and witnessed around us, Public Administration holds a place of
significance in the lives of people. It touches us at every step as for most of our needs we
depend upon public administration. In the modern age, the functions it is called upon to
perform, have expanded in nature and scope and are continuously expanding. Woodrow
Wilson pointed out that “administration is the most obvious part of government, it is
government in action, it is executive, the operative and most visible side of the government”.
In the same view Paul H. Appleby states: “Administration is the basis of government. No
government can exist without administration”. Without a legislature or judiciary government
can exist but not without administration. “In a democracy”, says A.D. Gorwala, “there can be
no successful planning without a clean, efficient and impartial administration.”
Implementation of the policy of the State is the main responsibility of Public Administration.
However, good a policy maybe it will fail to produce good result if its implementation is not
sufficient. If the administrative set up does not function with speed, efficiency and integrity,
even the best policies and plans are bound to end in failure. It is on account of this great
importance of Public Administration in modern society that it has been described as the
heart of modern civilization.
Civilization
Now the state is no longer responsible merely for the maintenance of law and order,
dispensation of justice, protection of private property and so on, but it is playing and
expected to play more positive role. It is now the responsibility of the state to look after the
social security along with economic responsibilities. Correspondingly, the role of Public
Administration assumes larger significance. It can be discussed under the following heads :
The stabilizing Role of Administration in Society
Public Administration settles social conflicts, and create social unity and harmony.
Public Administration stabilizes the social structure, else it will break down. As Charles A.
Board observes “There is no subject more important than this subject of Administration. The
future of civilized government and even, I think, of civilization itself rests upon our ability to
develop a science and philosophy and practice of administration, competent to discharge the
public function of civilized society. Paul Pigors also emphasizes the fact and says, “The
administrative functions ensure the continuance of the existing order with a minimum effort
and risk, its fundamental aim is to carry on, rather to venture along a new and untried path.
Administrators are, therefore, the stabilizers of society and guardians of traditions”.
The Role of Administration in Social Change
Public Administration is not merely preserver of the civilized life, as we know it today,
it is also the great instrument of social change and improvement. It is a dynamic force which
follows the will of the people as well as leads it. As Waldo puts it, “It is part of the cultural
complex, it is not only acted upon, but also acts.” Public Administration has a special role to
play in the stupendous task of a nation-building, leveling down the economic inequalities,
building up a socialistic pattern of society now democratic socialism from poverty and
hunger spreading education among all, abolishing untouchability, securing equality of status
and rights and opportunities for women and effecting an all round economic and industrial
development. The burden of carrying out these socio-economic changes in a planned and
22
orderly way rests upon the administration for the country, if Public Administration fails in
these parts, the dreadful alternative is violent revolution.
An Instrument of Providing Services
The present-day government is expected to provide various services to the citizens.
Public Administration is mainly responsible for extending these services to society and also
to perform numerous other activities as required from time to time. The increase in number
of these services or activities requires highly specialized, professional and technical services.
Therefore, it is technical and specialized role which public administration performs.
In the view of Prof. Gerald Laiden, Public Administration has assumed the following
crucial roles in the contemporary modern society.
 Preservation of Polity;
 Maintenance of stability and order;
 Institutionalization of socio-economic changes;
 Management of large-scale commercial services;
 Ensuring growth and economic development;
 Protection of the weaker sections of society;
 Formation of public opinion; and
 Influencing public policies.
Before we move further to analyse the role of public administration in developed and
developing countries, we need to understand and analyse the features of administrative
systems of these countries.
3.3 ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM OF DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
It is difficult to put any two or more countries strictly under select features, however,
we can broadly categories some well-developed or advanced countries in one category having
clear distinction from the less developed or developing countries. These countries mainly of
west such as USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France and a number of other European
countries, Australia, New Zealand, Japan etc. are having developed economically,
technologically, politically and socially. Their administrative systems are also developed as
influenced by other prevailing systems in the country, such as economic and political
system. The main features of administrative system of advanced countries may be discussed
under the following heads :
(i) High Degree of Task Specialization : Most of the developed countries have
organized their administrative systems on the principle of task specialization. In other words,
a high division of labour or differentiation – as emphasized by Fred Riggs, is an essential
feature of administrative system in these countries. To him, the developed societies are
comparable to the diffracted multicolored light coming through a prism. The white or ‘fused’
light entering the prism is comparable to the medieval societies where there is a clear
overlapping of functions.
(ii) Expansion and Extension of Administrative Activities : Due to large scale
urbanization and industrialization, there is a wide spread expansion and extension of
23
administration in the developed world. These countries have a well-developed administrative

system and structure evolved according to the requirement of their society.
(iii) Secularism and Rational System : In most of the advanced countries, the
decision making is on the basis of principle of rationality with national interests at the top
with minimum input costs, maximum achievements and effectiveness. There is a general
acceptability of secularism and impartial treatment of religious demands.
(iv) Legitimacy of Power-Holders : In order to legitimate “policies” of power holders,
new methods of reaching the “policies” have been found out. One such administrative
innovation is “government through consultation”. This practice is mostly in vogue in
advanced countries. Some of these characteristics have counterparts in the nature of the
public bureaucracy of more-developed nations :
1. The bureaucracy is large and has numerous distinct units......... with highly
specialized employees...... together with full range of occupational
specializations. This reflects both task-specialization and wide range of
government activities.
2. The bureaucracy tends to accept policy-directions that come from other
branches of government. This reflects, both task specializations and the
legitimacy of elected officials.
3. The bureaucracy is considered to be professional both its own members and by
other participants in the policy process. Professionalization is a sign of
specialization among bureaucrats.
(v) Administrative Coherence: In advanced countries there are coherent relations
between numerous service and regulatory agencies. In a federal country like USA and Russia
administrative coherence is essential for smooth functioning of state. State policies and their
implementation cannot be achieved without coordination. Coordination as a process which
implies : “Unity in action” on the part of all field agencies, units and departments spread in a
vast country. Coordination is achieved with the help of executive chiefs at all levels of
hierarchy. Coherence implies similarly in tone or speech i.e., all the field units work, act and
behave in a similar fashion and speak the same language. All field units and agencies
perform activities and functions on the same wave length.
3.3.1 Pattern of British Administrative System
British Administrative system, like any other administrative organization is a part and
parcel of bigger political system. Ministers as people’s representatives control supervise and
direct activities of public administrations.
Ministers are important constituents of “Her Majesty’s Government Majority of these
are Department Minister’s with the exception of other ministers whose titles are ancient e.g.,
Lord Privy Seal denoting that they hold “sinecure posts carrying few or no department duties,
though their parliamentary and other functions as members of government may be very
important”. The Second Category of Ministers are assisted by the departments. A
departmental Minister is responsible for one or more departments. There is no important
constitutional distinction between the term “Ministry” and the term “department. There are
same departments which for specific reasons have no ministerial chief viz. The Exchequer and
Audit Department with Controller and Auditor General as head-responsible directly to British
Parliament thus independent of the Executive. In U.K. “there is no single criterion which to
determine whether any given authority is a “department or not”.
24
In some of the “non department” bodies, characteristic of “department” may be

available Professor D.N. Chester says that despite the existence of number of marginal cases,
it is possible without too much equivocation to draw a line about thirty major departments,
together with some forty or fifty minor departments and refer to them collectively as the
central Administration. Some of the prominent features of British administrative system are :
1. Homogeneity when taken all the departments together.
2. Staffed by the members of a unified Civil Services.
3. Bounded by the principles of Collective Responsibility of ministers to
Parliament in order to co-ordinate their work and also to ensure that the
policies do not conflict.
4. Inter dependence of the department is due to greater emphasis on coordination
maintenance and of the principle of collective responsibility of the Ministers.
Other Facts About British Administrative Systems
1. Great Britain is a highly integrate unitary state.
2. Legal sovereignty of Parliament is absolute.
3. There is great concentration of administrative powers.
4. In normal times parliamentary sovereignty is effectively activated, steered and
implemented by the closely integrated group of men who compose the
government.
5. There is great concentration of power at the apex of a closely integrated
pyramid.
6. There is legal and political predominance of parliament reflected through out
the structures public administration.
7. Local authorities are not only created and controlled, but regulated in great
detail, legally and administratively and even procedurally by the Parliament and
Government Departments from which they generally draw a great deal of their
finance capital and revenue in the world.
8. Local government in U.K. is very largely subordinate to central government.
9. The concentrations and centralization of political power derives from
community which is geographically, economically, educationally and socially as
compact and cohesive as any of the comparable size any where in the world.
10. Public Administrators implement and embody and in case symbolize, the ideas
and wishes of those in control of policy in the Central political institutions.
11. In the function of Central Governments Departments in particular to serve to
sustain, to inform and to advise Ministers, to help them formulate their policies
and to carry them out or get them carried but by other agencies.
3.3.2 Structure of American Public Administration Organizational Dimension
The structure of American Administrative system may be constructed from the
following institution:
1. The American Presidency.
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2. The American Federal and State Services.

3. The American Federal and State departments.
4. The Federal Boards, Authorities, Commissions and other Federal Field
Agencies.
5. The American Urban and Rural government system.
The gamut of activities relating to entire public administration in United States is
performed within the federal and state structure. The Federal System allocates authority
between central and state governments. Thus under the constitutional mechanism, the
system of shared political power necessarily resulted in a system of shared administrative
authority, functions and activities.
Administrative authority follows the decision of political desirability and constitutional
sanction. Constitutionally speaking authority must necessarily be available to any organ of
government in order to act as administrator of any agency or unit. It is legislature and the
executive, which in USA decide a desirable public policy within constitutional limits.
In the words of Gerald Laiden “Constitutions, laws, ethical codes, organizational
structure accounts, filling systems and committee reports are accessible to all and are the
most publicized. The Central core however is identifiable and fairly stable. It is composed of
public laws, ranging in importance from a formal constitution to local authority by laws;
public institutions embracing huge departments of state and subordinate post-offices located
in retail stores public official (both elected and appointed) from chiefly executives to coach
drivers’ public property comprising air ports and seasons. Testing ranges as well as pen-nibs
and paper clips. It is thus clear that federal laws, codes, act, constitutions and state
institutions of government including state laws. State constitutions, departments local
authorities’ federal departments, courts, junior courts interstate commissions and other
commissions, authorities, boards constituted by the Federal State or local bodies from part of
U.S. administrative system.
3.4 ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
After the second World War and the end of colonial era a number of new and
backward countries emerged on the world map. These countries of Asia, Africa and Latin
America faced the heavy burden of tackling the complex problems of poverty, hunger,
ignorance, inequality and so on. These countries with the extreme contrast of resources,
population, history, culture, religious and other factors, of late got the label of developing
countries (replacing the backward countries) as most of these nations were caught up in the
process of development making continuous efforts to catch up with the developed world. As
noted earlier, the administrative system of developing countries is also influenced by the
under develop socio-economic and political characteristics. The administrative system of
these countries have mainly the following features :
— Low degree of task specialization. There is generally an overlapping of functions or
different incumbents performing the similar kind of functions.
— Bureaucracies in developing world to be deficient in skilled manpower. There is
generally overstaffing of lower-level personnel such as Assistants, Clerks etc.
— Bureaucratic dominance is quite common, but at the same time bureaucracies tend
to serve their personal interests to a greater extent than fulfilling organizational objectives.
Nepotism and favoritism is quite common.
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— There is generally a discrepancy in ‘form’ and ‘reality’ in administration of developing

countries. Riggs calls this phenomenon – ‘formalism’. What is designed or planned is
generally by passed, rules are frequently violated and reforms and technologies introduced
are mostly in paper only rather than in reality.
— There is a general lack of coherence in various administrative agencies. This leads to
poor effectiveness, low efficiency and wastage of resources.
— Another prominent feature of administrative system of developing countries in the
poor participation of people. For the success of various government programmes, people’s
participation is essential but it is lacking in spirit and support in developing countries.
— Too much centralization and heavy dependence on Public Sector are the other
features of administrative systems of developing countries.
— There in also another problem with the administrative set up of developing countries
i.e. haphazard growth and multiplicity of organizations leading to duplicacy of functions and
diffusion of responsibility.
1. Highlight the features of Administration in Development Countries.
2. Write three points of role of Public Administration in a developing society.
3.5 ROLE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN ADVANCED COUNTRIES

The role of Public Administration in advanced countries is tremendously becoming
stupendous, Public Administration are to share the burden of all the new and complex
functions of state administration. We have already highlighted the major functions and tasks
being performed by the public administration. The role of public administrators relates to
problem solving function. The problems of the citizens of advanced countries are not simple
and easier. These problems are, day by day becoming complex. The problem areas of public
administration in advanced countries could be summarized as below :
1. Administration of growing population and consequent conditions of
unemployment now even in advanced countries.
2. Administration of social conflict generated due to propagation of myths like
racial superiority, colour distinctions and absolute nationalism resulting in
communal riots strikes and threats to peace, law and order, arson, deaths,
destruction.
3. Administration of national resources and introduction of new techniques of
“budgeting to make simple legislative control over national finances and also
make profitable use of scarce fiscal resources”.
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4. Administration of manpower resources and effective use of these to the utmost

advantage in the development of the country.
5. Administration of Urban scene with spiraling problems of colonies, ghettoes,
sprawls and equallor etc.
6. Administration of environmental population viz. air pollution, water pollution
because of industrialization and urbanization.
7. Administration of welfare of women, old people, destitutes handicaps and the
invalids.
8. Administration of natural security, safe guarding the territorial integrity and
physical safety of the citizens by maintaining an efficient alert and up to date
defense services.
9. Administration of industrial units by exercising indirect controls in order to
keep these production, unit efficient and responsive to the needs of the citizens.
10. Administration a highly sensitive instrument of governance i.e., the Civil Service
Organization-highly dynamic and conscious its tasks and responsibilities. A
proper administration of an elite bureaucracy is the first and foremost function
of the United States and United Kingdom. These two highly advanced states are
performing their respective satisfactorily. Public Administration in both these
countries has attuned itself to the challenging task imposed by the “growth”,
“development” and technology. A highly advanced technology logical revolution
has simplified work procedures in governments, but created numerous other
problems. The administration of technologically advancement and its
aftermath, is thus new area of activity, which makes role of public bureaucrats
still more and challenging.
3.6 ROLE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Public Administration in less developed countries is characterized by many features
distinctive from the developed or advanced administrative system “as might be expected,
more differences in administrative systems are observed among the many less developed
nations than among the relatively few societies that qualify as more developed”.
The advanced countries had earlier experienced stages of growth and development
which the under developed countries are trying to over jump particular, the advent of
industries urban growth, use of technology in agriculture and industries. These is no
development science and technology. No agrarian economy can come near to “take of” stage
without indulging in large scale industrialization.
The highly advanced countries too had shared historical legacy of transitions from
feudalism to democracy and ultimately capitalism. Similarly, the less developed countries
share a common legacy control by the colonial powers of Western Europe. The country Old
“traditional” traits behavior are still highly discouraging factors transform these societies
from under development to state or modernization.
It is very true that the underdeveloped countries exhibit certain very peculiar traits
due to past history and geography of the regions, but there are some similar features which
are being summarized here as given by Ira Sharkansky:
28
1. Among political elites, there is widely shared commitment to “development”. The

commitment often takes on ideological trappings. Common goals are to increase
agricultural or industrial production; living standards, improved programmes
for public health, education and individual pensions, changes in the traditional
roles of women or of the lower castes; and the change of one’s loyalties from a
tribe to the newly conceived “nation”.
2. There is high reliance on public sector for leadership. Many developing
countries have evolved structures that have a socialist or Marxist orientation.
They typically seek rapid economic development and identity government
bodies as the indigenous factors most capable of generating this development
and guiding it along parts that are socially desirable.
There is a heavy reliance on bureaucracy and a high incidence of frustrated
goals and civil strife as well as unrest.
3. The society suffers from incident or actual instability. The instability may be
carry over to patterns that were developed with in the native movements
against a colonial power. There is widespread frustration due to unmet goals of
development. The political elites are known to have made promises which could
not be realized in short span of time. Economic frustrations are there, coupled
with the feelings of discrimination among members of diverse tribal, linguistic
or ethnic groups, the stimuli for violence are present.
4. A gap exists between modernizing and the traditional elites. This modernizing
elites tend to the urban, western-oriented, young well educated and committed
to economic, social and political change. The traditional elites, on the other
hand tend to be rural, oriented to local customs and to the indigenous religions,
as well as opposed to change as a threat to this value. The new elites may
control the technological skills that are vital to the nation’s development, but,
older elites may retain the intense loyalties of people in the country side and
the urban slums. These two contrasting models of elites in under developed
countries generate internal conflicts which sap their desirable for development,
modernization and change.
5. There is imbalance in the development of various political features. The former
colonies still by a retain some features of the legislative and administrative
forms of the former colonist power resulting in wide gulf between formal
producers and actual practices. Because legislatures and the executive
departments are not sufficiently managed by men of experience, skills and
talents. They are incapable to control civil or military bureaucracies. The
legislative and the political executive are mostly immature besides, the civil
servants. These combinations plus an ambitious elite have led occasionally to
coups and take over by army. Such state of political uncertainty is a serious
impediment to development in under developed countries.
3.7 SUMMARY
In the contemporary age, public administration is called upon to perform an expanded
category of functions which are essential to take up the challenges of modern-day society
both in developed and developing countries. During the last two to three decades, most of the
countries are influenced by the concept of liberalization, privatization and globalization.
There is also an impact of the New Public Management leading to less of government,
29
slimmer and smarter administration, more emphasis on economy, efficiency and

effectiveness, focus of results and accountability. However, role of public administration
continues to be significant. It requires dismantling of the Inspector Raj less of regulations
licenses controls, secrecy paperwork and delays. The administration is still very important
but a changed one. It has to be people friendly, responsive, responsible, transparent,
promotive and competitive. Of late there has been a stress on ‘governance’ and ‘good
governance’. The role of public administration is now expected to be along with regulatory,
more collaborative, enabling and cooperative where it is expected to be work in partnership
with semi-government, private and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
3.8 GLOSSARY
Social Change – Changes in features of a society, social, institutions, behavior etc.
Stabilizing Role – Maintaining the social, eco, political aspects.
Task Specialization – Process of focusing on specific area of expertise.
Secularism – Absence of Discrimination- in the name of religion.
Rational Administration – Making good decisions with rationality and logic
Legitimacy – Conformity to law
Coherence – The quality of being logical and consistent.
1. Wilson, F.M.G., in Chester, D.N., The Organization of British Government,
George Allen & Unwin, London.
2. Ira Sharkansky, Public Administration, Rand McNally, Chicago, 1970.
3. Sahib Singh and Swinder Singh, Public Administration - Theory and Practice,
4. F.W. Riggs, Administration of Developing Societies.
1. Discuss the significance of Public Administration and its role in developing
countries.
2. Distinguish the role of Public Administration in Developed and Developing
Countries and analyses its contemporary role after the policy of LPG.
Suggested to Self-Assessment Questions
1. High degree of Task Specialization – Legitimacy, Merit System, Professionalism,
Rational & Scientific.
2. To carry out development tasks, Socio-economic stability, to maintain
continuity in administration, significant in policy making.
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Lesson - 4
NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Structure
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The Minnowbrook Conference
4.3 Characteristics of New Public Administration
4.4 Frank Marinis’ and D. Waldo’s views
4.5 Critical Evaluation
4.6 The Minnowbrook-II and III
4.7 Summary
4.8 Glossary
4.9 Suggestive Readings
4.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this lesson, you should be able to :
 state the Genesis of New Public Administration.
 analyze the main features of New Public Administration.
 explain the Frank Marini’s Contribution to New Public Administration.
4.1 INTRODUCTION
As noted in the previous lesson, a significant development in the discipline of public
administration has been the emergence of “new” public administration. It was in the late
sixties that a number of scholars and practitioners challenged the traditional public
administration. It has been viewed as one of the radical changes in public administration.
But whether it is a ‘movement’, or indeed ever was, it not clear as the appropriateness of the
term is denied by some. The advocates of New Public Administration wanted to change the
shape of existing public administration, making its theory and practice more relevant to the
changing environment around them. Ironically, they did not organize themselves, so the New
Public Administration remained more of a subtle mood than an actual movement to reform
the profession.
4.2 The Minnowbrook Conference
The starting point of the New Public Administrations, as agreed by everyone, was
Minnowbrook Conference at New York in 1968, Dwight Waldo, a member of the establishment
invited fifty young administrative practitioners and professors to confer on the future of the
profession. The participants could be called revolutionary as they wanted to change the
31
system, not destroy it. “In general, they reflect in some degrees the rebellion of youth, and
certain ideas associated with the counter-culture and non-Marxian Left”.
The plea of this group, sources of which are regarded as New Letters, was for a more
humane, proactive public administration challenging the old ideals of scientific, value neutral
scholarship. In broader terms, the charges made against the old public administration were
that “it lacks a respectable and consistent ideological- philosophical frame and a
sophisticated methodology; that is accepting an instrumentalist role it becomes a tool of a
system or establishment that itself is in need of serious reform; that is inefficient-or efficient
in wrong ways-unresponsive and unimaginative”. It has also been indicated that public
administration is an instrument of status quo, denying social justice to less privileged
groups. The New Left participants of the movement argue that public administration is “an
impersonal bureaucratic conglomerate that caters to special rather than general interests. It
appears to be devoted to the public good, to civil improvement and true democracy, but it
operates quite to the contrary.”
4.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
A number of features or themes of the conference may be identified and listed. In the
views of Rosemary O’Leary, the basic focus of the conference was on the 'relevance' of the
discipline and teaching of Public Administration, dissatisfaction summarized the theme of
the conference as relevance, anti-positivism, dissatisfaction with the state of discipline,
personal morality and ethics innovation, improved human relations, reconciling public
administration and democracy, social equity, and client orientation. Some of the themes
identified in this conference have been elaborated briefly here:
(a) Relevance
The NPA has rejected the traditional concept of efficiency and economy in
administration. It stresses that the discipline had little to say about contemporary problem
and issues and therefore becoming irrelevant. The traditional Public Administration
concerned with efficiency and economy and paid lesser attention to the contemporary
problems and issues which it out to be. The question that asked was : Public Administration
knowledge for what? Is the purpose of Public Administration to facilitate use of
administrative knowledge of perpetuation of political power? Obviously question challenged
the relevance and therefore new movement (NPA) demanded radical curriculum change to
facilitate meaningful studies oriented to the realities of public life to make the discipline and
profession relevant one.
Mohit Bhattacharya also opined that by the NPA "Management oriented public
administration curriculum was found irrelevant and demand was to deal with the political
and administrative implications of administrative action". Hence there was an urgent need to
make the discipline socially relevant. In other words, there was a need for meaningful studies
focusing on 'policy issues' instead of 'management of agencies'.
(b) Phenomenology (Anti-Positivism)
A striking feature of the New Public Administration is its attack against positivism. It
means assaulting of the whole foundation of scientific understanding. Emerging from the
European scientific revolution, positivism asserted that laws of nature existed and could be
discovered through empirical observation. The advocates of New Public Administration
attached the empirical social science research as awful, irrelevant, dull, narrow and barren.
32
It raises common sense to a science by verifying it. It is stupid because it assumes that
empirical theories of the world are ‘value free’.
Therefore, the advocates of New Public Administration turned to phenomenology.
Phenomenology began as an attempt among German Philosophers to rescue philosophy from
empiricism of Hegal, Comte and Kant. Often called the science of perceptions, it sees the
mind as an intervening force between phenomenon and understanding. The mind interprets
data. Most concepts in administrative theory, such as organization, group, function and
specialization are interpretations of the world created by the perceptual screen of mind. To
the phenomenologist an “organization” cannot exist independently of the image of it formed
in the mind. To treat the organization as if it were objectively real, is to ignore the most
important feature of the concept, namely, its subjective origin. The phenomenologists analyze
such concepts “through a rigorous analysis of the structure of consciousness”. The
phenomenologists refuse to separate value from what are perceived to be facts and deal with
phenomena in their essential wholeness rather than directing them. They try to combine
different views or reality.
(c) The Proactive Administrator
Another concept used by the scholars of New Public Administration is existentialism.
To the existentialist, appreciation of one’s ultimate responsibility for one’s own fate
constitutes the highest form of knowledge. This awareness forces people to stop relaying
upon superior authority for guidance. For his wrong doing, no one morally claim that he was
just following orders. The adherents of New Public Administration recommended
phenomenology and existentialism towards the creation of a ‘post bureaucratic’ society in
which the administrator is expected to be proactive and the organization is restructured to
allow it. Pro-active administrators are expected to take risks on behalf of their clients or their
moral values, to shift agency resources to help the powerless, and to fight against orders that
are unjust. Such administrators are expected to invent creative strategies and fight for
radical goals.
(d) Social Equity
The leaders of New Public Administration also emphasize the principal of social equity
the realization of which they recommend should be the purpose of public administration,
social equity. They feel that public administration, if it plays its role as a servant of the state,
becomes the instrument of repression. For many years, public administration has tried to
maintain a position of value neutrality, not taking sides on political or social issues and
concentrating on making governmental administration efficient in the brief that efficiency
would be better for everyone. The New Public Administration argued that value neutrality is
neither possible nor desirable in public administration. It is not possible because public
service provided by administrators always vary in their impact. The old public administration
has neglected the question of values in relation to the social purposes of government. In
implementing government programmes, public officials have emphasized efficiency and
economy of execution, often at the expense of social equity.
(e) Client-Oriented Administration
Old Public Administration is charged with inhuman or unresponsive to human needs
as it is said that “more modern public administration become, the less it is able to diagnose
or cure the problems that hit the citizen in the neighbourhood”. A client-oriented
administration is therefore, strongly recommended by the advocates of New Public
33
Administration. They call for a greater decentralization and citizen participation in

government. One of the proposed methods was to allow clients to formally evaluate the work
of the agency-and make those evaluation binding. It was added that the administrator had a
positive responsibility to search for hidden clientele and organize them so that they could
join the receipt of public services. To this effect they called for modification of elimination of
bureaucracy. That means along with decentralization and democratic decision making
debureaucratization is required in the interest of more effective, and humane delivery of
public services.
(f) Values
The NPM rejected the value neutral stance taken by the management oriented Public
Administration. The career-oriented bureaucrats are no longer considered to be merely
implementations of the policies but they are now understood to held a public trust to bring
about an environment of best possible public service. Fredrickson observered that "The NPM
is less 'generic' and more 'public' than his forbear, less 'descriptive' more 'perspective', less
'institution oriented' and more 'client oriented', less 'neutral' more 'normative' and it is hoped
no less scientific".
(g) Change
The NPM focused on change and emphasized that public officials should be believers
in status quo. It is considered that the public agencies/offices often their purpose and there
should be new agencies befitting the socio-economic requirements. Public except change and
government must take necessary measures to do away with undesirable and wasteful
programmes and activities. Fredrickson observed that "change, not growth, has come to be
understood as the more critical theoretical issue".
4.4 FRANK MARINI’S AND D. WALDO’S VIEWS ON NEW PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
Frank Marini one of the chief organizers of the Minnowbrook conference, in
summarizing the conference noted that the discussions about turbulence led to discussions
about confrontation, participation, organizational devaluation, personal adaptation and
openness towards clients. These were certainly not the old mechanical principles of
administration. Similarly, Waldo notes that New Public Administration urges a concern for
social equity, a sensitivity to human suffering and social needs, it argues that public
administration should be more activist” proactive “and not simply” reactive. It professes not
be anti-scientific, but wishes advanced methodologies and procedures to be used in a context
of concern and reform, not for their own sake and certainly not as instruments of repression.
It professes not to be anti-rational, but wishes the calculations of public administration to be
more sensitive, subtle and humane : the domain of public administration to be enlarged by
recognition of the important of affect. It has a special concern for the problems of : racial
inequality, poverty, violence, physical plight and the like. It has a keen interest in and a
receptivity towards organizational humanism and advanced techniques of organizational
development. It reacts against logical positivism- it largely ignores pragmatism-and seeks
philosophic guidance for such schools as existentialism and especially phenomenology”.
1. What was the starting point of NPA?
34
2. Write four features of NPA.
4.5 CRITICAL EVALUATION

The New Public Administration come out as one of the most significant developments
of the recent times. However, within a few years of its attainment of self-consciousness, lost
much of its coherence and identify. As Robert T. Golembiewski regarded it as a temporary or
transitional phenomenon, and was of the view that wisdom might be a simply allow its
memory to a further fade away. In his book, Public Administration as a Developing Discipline,
he points out apart from away. In his book, Public Administration as a Developing Discipline,
he points out apart from certain positive features, there are three ‘anti goals’ of New Public
Administration. These are (i) the literature of New Public Administration in anti-positivist, as
it rejects the definition of public administration as ‘value-free’ it rejects any definition of
public administration that was not properly involved in policy and rejects a rationalist or
perhaps determinist view of human kind (ii) the Anew Public Administration is ant technical
and (ii) it is more or less antibureaucratic and antihierarchical.
A number of complex questions have been raised against the issues raised by the New
Public Administration. For instance Nigro and Nigro point out : “If the pursuit of social equity
means an independent role for public administrators in defiance of the desires-and indeed
the prescriptions of the legislature and the majority or the public would this not be
undemocratic, with the rule of a new administrative elite representing a minority interest on
matters how humane or wise ? Can social equity really be defined and measured precisely ?
Is it likely that the general public would tolerate deemphasis of the principles of efficiency
and economy in a tune when government is much criticized for failing to be efficient and
economical ?
One year after the Minnowbrook Conference, Dwight Waldo brought the advocates of
New Public administration together again at the convention of the American Political Science
Association. Waldo discussed what he perceived to be the major administrative issues
underlying the controversies over approach and method. He noted down his concern; (i) the
advocates of states’ rights and “power to the people” oppose those who know that
centralization is necessary to promote national priorities and administrative reforms; (ii) the
advocates of greater citizen participation in administration, including citizens and employees,
confront the fact that “ultimately a democratic country must limit participation because it is
committed a democracy” ; (iii) Economists management scientists, radicals, and
constitutional theorists are reviving the politics/administration dichotomy, stupefying
members of the old guard who thought they had driven this devil out of the profession thirty
years ago; (iv) the gospel of efficiency still haunts a profession that does not want to make it
the central value of administration but refuses to embrace any substitute criterion that
smacks of efficiency; and (v) the knowledge that organizational societies are intrinsically
more progressive than primitive civilizations runs around on the belief that organizations are
masters enslaving the human race. Mucurdy is of the view that such a diversity is a threat to
the academia of public administration because of the traditional requirement that any
35
respectable field of inquiry be able to agree upon a fundamental theory that shapes its
approaches to the phenomenon it studies. New Public Administration has failed to take the
discipline to any respectable position and the search for a single dominant theory of public
administration or the identity crisis still continues.
Despite of all the criticism, the importance and impact of New Public Administration
cannot be denied. Although it is regarded as a temporary phenomenon, the literature it has
produced a widely read, e.g. “Towards a New public Administration- The Minnowbrook
Perspective” edited by Frank Marini (1971) “Public Administration in a Time of Turbulence”
edited by Dwight Waldo (1971) and a number of Articles by H. George Tredrickson Vincent
Ostgrom, Peter Savage and so on. Nigro and Nigro are of the view that it has certainly broken
fresh ground and imparted new substance to the discipline of public administration. New
directions shown by it cannot be ignored. As Waldo writes : The adherents of New Public
Administration were certainly involved in changes in the American Society for Public
Administration designed to democratize its organizations and procedures and to give it a
More forward stance. Two Australian writer Kelley and Wettenhall plead against the ignoring
of New Public Administration. “It would be foolish indeed to reject its message that the
community in general is experiencing a growth of idealism, of concern for the ‘quality of life’,
of desire to ameliorate the lot of the more deprived members of society”. In brief, Waldo
writes, it is unlikely to transform radically public administration in short run, but in long
run this a possibility; and in any case it now is and will continue to be a yeasty addition to
the entire complex of theories and techniques.
4.6 THE MINNOWBROOK II AND III
During the two decades after the first Minnowbrook Conference a number of changes
took place in the American Public Administration. Since the Public was unable to be effective
at changing government conference at Minnowbrook at the interval of twenty years each. The
themes of these conferences differed and this conference could not make much of the real
impact on the theory and practice of Public Administration but these are still considered on
important landmarks.
Some simply concluded that it is better to have less of it "(Frederickson). The USA
witnessed more governance in place of directly performing government, more privatization
and contracting out and increased role of Civil Society. In USA witnessed rise in poverty and
related problems. At the same time, the discipline of Public Administration had become
much broader, analytical interdisciplinary and somewhat sophisticated. The Second
Minnowbrook Conference was held in 1988 which was attended by sixty scholars belonging
to various fields relating to governance, public policy land economics, sociology, political
science to public administration. The second conference was somewhat practical as
compared to first one which was said to be radical and revolutionary. The mood and
orientation of M-II was more civil, practical and pragmatic. It laid emphasis on Constitutional
and legal perspective, economic arena, Policy and leadership. There was a general Consensus
on town sizing, privatization, volunteerism, and social capacity building. It accepted
democratic values and has accorded pre-eminent attention to the issue of social equity. In
the works of Mary Ellen Guy, the conference found "the discipline on a sound footing with
its sense of relevance and purpose".
Again, with a gap of twenty years that a third Minnowbrook conference was held, i.e.,
in 2008. During these twenty years a number of further changes had taken place in the field
of Public Administration. The process of LPG (Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization)
36
made the Public Administration as 'enabler' and facilitator. The publication of 'Reinventing
Government' by Osborne and Gaebler in 1992 redefined the functions of government as
'enabler' and 'entrepreneurial'. It emphasized bringing about basic changes towards
democratization, decentralization and de-bureaucratization. All this led to the emergence of
'New Public Management' approach to governance.
The mission of the Minnowbrook - III was the 'Critique the current state of Public
Administration, Public Management and Public Service and to examine the future of the
field". The M-III had 220 participants from 13 countries which deliberated upon a number of
areas such as changes in the field of Public Administration since 1968, academic -
practitioner relationship, collaborative public management.; Global perspective, IT and Public
management, financial management, leadership, social equity and Justice, transparency and
accountability, performance evaluation, interdisciplinary perspective. Most of the scholars
are of the view that in M- III no big question was examined rather a variety of issues relating
to public management were deliberated upon by the individual participants.
4.7 SUMMARY
Minnobrook Conference of 1968 is the starting point of New Administration. It wanted
to change the shape of existing Public Administration so that it is relevant to the changing
environment. It is an attack against positivism. It separates the values from the facts. It
takes the risk on behalf of their clients to help the powerless. It emphasizes social equity and
believes in client-oriented approach. The concept of New Public Administration has invited
the criticism from many quarters but despite the criticism its importance and impact cannot
be denied.
4.8 GLOSSARY
 Phenomenology - A study of consciousness and experience as against
empirical studies
 Client Orientation - Pro-people, democratic & sensitivity to people
 Proactive Admn - Positive initiatives for welfare - procitizen actions
 Social Equity - Social Justice, equality, welfare
4.9 SUGGESTED READINGS
 Marini, Frank, Towards a New Public Administration : The Minnowbrook
Perspective, 1971.
 Waldo, Dwight, Public Administration in time of Turbulance, 1971.
 Osborne, David and Gaebler, T, Reinventing Government, New York, 1992.
 Bhattacharya, Mohit, Restructuring Public Administration, Jawahar
Publications, New Delhi, 2006.
 O'Leary, Rosemary. Yhe future of public administration around the world : The
Minnowbrook Perspectives.
1. State the starting point of New Public Administration and discuss its features
37
2. Explain the term Client Oriented Administration, Phenomenology and Social

Equity and the impact of New Public Administration.
1. Minnowbrook Conference (19 68) at New York led by Delight Waldo.
2. Social Equity, Proactive Bureaucracy, Phenomenology, Client Orientation.
Lesson - 5
NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
Structure
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The Concept and its Genesis
5.3 Salient Features of New Public Management
5.4 CAPAM Conference
5.5 Basic Components of New Paradigm
5.5.1 A Client or Customer’s focus
5.5.2 Devolution
5.5.3 Performance Contracting
5.5.4 The ‘People’ Dimension
5.6 New Public Management and Traditional Public Administration
5.7 Summary
5.8 Glossary
5.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this lesson you would be able to :
 state the concept of New Public Management.
 list the features of New Public Management.
 differentiate between Traditional Public Administration and New Public
Management.
5.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous lesson we had introduction about the meaning and features of New
Public Administration, in this lesson we’re have some discussion on another and very
significant topic, i.e. New Public Management.
38
In the literature of Public Administration, the term ‘Public Management’ is relatively a

recent entry. In the past two decades, the topic of Public Management has come forcefully on
to the agenda of those interested in government administration. A number of books and
articles have included the term in their titles. The use of the term public management has
increased along with a growing concern about the size, cost and effectiveness of government.
5.2 THE CONCEPT AND ITS GENESIS
The Public management is a combination of words ‘Public’ and ‘Management’, and its
contents emphasize concepts taken from both political science and business management.
These are the supremacy of basic constitutional principles; rule of law, equity, fairness and
so on, as well as managerial ingredients like effectiveness, efficiency, cost-benefit analysis
and the like. What ‘Public Management’, therefore, stands for is the adoption of tested
management techniques for collective problem-solving.
‘Public Management’ focuses more on management, lesson, policy and on performance
appraisal and efficiency. It deals with converting public bureaucracies into agencies which
deal with each other on a user-pay basis. It also uses quasi-market and contracting out to
foster competition. It aims at cutting cost, reducing public expenditure and a style of
management which emphasizes on output and providing monetary incentives to increased
performance and empowering managers. The thrust has been toward a determined effort to
implement the 3Es: Efficiency, Economy and Effectiveness.
Both in academic circles and in the field of applied public administration the term
public management has gained popularity. Besides the outflow of literature on public
management, there have also been many management improvement initiatives at various
levels of government, including efforts of implement specific procedures of technologies, and
prestigious conferences and institutional reports on improving public management. The term
apparently has been attractive because it implies something that is seriously needed in thin
context. Both the academic literature and the applied management improvement efforts have
stressed the need for a vigorous public management.
Since the 1970’s a burgeoning literature has appeared worldwide on management in
public sector which reflects an increasing trend for discussion on the topic ‘how management
applies to public administration’. The demand has been based on the critique that the public
administration literature has been information rich and skill poor, too broadly discursive and
philosophical and, two much preoccupied with general, ethical and normative issues to
provide guidelines for the managers of public organizations.
These and similar other themes were reflected in a major conference at the Booking
Institution, U.S.A. which reflects another example of the activity related to the topic of public
management. The need to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness of the
federal government had been a central issue in Jimmy Carter’s campaign for the Presidency
in 1976. During the Carter administration, this issue had been translated into various efforts
to improve governmental performance and management, such as Civil Services Reform Act of
1978. Infect organizational and managerial reforms are clearly nothing new in government,
whether it is U.S.A., U.K., Germany and even up to some extent India. PPBS, O&M,
performance budgeting, ZBB, MBO, PERT / CPM and a number of other techniques and
measures can be noted in this connection.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there has been noticeable change in public
administration discourse, upholding a “New Public Management” doctrine favoring more and
more market orientation, as distinguished from “state” or government orientation. Another
39
new development is the steady size of what has been called third-party administration. The
conventional view has been that all governments are carried out by the government’s own
employees. This is true to a great extent no doubt. But in reality, Government’s work is also
assigned to semi-government, private and non-government organization. Local Government
for instance, does many agency functions on behalf of the Central Government. Similarly,
many development programmes are often handed over to non•government organizations.
Many Government activities such as road building, housing, etc. are contracted out to
private agencies. The current trend is toward leaner and thinner government, and as many
activities as possible, it is being argued, should be handed over the private parties including
NGOs. This trend will in course of time involve new modes of control, financing and
monitoring of a third-party administration by the government. These developments led to
new paradigm known as “New Public Management”. Let us now explain its features and
scope.
5.3 SALIENT FEATURES OF NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
1. focus on management i.e., focus on performance appraisal and efficiency;
2. desegregation of public bureaucracies into agencies which deal with each other
on a user pay basis;
3. use of quasi markets and contracting out to foster competition;
4. cost-cutting;
5. a style of management which emphasizes output targets, limited term
contracts, monetary incentives and freedom to managers.
A significant publication, namely, ‘Reinventing Government’ by Osborne and Gaebler
(1992) suggest a ten-point programme for what they call entrepreneurial governments (EGs) :
a) They promote competition between diverse providers of goods and services.
b) They empower citizens by pushing control out of bureaucracy.
c) They measure performance of their agencies focusing particularly on outcomes,
not inputs.
d) They are driven by their missions and not by their rules/regulations.
e) They redefine their clients as customers and offer them choices.
f) They prevent problems rather than cure them after they blew out.
g) They put their energy into earning money, not simply spending it.
h) They decentralize authority, embracing participatory management.
i) They prefer market mechanisms to bureaucratic mechanisms.
j) They focus not simply on providing public services, but on catalyzing all
sectors-public, private, voluntary into action to solve community problems.
‘Reinventing Government’ immediately caught the attention of anti-bureaucracy
campaigners, and the publication was accorded a warm welcome, and it led to the birth of a
new form of Public Management.
To operationalize ‘good governance’, the ‘New Public Management’ is being considered
as a vital input. To achieve this, last three decades have witnessed a great deal of structural
40
adjustments and a new type of State intervention to seek cooperation and help from
community organizations and empowerment of citizens. Most of the countries have
attempted to limit the role of State, including downsizing bureaucracy, devolution of
authority, cost-reduction, contracting out some of the operative functions of the government,
developing and designing result-oriented appraisal system, and commercialization as well as
market orientation of the government activities. This has been supported by effective
accountability through open reporting system. The administration is moving from ‘rules’ to
result orientation, from system to enterprise, from obedience to reward, inaction to action,
centralization to decentralization and from the functions of administrators to the rights of
citizens.
5.4 THE CAPAM CONFERENCE
It is against the background of the changing character of public administration that
the inaugural conference of the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and
Management held in Charlottetown, Canada in August, 1994, assumes considerable
importance. For the first time in the history of the Commonwealth such a high-level
conference addressed itself exclusively to the issues of public management in today’s context
dubbed as “government in transition”. There was a general consensus that strong
environmental forces have been buffeting the public sector and government all over the world
are being forced to cope with them. Some of the impinging forces are knowledge-based
production, the communication revolution and a massive explosion in the world trade. In a
multi polar world, trade negotiations need to be worked out both bilaterally and
multilaterally. The information technology revolution has led shrinkage of distances among
partners and facilitated almost instant electronic networking. Globalization has become a
reality, setting the stage for professional networking and collaboration in the development
and sustenance of a new public administration.
The “new paradigm” that has emerged “emphasizes the role of public managers
providing high quality services that citizens value, advocates increasing managerial
autonomy, particularly by reducing the central agency controls demands measures and
rewards on both organizational and individual performance; recognize importance of
providing human and technological resources that managers need to meet their performance
targets and are receptive to competition and are open minded about which public purposes
should be performed by public servants as opposed to private sector”.
5.5 BASIC COMPONENTS OF NEW PARADIGM
The basic components of New Public Management system, in broader terms, may be
listed as: -
– a closer focus on result in terms of efficiency and effectiveness and service
quality.
– the replacement of highly centralized hierarchical organizational structure with
decentralized system.
– environments where decisions on resource allocation and service delivery are
taken closer to the people.
– the delivery, and which provide scope for feedback from clients and other
interest groups.
41
– flexibility to explore alternatives to direct public provision which might provide

more cost-effective policy outcomes.
– new personnel management policies to provide greater flexibility in the
development of staff (e.g. through multi-skilling).
– the use of mechanisms to improve performance such as performance
contracting and the creation of competitive and a market environment within
and between public sector organizations.
– incentives to improve performance (or at least removing disincentives) through
enabling organizations to retain a portion of savings from improved
performance.
– the strengthening of strategic capacities at the center to ‘steer’ government to
respond to external changes and diverse interests quickly, flexibly and at least
cost; and greater accountability and transparency through requirements to
report on results.
These are some of the components of a comprehensive approach to the New public
Management. Not all elements are present in all countries. Several of these aspects of the
new paradigm are worth separate discussion, namely: -
– a client or customer’s focus
– devolution; and
– performance contracting.
5.5.1 A Client or Customer’s focus
A major theme associated with improving performance is the development of a
customer or a client focus or service quality initiatives in the public sector. The UK Citizens
character is probably the best-known example. These initiatives aim to improve performance
in service delivery (timeliness, accuracy, etc.) as well as to provide service which need
people’s needs. Thus, they involve consolation with clients about what they want and aspects
of service they particularly value. Much more information on available services may provide
commitments of certain type, volume and quality of service may be made and performance
measured against ‘their commitments. They provide greater client choice and complaint and
redress mechanisms. Service may be tailored to be individual needs-rather that
standardized. Empowerment of staff to respond approximately to client requirements is also
stressed. In a number of countries, these reforms have a strong element of de-
bureaucratization or administrative simplification; public servants are perceived as existing
to help citizens, not to make their lives difficult. The long-term implications of this simple but
powerful concept may be significant in terms of the type of decisions which may in the future
be made clients as opposed to elected officials or public servants. Developing a customer’s
service has involved a major change in the mind set in many public sector organizations and
all the difficulties in staff motivation and organization this entails.
5.5.2 Devolution
Devolution has a major theme of public sector reform. It has a number of related
elements: -
– devolution of responsibilities to other levels of government,
42
– devolution from the Centre to operating departments, including the setting up

of autonomous agencies; and
– devolution within the organizations.
In the latter two cases, a significance feature has been removal of unnecessarily
prescriptive rules and regulations.
5.5.3 Performance Contracting
The concept of performance contracting is to a large extent the other side of autonomy
coin. It involves both an increased emphasis on performance and the development of a new
accountability instruments. Contracts may be between the ministers and organizations,
which specify levels of autonomy, required results and sanctions and rewards. They may
include employment contracts for chief executives. While not normally a legal agreement, a
performance contract involves mutual undertakings. As such, it may modify old, hierarchical
relationships and will involve sanctions and rewards and other incentives of both a personal
and institutional nature which are new in a public sector environment. It puts pressure on
the performance measurement systems which all the limitations and the attendant
possibilities, of game playing. Indeed, this appears to be a problem in the UK where the use
of relatively small number of boards, performance indicators (frequently politically
determined) reflect the private sector’s ‘rough and ready’ use of performance indicators, with
insufficient regard to unintended or dysfunctional consequences. Of course, in the private
sector it matters less, this is always market survival as the ultimate test. We need to
remember that performance measurement in the public sector is about getting a “better feel”
for overall performance efficiency, effectiveness, and service quality, not about a single
bottom line.
1. Write the basic theme of NPM
2. Write four basic features of NPM.
5.5.4 The ‘People’ Dimension

Clearly, the new public management is not just a set of technical measures; it has a
‘people’ dimension, in organizational terms, it implies flatter structures, some greater priority
on operational units and broader or less specialized job specifications. It has seen greater
emphasis on general management or supervisory skills as opposed to technical ones, as
represented by the now-common concept of Senior Executive Services (SES). In theory,
public servants are more empowered and more broadly skilled, there are fewer of them, but
they are better paid.
Again, as these studies progressed, there had been the realization that diverse
disciplinary inputs were necessary to go deep into the problems and issues surrounding
implementation performance and production of results.
43
Before we conclude, let use distinguish New Public Management and Public
Administration.
5.6 NPM and Traditional Public Administration
There is need to highlight clearly the relationship of NPM and traditional Public
Administration;
1. First, under the NPM, public sector decision-making structures are so designed
as to let managers manage freely. Political leadership would be concerned only with macro
policies and goals while other matters are taken out of day-to-day democratic insight and
delegated to professional bureaucrats who would be deciding on the basis of economic
rationality. In this regard NPM essentially involves reasserting the Wilsonian separation of
administration from politics with a vengeance.
2. Secondly, the NPM has emerged as a method or management technology for
reaching a set of goals for state action. Thus conceived, it “reduces the public sector’s
traditional reliance on process accountability and enhances the “role of results
accountability”. Ensuring fair and honest administration of public affairs, criminating
patronage and other misuses of the state apparatus have been the hallmarks of
bureaucracy’s process accountability. But in contemporary situation marked by
communication revolution, information processing and flexible, cost-sensitive managerial
needs, traditional bureaucratic administration seems a misfit.
The NPM stipulates that public servant should have to accept more personal
accountability for the actions of their agencies in return for this enhanced autonomy and
flexibility’. This is clearly significant departure from the concept of ‘anonymous’ bureaucracy
in traditional public administration.
3. Thirdly, the NPM has to be viewed not so much as an altogether new paradigm
but as a refreshing reconstruction of the evolving discipline of public administration. It needs
to be recalled that there has been a long tradition of ‘implementation’ research pioneered by
academic stalwarts like Pressman and wildavsky. The main issue raised by them has been:
how public organizations transform policies into results. Implementation studies moved the
issue from a focus on organisations, especially on their structure and process, to public
programmes and the results they produced”. It was “performance” that look the Centre stage
in public administration.
Again, as these studies progressed, there had been the realization that deserve
disciplinary inputs were necessary to go deep into the problems and issues surrounding
implementation performance and production of results.
5.7 SUMMARY
In 1980’s and early 1990’s remarkable changes took place in Public sector
management in most advanced countries which led to the emergence of new model of public
management, variously called : ‘managerialism’, market oriented administration and new
public management. The thrust was on less of government, slim and smart bureaucracy with
a renewed focus on 3Es Efficiency, Economy and Effectiveness. As David Osborne summed
up : “We don’t need more government, we need better government. To be precise we need
better governance for collectively solving our problems. Government is the instrument we
use. The instrument is outdated, and it is time to remake it.” The advocate of NPM sought a
far more positive view of government and its programmes as the NPM has exposed the over
protected ‘bureaucracy’. The increasing emphasis on market orientation and the negative
44
feelings toward public agencies are now receding and there is now growing concern about
governments crucial role in macro management. The concept of public interest which lies at
the heart of government operations, is irreplaceable by any market philosophy. The NPM
paradigm has got varied interest in different countries.
5.8 GLOSSARY
Providers - Those who arrange and provide for things/services
Cost Cutting - Reducing expenses / costs
Catalyzing - Cause or accelerate (an action or process)
Reinventing - Major Changing/ giving a fresh new shape
Dysfunctional - Unable to work or function adequately.
1. Mohit Bhattacharya, new Horizons of Public Administration, Jawahar
2. David Osborne and T. Gaebler, Reinventing Government, New York, 1992.
3. Mohit Bhattacharya, Restructuring Public Administration, Jawahar
4. Nicholas Henry, Public Administration and Public Affairs, Prentice Hall, New
Delhi, 1999.
1. What is New Public Management ? Discuss its major features.
2. Write an essay on the concept significance and impact of NPM.
Suggested Answer to Self-Assessment Questions
1. Increased inefficiencies, high govt, costs, poor governance, neglect of citizens
interests, etc. forced to look for ways of better management & good governance.
2. Market route, Cost cutting, empowering citizens, decentralization, breaking of
govt, monopolies etc.
45
Lesson - 6
PRINCIPAL - AGENT THEORY

Structure
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Principal Agent Theory
6.2.1 Basic Idea in the Theory
6.2.2 A Few Assumptions
6.2.3 Problems of the Principals
6.2.4 Issue of Controlling the Agents
6.3 Critical Evaluation
6.4 Summary
6.5 Glossary
6.7 Model Questions
6.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson you will be able to :
 list the features of Principal agent theory
 list the significance of Principal agent theory.
 critically evaluate the theory
6.1 INTRODUCTION
In a discourse on evaluation and growth of the discipline of public administration
other landmark is principal agent theory. In this lesson we shall examine the basic features,
significance and critical evaluation of both these theories.
6.2 THE PRINCIPAL AGENT THEORY
The principal agent theory or model is an approach towards strengthening New Public
Management (NPM) its effort is to contract out services or functions and move to market free
implementation. The relation between supervisors and subordinators in team work can be
generalized to include principals (buyers) who contract for services and agents (sellers) who
carry out the services. At the heart of the operation of public institutions is the notion that
politicians, bureaucrats and professionals as agents are contracted to act in the interests of
the citizens as principals. The attempt by the principal to monitor the agent is critical.
Public policy-making and implementation of policies in the public sector involve the
problems typical of principal-agent relationship within the private sector. In the policy
process, there is the typical attempt of the citizens as the principal to monitor the efforts of
46
politicians and bureau as the agents to adhere to the terms of the contract agreed. The resort
to a principal-agent model in a democratic state is a method for dealing with the transaction
costs that arise in collective action.
6.2.1 Basic Idea in the Theory
The basic idea behind principal-agent theory is that bureaucracy as an organizational
form does not matter. All relationships can be reduced to contractual ones. The advocates of
this theory maintain that the modem democratic state is based on a set of principals- agent
relationships in public sector. These principal-agent relations involve both the relationship
between the population and its elected leaders and the relationship between the government
and its agencies or bureaux.
Public services and activities through the state result in a double principal- agent
relationship. First, there is the relationship between the population (principal) and its rulers
(agent). Second, the rulers (agents) may like to employ a staff for seeing the implementation
of intentions of the rulers (agents), which entails that the latter become the principal of the
former. This double principal-agent relationship between the electorate (principal),
government (politicians) and administration (civil servants) are more relevant than the
difference between politics and administration.
The principal-agent theory proposes that in making decisions one should be in the
business of selecting those institutional arrangements which best provide for contractual and
monitorable relationships between principals (purchasers) and agents (providers).
In this model the focus is on the transfer of information between the agents and the
principals prior to any action by the principal. Public bureaux are supposed to implement
policies in accordance with the intentions of legislators. From the politician’s point of view,
the task is to design a structure of incentives which brings about bureau behavior that is
consistent with their intentions. The core of the problem of hierarchical control may be
analyzed by means of principal-agent model. Information asymmetry is present when the
political agent has relevant information which is inaccessible to the principal or expensive to
acquire.
6.2.2 A Few Assumptions
In signaling model the principal can modify his or her belief about the effect of a
policy, based on the information received from the agents and then take action accordingly.
But the agents may not reveal the true information to the principals.
Some assumptions about the human nature in this model may be briefly dealt with
here. The first point is that the principal-agent theory views decision-making in terms of
calculations about implementation and enforcement, that is, the main issue in point is that
one sees a world populated by purchasers and sellers. The decisions of purchasers involve
judgements about the capacities of other members of the market – what other principals are
up to and whether agents will do what is demanded of them- The costs of monitoring the
relationship will, in conditions of high uncertainly, a small number of agents and poor
information, be higher in dealing with outside agents than with intra-organizational agents.
The answer to this constrained relationship, in which agents seem to be dominant, is the
selection of institutions – markets or hierarchies – in order that contracts are monitored at
low costs.
For example, framing a policy for disabled people, the question is : Is the policy to be
implemented within the governmental agency or outside it, say through the voluntary sector
47
? On the one hand, the decision-makers might lower the transaction costs relative to dealing
with outside contractors such as the voluntary sector. On the contrary, decision-makers may
calculate that, for reasons of cost-cutting and public savings, the task might best be
performed through the voluntary sector, thus incurring more risk and more uncertainty. The
advocates of this theory are theory of the view that the best course to take is to use an
outside agency, thus saving money. As volunteers will do the job for less money, one can put
them on short-term contracts so that, if they do not deliver, the contractual relationship can
be terminated. But in awarding the task of implementing the policy to outside agents, the
contract has to be such that it maximizes the ability of the provider to control the agent qua
individual and the firm.
It may be mentioned here that the relationship between principal and agents in the
market place is problematic. Consequently, the principal depends on agents for the supply of
services. Implicitly employees will be after their own interest; outside firms will be more
interested in their profits than those of the principals; cheating and an eye to the main
chance (opportunism) therefore form the main considerations of principals in monitoring
their agents.
6.2.3 Problems of the Principals
In this approach principals (people or buyer or electoral institutions) have to face a
large number of problems. The principals in public sector suffer from the same asymmetry as
their counterparts in the private sector because the same core problem exists in both
sectors. First, a concern for efficiency cannot be the principals’ primary motivation. In the
firm, after all payments have been made, the receiver of the residual reward (the owner)
seeks to improve efficiency because this will increase his other reward. Clearly, efficiency in
the supply of pubic services is not directly related to the return to the principal (the
politicians). Poor efficiency may in the long run contribute to electoral defeat, but a concern
for interest groups and the symbolic side of politics will probably increase the possibility of
being re-elected more than will harm efficiency measures.
Unlike the owner of a firm in the private sector, the politicians in the public sector do
not have strong incentives for enhancing efficiency as their interests are not tied up with
efficiency of the bureau. As there is no hidden hand of competition to abolish insufficient
bureaux, public hierarchies cannot be seen as the most efficient way of dealing with the
transactional problems involved in providing public services. Secondly, the principal’s
capacity to design incentive structures is restricted in the public sector. As public bureaux
do not run profits in the same manner that private firms do this choice is not open to the
same degree for public principals. The principal pays the agent to produce, and the only
profit the bureau may receive is the difference between the budget and the costs then it
would be in the interest of the bureau to cut costs but only in order to enjoy the benefits of
the budgetary slack. Budget invariably involves some form of delegation. The first involves
voter delegation of authority to elected politicians, while the second is from elected politicians
to bureaucrats. The problem arises where the agent does not do what the principal wants.
Besides there are also other constraining factors in the public sector such as a
number of laws concerning government employees, administrative procedures and
bureaucratic openness which put limits on the design of incentive structures. The limitations
on principal are vital factors which must be considered when modeling bureau behaviour.
The principal-agent structure of the state is characterized by ambiguity, opportunistic
behaviour, moral hazard and adverse selection. This sort of structure does not prevent the
48
agent from reversing the relationship and regarding itself as the principal. The possibility of
reversing the principal-agent structure of the state having the population serve the interests
of the state, makes it all the more agent- Therefore institutional mechanism should be found
that limit the range of opportunistic behaviour as well as the dangers of moral hazard and
adverse selection. But there are also transaction costs involved in restricting the freedom of
the agent.
But it appears that there is little margin for the agent to act on behalf of the principal.
The population (principal) would decide each issue by means of a majority vote to be
implemented by those in authority (agents). This assumes that the activities of the agent are
completely monitored by the population and that each issue can be decided and
implemented on its own terms. The transaction costs involved in monitoring the actions of
the agent would not be low.
The problem of decision-making as seen in agency theory is the way in which
advantages are on the side of agents or providers rather than on principals. In the political
context, this perspective suggests that the decisions of voters, politicians and bureaucrats
may be seen as framed by uncertainty, inadequate information and bounded rationality. At
the same time, if one accepts this view of the political system, it is likely that the whole
process is fraught with adverse choice where a large number of people do not like to give true
information.
6.2.4 Issue of Controlling the Agents
Monitoring agents is a difficult task. The question is : How to constrain the public
agents (politicians and civil servants) so that they act according to the contract agreed upon
in various settings in the constitution or in the employment relation. Here it may be
mentioned that making the agent in the political setting the automatic implementer of the
intentions of the population (principal) is not a solution to the problem of having the agent
serve the principal in the public sector. The obvious reason is the distance between the
people who elect (electorate) and the people who are elected by the electorate in the
democracy. This gives rise to all kinds of principal-agent problems in the analysis of the
private sector.
How would the population as the principal interact with the politicians as their agents
given that there is uncertainty about what action the principal wishes the agent to take? The
public choice models deal with the basic principle-agent problem of how one group of people
is to monitor the activities of another group in a contractual relationship characterized by
fuzziness arising from limited observability, bounded rationality, asymmetric information,
and strategic moves. How is the political contract between the electorate, the politicians and
the civil servants to be handled given the transaction costs within the public sector involving
formulation and implementation of polices? The tasks the agents do may not seem to
accomplish much of anything. A poverty reduction programme, for instance, could spend a
lot of money but in the end may not reduce poverty.
1. Who is 'principal' in principal-agent-theory ?
49
2. Who is regarded as the main exponent of Public-Choice theory ?
6.3 CRITICAL EVALUATION

The fact that public agencies are established to deal with market failures, but are
themselves subject to many of the social dilemmas that characterize market competition,
suggests the challenge facing public officials. Within any institutional setting there are
bound to be serious problems of ambiguity about the rewards to be given to the agent, about
the casual link between actions and outcomes, as well as about the actual state of the
environment of public policy. The implementation of policies gives rises to the typical double
principal-agent problem within the public sector arising from the politics-administration
dichotomy.
The implementation stage requires a set of activities monitored by the state in order to
achieve political objectives. Contracts have to be made between the state and civil servants
showing what the state desires in return for remuneration. Due to the transaction’s costs
involved in hiring and monitoring civil servants, the state typically employs the bureau model
for handling various state activities. Thus the theory is open to a lot of criticisms.
Despite the criticism that is levelled against this theory, this approach has gained-a
wide recognition. Basic to the operation of the bureau is a principal-agent relationship
between politicians on the one hand and civil servants on the other. The Niskanen theory of
the budget maximizing bureau is one way to model a principal-agent relationship. It
emphasizes the asymmetric information involved in the interaction between politicians and
the bureaux. Niskanen’s conclusion that the bureau as the agent will always be in a
strategically advantageous position in relation to its principal, the government, has received
much attention. However, it is far from the only model that approaches bureaucracy as a
principal-agent relationship.
In view of the involvement of transaction costs in collective action, a voluntary
exchange approach to the provision of public goods does not succeed. The state offers
taxation as the solution to the free-rider problem in a collective action. At the same time, the
necessity of employing an involuntary exchange mechanism for managing human interaction
creates the two principal-agent problems in political life. The first one refers to the
monitoring of the politicians by the citizens. The second one entails the monitoring by
politicians of the civil servants charged with the task of implementing policies.
Thus, it is concluded that this theory has an academic utility. The use of principal-
agent theory to describe relationships between bureaucracy (agent) and electoral institutions
is however open to question. The popular management literature emphasizes the importance
of the motivations of employees and the internalization of norms of cooperation among the
members of the team.
6.4 SUMMARY
Both ‘Public Choice’ and Principal-Agent’ theories have added new dimensions to the
theory of Public administration. These are of recent origin and have come up as a result of
50
the introduction of the policies of liberalization, Privatization and Globalization and also due
to the impact of New Public Management. The Public Choice theory basically adopted from
Public Choice. School of economics is sometimes considered as a tool of New Public
Management on the surface both the theories appear simple and appealing but practically,
they pose a number of problems. However, both the theories have made significant academic
contribution.
6.5 GLOSSARY
 Self-Aggrandizement - Exaggerating/increasing one's own importance
 Downsizing - Making smaller by reducing staff.
 Self-Perpetuation - Having the feature of continuing itself
 Individualism - Habit of being independent/self-reliant
1. Mohit Bhattacharya, Restructuring Public Administration, Jawahar
2. J.E. Stiglitz, Principal and Agent in J.M. Eatwell, the New Palgrave : A
Dictionary of Economics, Macmillon, London 1987.
3. D. Mneller, Public Choice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003.
4. J.E. Lane, The Public Sector, Sage London, 2000.
5. V. Dstram and E. Dstram, “Public Choice : A different approach to the study of
Public Administration,” Public Admn. Review, Vol. 33, pp. 203-12.
6.7 MODEL QUESTIONS
1. Discuss the major features and contribution of Public Choice theory.
2. Explain the meaning and applicability of Principal Agent theory.
1. Citizens
2. Vincent Ostrom
51
Lesson – 7
NEW PUBLIC SERVICE, POSTMODERNISM AND

POST - STRUCTURALISM
Structure
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 New Public Service (NPS)
7.3 Comparing Old Public Administration, NPM and NPS
7.4 Postmodernism
7.5 Poststructuralism
7.6 Summary
7.7 Glossary
7.9 Model Questions
7.0 OBJECTIVES
 elaborate the significance of New Public Service
 compare the NPS with other approaches
 discuss the concept of postmodernism
 outline the relevance of post-structuralism
7.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous lessons, starting write the evolution of Public Administration we have
discussed the various milestones and trends in the growth of the discipline of Public
Administration. Starting with the advocacy by woodrow Wilson to run the government
Professionally and more business-like, the discipline has passed through significant phases.
The domain of public administration has been shifting and changing stances during its hazy
and challenging evolution. A number of models and approaches have been identified, such as
classical, bureaucratic, behavioralist, public choice, and new public management. There has
been focus on reforming public sector, adopting market route, downsizing of government new
public administration, reinventing government, new public governance, etc. at various stages
during the growth of public administration. There has also been a stress on varying models
of public management and another significant one is the new public service approach, which
has attracted a good attention from various corners. In this lesson we'll examine briefly the
52
"new Public service" approach and also two other significant concepts postmodernism and
post-structuralism.
7.2 NEW PUBLIC SERVICE
As noted earlier, Public Administration as a discipline has passed through various
phases and has faced a variety of challenges too. As the practical field, a number of models
and patterns can be noticed in different parts of world. Distinct approaches may be noted in
developed and developing societies. Different shades of governance may also be noted
depending upon various factors particularly the political ideology and the overall political
environment.
During the last two decades or so, public administration is undergoing dramatic
change, especially in "Globalization and the pluralization of service provision are the driving
forces behind these changes. Policy problems faced by governments are increasingly
complex, wicked and global, rather than simple, linear and national in focus". The required
changes in governance patterns and reforms are not based on definite parameters and
prevailing conditions but are subject to a variety of "Policy experiments and organizational
practices" all this has not led to a clear direction for public administration. However, a few
generalizations may be drawn on the basis of the trends during the last few decades, such as
New Public Administration, New Public Management, New Public Governance (Reinventing
government) and New Public Service.
The new public service approach is credited to Denhardt and Denhardt. In their book
'The New Public Service : Service, Not Steering (2002) Denhordt and Denhardt strongly
advocated 'service' as the central role of a government. They stressed that governments
should not be run like a 'business' it should be run like a 'democracy'. Infect this approach
starts with the premise that the focus of public management should be citizens, community
and civil society. In this conception the primary role of public servants in to help citizens
articulate and meet their shared interests rather than to control or steer society.
Recommending a democratic Orientation to public management, the authors premised on
the notion of an active and involved citizenship. "Citizens look beyond narrow self-interest to
the wider public interest and the role of public officials is to facilitate opportunities for
strengthening citizen engagement in finding solutions to societal problems. Public managers
need to agnire skills that go beyond capacity for controlling or steering society in persist of
policy solutions to focus more on brokering, negotiating and resolving complex problems in
partnership with citizens. In seeking to address wider societal needs and develop solutions
that are consistent with the public interest, governments will need to be open and accessible,
accountable and responsive and operate to serve citizens". In NPS approach it is further
stressed that the system of accountability is required to be more comprehensive and should
go beyond the formal accountability of public servants to elected authorities in the
management and delivery of budgets and other operations to accommodate a wider set of
accountable relationships with citizens and communities.
In the New Public Serve approach Denhardt and Denhardt further emphasised the
importance of a public service either, emphasising the values and motivations of public
53
servants declicated to the wider public good. Similar to NPS approach Bourgon (2007) used
the concept of democratic citizenship to open up tresti perspectives, where the role of public
administrators is not confined to responding to the demands of users or carrying out orders.
Her proposed approach contains the following four elements :
 Building collaborative relationships with citizens and groups of citizens;
 Encouraging shared responsibilities;
 Disseminating information to elevate public discourse and to foster a shared
understanding of public issues;
 Seeking opportunities to involve citizens in government activities.
The NPS approach by Denhardts, as interpreted by Mohit Bhattacharya further adds
that Public interest and democratic citizenship are the hall marks of government. As the
sense of service and community would be expanding public employees would be having
better self-examination and sense of dignity and self-respect. They would infact be
reconnected with the citizens.
As the public servants would be inviting citizens to participate in the governance
process, there will emerge a new culture of co-governance with the administrators and
citizens working together for the common good of the society. This new attitude and new
involvement-co-governance has been labeled as 'the New Public Service' by the Dengardts. It
is further added "administrators are realizing that they have much to join by listening' to the
public rather than telling' and by 'serving' rather than 'steering'. At the invitation of public
servants, even their urging, ordinary citizens are once again becoming engaged in the
governance process. Citizens and public officials are working to father to define and to
address common problems in a cooperative and mutually beneficial way."
As noted earlier, the New Public Management arose in reaction to the limitations of old
public administration in adjusting to the demands of competitive market economy. The New
Public Service added the significant dimension of public interest and citizens as the focus of
public service. The NPS, approach provides a useful corrective to prevailing notions of control
and steering associated with earlier models of public management. However, even the NPS
model is not complete in itself to fulfill the requirement, of an all-encompassing paradigm for
a universal model of public management (Deuhadt and Denhardt, will; Christensen and
Largried, 2011). It has been rightly printed out that with its emphasis on engaging citizens as
the primary focus of public management the New Public Service framework in highly
hortative and value-driven".
7.3 COMPARING OLD PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, NPM AND NPS
To have a better understanding of the concept of New Public Service we may have look
into the comparison of NPS with New Public Management and the features of traditional
public administration. This purpose Denhardt and Denhardt have. prepared the following
chart :
54
Comparing perspectives: Old Public administration, New Public Management, and the
New Public Service
Old Public New Public New Public Service
administration Management
Theoretical Political theory, naive Economic theory, Democratic theory
foundation social science positivist social
science
Rationality and Administrative Technical and Strategic rationality,
models of human rationality, public economic rationality, citizen interest
behavior interest self-interest
Conception of the Political, enshrined in Aggregation of Dialogue about shared
Public interest law individual interests values
To whom are civil Clients and Customers Citizens
servants constituents
responsive?
Role of government "Rowing", "Steering", serving as "Serving", negotiating
implementation catalyst to unleash and brokering
focused on politically market forces. interests among
defined objectives citizens
Mechanisms for Administering Creating mechanisms Building coalitions of
achieving policy programmes through and incentives public, non-profit
objectives government agencies through private and private agencies
non-profit agencies
Approach to Hierarchical Market-drive- Multifaceted public
accountability administrators outcomes result from servants guided by
responsible to elected accumulation of self- law, values,
leaders interests professional norms
and citizen interests
Administrative Limited discretion Wide latitude to meet Discretion needed but
discretion granted to public entrepreneurial goals constrained and
officials accountable
Assumed Bureaucratic Decentralized public Collaborative
organizational organizations with organization with structures with shared
structure top-down authority primary control leadership
and control of clients within agency
Assumed Pay and benefits Enterpreneurial Public service, desire
motivational basis civil-service spirit, desire to to contribute to
of public servants protections reduce size and society.
functions of
government
Source : Adapted from Denhardt and Denhardt (2000, p. 554)

55
1. Who can be regarded as the pioneer of NPS ?
2. Distinguish NPM and NPS.
7.4 POSTMODERNISM
The concept of postmodernism is not easy to explain in a precise manner. Most of the
authors have avoided to define it in simple terms. The Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy,
for instance has described it as "a set of critical, strategic and rhetorical practices employing
concepts such as difference, repetition, the trace, the simulacrum, and hyperreality to
destabilize other concepts such as presence, identity, historical progress, epistemic certainty
and the univocity of meaning". For many readers it is a tough task to comprehend this type
of description. It seems logical that in order to understand the concept of postonodernism we
need to look into the concept of modernism or modernity. Under modernism, it is assumed
(Kant 1787) that we cannot know things in themselves and that objects of knowledge must
conforms to our faculties of representation. Ideas such as God, treed, immortality, the world,
first beginning and final end have only a regulative function for knowledge, since they cannot
find fulfilling instances among objects of experience. In fact, modernity with its roots in
European Enlightenment had produced a culture based on science, secular humanism (not
God but man is the author of his dusting), and progressivisms and development. In the
worlds of Prof. Mohit Bhattacharya, Modernism pervaded every department of human
endeavor so its scientific pursuit, cultural studies, or social analysis. For more than a
century and a half, the social analysis has seen preoccupied with modernity and the
characteristic features of modern society. There were famous original master analysts such
as Masse, Durkheim and Max Weber. As it came to be defined, modernity stood for
rationalization, specialization and bureancratization, centralization and industrialization.
Economic and social developments were construed to have been the products of rational use
of resources and application of advanced 'scientific' knowledge. The later nineteenth century
is regarded as the age of modernity as an achieved reality, where science and technology,
including networks of mass communication and transportation, reshape human perceptions.
As per Britannica. com, modernism fostered a period of experimentation a period of
experimentation in arts and other fields from the late 19th to mid-20th century and this era
was characterised by industrialization, rapid social change and advances in science and the
56
social sciences. This led to new ideas in social sciences and political theory kindled a search
for new molder of expression.
Postmodernism, as the name infests, arose after the era of modernism.
Postmodernism was a reaction to modernism and was influenced by the disenchantment
that followed World War II. However, the term postmodernism first entered the philosophical
lexicon in 1979 with the publication of 'The Postmodern Condition' by Jean-fracas's Lyotasd
(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Postmodernism may be regarded as a new vision – a
new way of looking at the 'objective' world. It indicates that the prior cultures and the
philosophical advances are at an end, and something else is emerging to take its place.
Postmodernist ethos resists is emerging to take its place. Postmodernist ethos resists unified,
all-encompassing and universally valid explanations. The grand narratives. Postmodernism
rejects to accept the meta-narratives such as class conflict as the motor of progress or
bureaucracy as the mast rational organization and so on (Mohit Bhattacharya, 2006).
Postmodernists have rejected the modernism traits and have pointed out the gloomy side of
the picture such as-instead of liberation of mankind, the growth process, in their view, have
brought in oppression, repression and depletion (like vanishing rain forests, and fast
depletion of biodiversity) As Scott (1998) commented, a strong state with a well organised
bureau rally imposes upon society the rigid scientific categories and bureaucracy-designed
simplifications that characterize the modernization discourse in the view of fast modernists,
science seek out truth' on the basis of facts. But in their view, science in just one of the
many ways to find out meaning in this world-one among many other equally deserving
'discourses'. Facts are not neutral; they are social constrictions made and maintained by
discourse. (Mohit Bhattncharya). Infact many proponents of postmodernism challenge the
viability of distinction between the natural and artificial experience. A consequence of
achieved modernism is what postmodernists might refer to as de-realization. Derealization
affects both the subject and object of experience, such that their sense of identity, constancy
and substance is upset or dissolved. Important precursors to this notion are found in
Kierkegaard, Marx and Nietzche. Kierkegaard, for example, describes modern society as a
network of relations in which individuals are leveled into an abstract term known as "the
public". The modern public, in contrast to ancient and medieval communities, is a creation of
the press, which is the only instrument capable of holding together the mass of unreal
individuals "Who never are and never can be united in an actual situation or organization."
In this sense, society has become a realization of abstract thought, hold together by an
artificial and all-pervasive medium speaking for everyone and for no one.
For postmodernists, Nietzche provided a basis in this book "On Truth and Lies in a
Normal Sense" (1873). He puts forward the hypothesis that scientific concepts are chains of
metaphors hardened into accepted truths. On this account, metaphor begins when a nerve
stimus in copied as an image, which is then imitated in sound, giving rise, when repeated, to
the word, which becomes a concept when the word is used to designate multiple instances of
singular events. Conceptual mutations may thus be regarded as lies because they equate
unequal things.
57
Postmodernism may be regarded as a massive thought shaking or a radical vision

cutting away from immediate past. postmodernism has greatly influenced various branches
of knowledge. Public administration reacted rather late and that too tentatively. Not much of
the work has been done in the area of postmodernist public administration, barring a few
scholars in USA and some parts of Europe. There is however, no unifying integrated
postmodern approach to Public Administration. Some of its relating to public administration
can be traced to Hummel (1989) and Dennard (1989) and a few others. Marshall and white in
their attempt to 'deconstruct' the Blacksburg Manifesto (countering the 'market forces')
introduced postmodernism as a method of public administration analysis. Similarly, Farmer
(1999) focused on the shortcomings of 'grand narratives' in public administration such as
specialization, efficiency and aspiration to science of public administration. The
postmodernists model of the public organization for instance, the much-boasted
bureaucratic efficiency has been sought to be 'deconstructed'. The argument has been that it
is a social constant, as efficiency is culture specific – modernist, Weberian and linked to
entrancement of production. Methodologically, postmodernist have been characterized as
'social constructivists'. As against 'fundamentalism'. social instruct victim’s stance on
'objective knowledge' has been that the world around us is understandable as an ongoing
discussion of our subjective perception of social conditions.
Modernism Vs. Postmodernism (https//artharty.com)
Modernism Postmodernism
Modernism began in the 1890s and lasted till Postmodernism began after the Second World
about 1945. War, especially after 1968.
Its aim was criticism of the bourgeois social The first use of the term postmodernism
order of the 19th century and its world view. dates back to the 1870s, John Watkins
Modernist painting is considered to have Chapman referred to a postmodern style of
begun with the French painter Edourad painting which differed from French
Manet. Impressionism J.M. Thompson used the term
to refer to changes in attitudes and beliefs in
religion.
Low forms of an were a part of modernism. Postmodern art brought high and low culture
Simplicity and elegance in design are the together by using industrial materials and
characteristics of modern art. pop culture imagery. Postmodern art is
decorative.
Modernism was based on using rational and Postmodernism denied the application of
logical means to gain knowledge. It rejected logical thinking. Rather, the thinking during
realism. A hierarchical, organized, and the postmodern era was based on an
determinate nature of knowledge unscientific, irrational thought process, as a
characterized modernism. reaction to modernism.
Modernism is based on European and Postmodernists believe in multiculturalism.
58
Western thought.
Modemist approach was objective, Postmodernism was based on an anarchical,
theoretical, and analytical. non-totalized, and indeterminate state of
knowledge.
Modernist thinking is about the search of an Postmodernist thinkers believe that there is
abstract truth of life. no universal truth, abstract or otherwise.
Modernism attempts to construct a coherent Postmodernism attempts to remove the
world-view. difference between high and low.
Modernist thinking asserts that mankind Postmodernists believe that progress is the
progresses by using science and reason. It only way to justify the European domination
believes in learning from past experiences on culture. They defy any truth in the text
and trusts the texts that narrate the past. narrating the past and render it of no use in
the present times.
Modernist historians believe in depth. They Postmodernist thinkers believe in going by
believe in going deep into a subject to fully superficial appearances, they believe in
analyze it. playing on surfaces and show less or no
concern towards the depth of subjects.
Modernism considers the original works as Postmodernist thinkers base their views on
authentic. hyper-reality; they get highly influenced by
things propagated through media.
Modernists believe that morality can be Postmodernists believe that morality is
defined. relative.
The year 1939 is considered to have marked It is considered that postmodernism started
the end of modernism. In the 1970s, going out of fashion around the late 1990s,
postmodern movement entered music. In art and was replaced by post-postmodernism
and architecture, it began to establish itself which has developed from and is a reaction
in the early 1980s. The exact year when to postmodernism. Metamodemism is a
modernism ended, and whether it ended in related term that was first used by
the real sense is debatable. Zavarzadeh in 1975 to describe aesthetes
and attitudes emerging in the American
literature in the mid-1950s.
In the opinion of some scholars, from the standpoint of enrictiment of the discipline of
public administration, postmodernism opens up newer possibilities. In order to understand
the administrative realities postmodernism provides different dimensions and may provide
with alternatives to conventional set up or bureaucracies and may lead to resolving of
various long-standing problems relating to marginalised communities it may provide faesin
angles and perspectives. With the post modernistic perspective, a number of unvaliritic and
unpracticable paradigms or models have lost their false ground. However, to the same time it
may be added that these is no need to follow or apply the postmodern perspective to various
59
uptheres of knowledge and there is no need to challenge certain well accepted and logical
theories. Rejection of metanarratives may weaken the bases of social sciences and it does not
provide some valid alternative. Moreover, from the view of developing countries,
postmodernism has not gained any ground as it is largely west-oriented. Both modernism
and postmodernism are the part of evolutionary components of historical development of the
western world. There is therefore a need to adopt the postmodern perspective with curtain
amount of care so that the long-standing societal problems relating to marginalized,
oppressed and women may be taken up in a better way. Women may be taken up in a better
way.
7.5 POSTSTRUCTURALISM
'The terms poststructuralism, and structuralism are the outcome of literary, developed
in the second half of the twentieth century. Most scholars regard the emergence of post-
structuralism in France in 1960's a period of political turmoil, Eebellion and disillusionment
with traditional values, accompanied by a resurgence.
The seeds for the emergence of post-structuralism can be traced to the writings of
Jacques Desria, Gills Deleaze, Jean-Francair Lyotard, J. Lacan, Michel Foucault and S.
Zizek. Though many of the representatives have French background, their theories have had
influence all over the world especially in the areas of Philosophy of language, ethics, literary
theory and gender studies. (New Catholic Emcuc;p[edoa. 2013) post-structuralism is one of
the things that comes after modernism. The title "post-structuralism" gives it a firmer
meaning than "post-modernism". It is written related to structuralism. "Structuralism is a
project that says meaning exists in systems (structures) not in sentences or individuals. Post-
structuralists keep the structures but often drop out the idea that there are meanings
beneath this that could be found or could exist. Its lard to articulate quite what they mean
by this, but the basic idea is that our naive concept of things where speakers are subjects
that have wills, intensions, thoughts, and values is wrong and what's actually happening is
that ideas move in their own force." (philosophy. stack exchange. com.)
In the words of John Monn, "Postiztructuralism is really a cultural movement-more
than an intellectual movement. Structuralism in 1960's was at least in part an intellectual
Programme, and it was possible to analyses phenomena by treating them as being parts of a
system. Post-structuralism moved beyond thin, questioning the very notions of Truth,
Reality, Meaning, Sincerity, Good, etc. It regarded all absolutes as constructions, truth was
created, it was an effect, it wasn't present 'in' something. Similarly, there was no authority,
no Real, everything was defined in terms of everything else, and that process itself was
relative and constructed". Post-structuralism is generally discussed along with another
concept-'Deconstruction'. Deconstruction is a term for a method that 'appears' originally but
doesn't work the way we often think they do. For Heidegger, it means both a tearing down of
the old and a building up the new.
Post-structuralism is sometimes regarded as a term quite near to or even synonym or
a type of post-modernism in the 1980's there was a lot of excitement about post modernism,
deconstruction, structuralism and post-structuralism. This flow of theories appeared to offer
60
a radical new perspective for understanding and experience the realities of world. It appeared
to be an enlightenment required for everyone and all those who rejected it were looked upon
as being struck in the post and outdated thoughts (John Mann).
Post-structuralist perspective has been applied to various social sciences by a number
of authors. A few have tried it on Public Administration too. Farmer, in his book 'Public
Administration in Perspective' has tried to analyse post-structuralism as one of the
perspectives. Farmer has tried to apply it to some areas of administration such as planning
and management However, any real impact of Post- structuralism on Public Administration
has not been noted.
1. Any two features of post-modernism.
2. What is the meaning of post-structuralism?
7.6 SUMMARY
In this unit we're discussed the emerging areas in the discipline of Public
Administration. The New Public Service approach which focuses on democratic governance
and a close association of public officials and citizens in the need of the hour. The concepts
of post-modernism and the post-structuralism offer new perspectives to public
administration. However, the impact of these fresh perspectives has not yet gained much
ground to claim a significant place.
7.7 GLOSSARY
 Co-governance - governing with close collaboration of official’s
citizens
 Reinventing Government – A fresh way of governance, speaking from old
 Structuralism – Understanding a phenomenon within a set
language
 Deconstruction – Breaking down of a set system or structure
 Phenomenology – The pure or firsthand experience
7.8 FARTHER READINGS
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 Denhardt, R.B. and J.V. Denhardt, "The New Public Service : Serving Rather
than Steering", PAR, Vol. 60 Newyork 2000.
 Denhardt, R.B. and Denhurdt, "The New Public Service : Serving not Steering"
3rd ed. Avmonk, New York 2011
 Mark Robinson, "From old Public Administration to New Public Service" GCPSE,
UNDP, Singapore
 Bhattacharya, Mohit, New Horizons of Public Administration, Jawahar
Publisher's, New Delhi, 2006.
 Farmer, D.J. "Derrida, Deconstruction and Public Administration" C.J. American
Behavioural Scientist, 41(1), Sept, 1997.
 Fox, C.J., and H.T. Miller, Postmodern Public Administration, Towards
Discourse, Sage Publications, London, 1995.
 www.philosaphybasics.com/movements -post structuralism.
 John Mann, Philosophy now. org, A Gentle, introduction to structuralism.
7.9 MODEL QUESTIONS
1. Discuss the latest developments in Public Administration with special reference
to New Public service.
2. Write shortnotes on :
a. Postmodernis and Public Admn.
b. Post structuralism.
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Lesson - 8
ORGANIZATION: MEANING AND TYPES FORMAL AND

INFORMAL ORGANIZATIONS
Structure
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Meaning and Definitions
8.3 Classifying Organization
8.4 Formal and Informal Organization Distinguished
8.5 Feature of Formal Organizations
8.6 Feature of Informal Organizations
8.7 Characteristics of Formal Organizations
8.8 Characteristics of Informal Organizations
8.9 Summary
8.10 Glossary
8.0 OBJECTIVES
 elaborate the meaning of Organization
 appreciate the basis of organizations
 classify the types of organizations
 distinguish the formal and informal organizations
8.1 INTRODUCTION
We have discussed in the previous lessons the nature, growth and major milestones
and paradigms of Public Administration. As noted earlier the study of Public Administration
has largely been associated with the organizations, organizational principles and theories.
Man in his everyday life is surrounded by organisations. In a few minutes, he can think of
many organisations that affects him-large ones, small ones formal and informal ones groups
that are primarily economic, religious, military, governmental, educational, social, political
and so on. Further there are organisations affecting the individual with which he may feel no
direct connections : Government Units such as fire and police departments are constantly
protecting him, utility enterprises are providing power for him even when he is sleeping.
Thus we can say that man and his organisation are inextricably interwoven. It is difficult to
63
think of one without the other. Man does much of his work in and enjoys great benefit from
organisations.
It is true that persons form or join organisations to accomplish individual objectives or
goals. In turn, organisations seek new members for the contributions they can make to the
organisation. A successful relationship is one in which both the individual and the rest of the
organisation perceive the relationship as having more benefits than costs. A new member
may have expectations in the form of goals or needs which may affect his or her
organisational role. The goals that individuals seek to satisfy in organisation are the result or
their needs. Different theories of organisations have made different assumptions about the
needs that persons, seek to satisfy through organisations. In classical theory persons were
motivated primarily by economic gain and the need for security. Neo-classical theory
broadened the view of man to include his need for satisfying social interactions with others
in the organisation. Modern theory takes a multi-level view of human need strivings. It sees
the individual as seeking of satisfying not only biological, security and friendships needs but
also the needs for esteem and self fulfilment. In this lesson we will primarily focus on formal
and informal organizations.
8.2 MEANING AND DEFINITIONS
After discussing the need for an organisation and its relationship with the individuals,
let us define the term ‘Organization’ before switching over to formal and informal
organisation.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the words ‘to organise’ as to frame and put into
working order. The term ‘Organisation’ leads itself to three different meanings :-
(a) The act of designing the administrative structure.
(b) Both designing and building the administrative structure.
(c) The structure itself.
It is very clear that the idea of human element has not been conveyed in any of these
meanings. The authors of organisation have defined the term differently. The classical school
of thought views organisation as a structure. Structure refers to the logical rational, physical
arrangement of activities and the network of authority, responsibility roles and relationships
among the various positions for purpose of achieving certain objectives and goals. On the
other side authors of humanistic approach view organisation from a human angle. In simple
words we can say that organisation refers to plan of action, to ensure fulfilment or purpose of
purposes, which group individuals has set for realisation, and towards the attainment of
which, they collectively lending their energies. “Organisation in the structuring of individuals
and functions, into productive relationship; administration is concerned with decision
making and the direction of individuals to achieve ends that have been determined by
political leaders. Organisation seeks a pattern of skills and responsibilities that will ensure co-
ordination and unity of purpose through supervision. The object of both organisation and
administration is the control of human and material resources.”
Chester 1 Barnard has defined, an organisation is a system of cooperative human
activities. To Gaus, “Organisation is the relationship of efforts and capacity of individuals and
groups engaged upon a common task in such a way as to secure the desired objective with
the least friction and the most satisfaction for whom the task is done and those engaged in
64
the enterprise. Gaus highlights the importance of the human clement in an organisation”.
Some other definitions of organisation given by various scholars are as follows :
“Organisation is the form of every human association for the attainment of a common
purpose” —Mooney.
“Organisation is the arrangement of personnel for facilitating the accomplishment of
some agreed purpose through allocation of functions and responsibilities” —L.D. White.
“Organisation structure is a pattern of inter-related posts connected by line of
delegated authority” —M. Lward.
“Organization consists of the relationship of individual to individual and of group to
groups which are so related as to bring about an orderly division of labour” —Pfiffner.
“Organisation is the formal structure of authority through which work subdivisions
are arranged defined and coordinated for the defined objective”. —Gullick Luther
“Organisation is concerned with the pattern of relationship between persons in an
enterprise, so constructed as to fulfil the enterprise’s function” —Gladden.
“By organisation we mean a planned system of co-operative effort in which each
participant has a recognized role to play and duties and tasks to perform.” —Simon
The analysis of the above mentioned definitions of organisation leads us to the
conclusion that the organisation includes five elements, which are common to all
organisations :
1. An organisation always includes persons.
2. The persons are involved with one another in some way that is to say that are
interacting.
3. These interactions can always be ordered or described by some sort of
structure.
4. Each person has personal objectives, some of which are the reasons for these
actions. He expects that participation in the organisation will help to achieve
his objectives.
5. These interactions can also help to achieve compatible joint objectives, perhaps
different from but related to their personal objectives.
A. Carnagie, and American Industrialist once said, take away our factories, take our
trade, our avenues of transportation and our money. Leave nothing but our organisation and
in four years we shall have re-established ourselves". Similarly, Herbert A. Simon has
pointed out that organisation affects the people who work for it in five different ways:
(i) The organisation helps in dividing work among its members, by giving each
person a particular task, it limits and concentrates his energy on that task.
(ii) The organisation establishes standard practices by working out, detailed
procedures. Further it relieves employees of the need to determine such
procedure, each time they use cross ways.
(iii) The organisation provides a communication system.
65
(iv) The organisation helps in transmitting authoritative decisions by despatching

such decisions, downward, upward and cross ways:
(v) The organisation brains and indoctrinates its members by providing for the
"interlocation" of influence relating to knowledge, skills and loyalties, training,
enables employees to make decisions as the organisation would like them.
Thus, it is quite evident that organisation is the backbone of management. The
continuity and success of the enterprise depends on a sound organisation, structure as well
as the human beings who run it. Peter Drucket in his book, Practice of Management has very
rightly remarked that the right organisational structure is the necessary foundation, without
it, the best performance in all other areas of management will be frustrated. No
administrative performance is possible without a suitable organisation. Building an
organisation is, therefore, the starting point of any administrative performance.
8.3 CLASSIFYING ORGANIZATIONS: FORMAL AND INFORMAL
Organisations exists today in a variety of forms in the form of factories and markets
and government schools’ hospitals, clubs and trade unions. Some of these types of
organisations are formally recognised and exists formal arrangements or functions and
individuals in an officially established pattern of structure. There are others in the forms of a
simple interaction of individuals like passengers travelling is a bus. It may be difficult to
identify and may not therefore be considered to be an organisation in the traditional sense of
the word, but are necessary supplement to the formal structure. Recognition of these
informal relationships is important. A popular scheme of classifying organization is to label
them as formal or ^ informal depending upon the degree to which they are structured. The
importance of human factor in organisation becomes clearer if we understand the distinction
between formal and informal organisations.
8.3.1 Formal Organisation
Formal organisation is one where the pattern of relationship of the members is
formally set out in a chart or diagram. In other words, we can say that authority relationship
and lines of communication are written. The expected relationship of superior and
subordinate is clearly mentioned and levels of authority are made known to everyone in the
organisation. Formal orgnisation generally refers to the organizational pattern designed by
management: The blue print of division of labour and power of control, the rule and
regulations about wages, fines, quality control etc.
Chester L Barnard has attempted to define formal organisation as a "system of
consciously coordinated activities or forces of two or more persons". A formal organization is
deliberately designed to achieve some particular objectives. It refers to the structure of well
defined jobs, each bearing a definite measure of authority, responsibility and accountability.
To be more specific the main pillars of formal organization on which it is based are (i) division
of labour; (ii) scalar and functional processes; (iii) structure; (iv) span of control. Those can
be popularly named as principles of formal organization. It would be right to say that division
of labour and specialization is the basic principle of formal structure. In fact, the entire work
is divided into a number of small activities and each activity is performed by different
persons with an object to have maximum specialization. The main intention behind scalar
and functional process is the growth of the organization both vertically and horizontally.
Similarly, the structure refers to the overall arrangement in the organization with an object
to ensure proper distance between different part of the organization and also to secure the
66
execution of all the achievement of organisational goals. The span of control refers to the
number of subordinates directly reporting and accountable to one superior.
8.3.2 Informal Organisation
Informal organisation refers either to the social relations that develop among the staff
or workers above and beyond and formal one determined by the organization (e.g., they not
only work as alien on the same machine but are also friends). To be more specific it refers to
the relations between people in the organization based on personal attitudes, emotions
prejudice like, dislikes etc. In fact such relations are not developed in accordance with the
prevailing norms, procedures and rules and regulations laid down in the formal
organizational structure.
As a consequence of the interaction between the formal design and the pressures of
the interpersonal relations among the participants new practices may emerge in the
organization. In fact, it arises within, the formal organization and without the formal the
informal would not exist. In a nutshell the views given by scholars on organization behavior
that organization consists of both types of relationships i.e. formal and informal are relevant
in the modern context. Theresis no doubt that formal organisation is an important part of the
organizational system. It lays proper communication and control of persons working in an
enterprise. On the other side informal orgartization is also equally important. If we succeed
in handling the informal groups properly, it will facilitate informing the operations of the
organization very efficiently and effectively. That is why it has been rightly remarked by
some, organizational experts that informal relations are complementary to formal relations,
procedures laid down in the organisation structure. Rather it is an admitted fact that formal
and informal organisation are essential for any group action just as two blades are necessary
to make a pair of, scissors workable.
8.4 FORMAL AND INFORMAL ORGANISATIONS; DISTINGUISHED
With the background in mind about the conceptual framework of both the types of
organisation, let us differentiate formal dnd informal organisation in some detail.
Analytically we can make the following distinction between the two.
Formal Organisation Informal Organisation
1. Formal organisation is an artificial 1. Informal organisation is more natural

structuring of roles and and spontaneous system, out of the
relationships around a set of goals social tendency of people to associate
and activities. and interact.
2. Members of the organisation belong 2. Individuals can become the members

to one group. of more than one work group according
to their own desire and preference.
3. An individual is to work under one 3. An individual can be a leader in one

superior. In other words, we can work group and a follower in another
say their areas of operation is group.
limited.
4. The activities in formal 4. Informal organisations do not have

organisations are differentiated and specific activities. They arise from time
67
integrated around the goals and to time as a result of interactions and

objectives of the. organisations. sentiments of individuals.
5. The activities are formalised into 5. Some activities are considered goals in
work units/ departments, divisions themselves, while many goals remain
on a horizontal basis. Job positions as mere aspirations and wishes of the
to the individuals are give not on members in the organisation.
the basis of their voluntary choice
but as a result of managerial
decisions.
6. In formal organisations, values 6. In informal organisation, the values

goals, and tasks are dominantly goals and tasks are dominantly
economic, technical and psychological, in nature centering
concentration is towards around individual and group
productivity, profitability survival satisfaction cohesiveness, friendship,
and so on. esteem affiliation and so on.
7. Formal ogranisation is based on 7. Informal organisation looks like an ever-

scalar process or principal of evolving network of inter-personal
hierarchy. relationships.
8. Its structure is bureaucratic in 8. Its structure is loosely with only

nature with well-defined official unwritten norms of behaviour enforced
position. There is rigid delineation by the common consent of the
of roles and superior-subordinate, members. The communications are
relationship on impersonal basis. multi-directional.
The discipline is enforced through a
set of policies and procedures.
9. The emphasis in status differentials 9. In informal organisation, leader replace

is based on authority through a managers and have a social power
narrow downward communicated rather than authority as in the case of
system. manager, in the formal organisation. In
other words friendship, common values
and interests are at the base of
informal relationships.
10. Formal organisation is set up and 10. Informal organisations, management

activated by a conscious has no hand in their emergence
management decision. evolution and functioning. To be more
specific, members of the organisations
as a whole have collective hand in their
emergence.
11. In Formal ogranisations rewards 11. In informal organisations, the rewards

and sanctions have major and sanctions are non-monetary in
monetary, life and death nature. Individuals join together by
implications for the employees. To voluntary choice.
be more specific monetary and
other rewards overshadow
68
nonmonetary rewards.
12. Individuals join the formal 12. In informal organisation, the monetary
organisations to earn their benefit takes the form of (i) continuous
livelihood and thus press for membership, (ii) satisfaction; (iii)
favourable service conditions. morale; (iv) social esteem; (v) mutual
Promotional developmental help in distress; (vi) group leadership;
prospectus are important to them (vii) self fulfilment; and (viii) sense of
are linked to performance and security and safety.
experience.
13. There is no place for struggle for 13. In informal organisations, power
power in formal organisation, struggle ill will and petty jealousies are
Cliques, rivalaries, personality the regular features. In fact, it is the
clashes and other conflicts do not darker side of informal organisation.
have place or have little
significance.
14. Formal organisations require the 14. Informal organisations are influenced
individuals to behave in a by individual and group behaviour.
prescribed manner in their work Behaviour is more natural and
situation. Behavioural deviation by socialised, to be more specific, the
the individuals in a formal to the behaviour in, informal organisation are
process of organisational law and dealt in according organisation is
order. product of (i) attitudes and values
brought out by the individuals in the
organisation; (ii) Required behaviour
nomis in the formal organizations and;
(iii) the informal group culture to which
all individuals are attached.
1. Define organization.
2. Give two features of formal organization.
8.5 CHARACTERISTICS OF FORMAL ORGANISATION:

1. Structure of Activities is Clearly Defined:- An important feature of formal
organisation pertains to its structure. It is clearly defined for the managers and
employees. It must be pointed out here that formal relationship of individuals
69
can be expressed or shown on organisational chart. This shows the authority

and responsibility relationships between the various positions. These charts
describe, the formal communication flow i.e., how the files are to move through
various levels. These charts also tell us who reports to whom and what
activities are performed.
2. Permanent Nature of the Organisation :- Relatively speaking, the formal
organisations terid to be permanent. In fact the most of the formal
organisations are created to last a long life. They may experience changes in the
structural patterns, membership and even in their objectives. Of course, not all
formal organizations endure: sometimes they may" not grow or they may fail
and, they go out of existence. The various studies have shown that successful
organisations become unsuccessful if they refuse to adopt to the changed
condition in environment.
3. Organisational Growth :- Another important characteristic of formal
organizations is their organizational growth. Assuming, they successfully adopt
to their environment, formal organizations not only endure. They also tend to
elaborate and grows. They grow and become complex through increased
differentiation or specialization of the various activities and also through the
addition of new and different levels of activities.
4. Clearly defined objectives :- Every formal organization has some goals or
missions to achieve. It is necessary that the members of the organization
should know them but should also perceive the relevance to their work to these
objectives. It; is also expected in a formal organization that objectives should be
more than mere aims and should indicate in as precise manner as possible, the
nature of the desired achievement in terms of quality, quantity, cost and time.
5. Importance of Rewards and Sanctions :- In formal organization, the rewards
and sanction play an important role. Monetary sanctions are so important that
same overshadows non-monetary rewards.
6. Prescribed Behaviour of the Individuals :- Formal organisation require the
individuals to believe in a prescribed manner in their work situations. Rules do
not permit them to deviate. Behavioural deviations by the individuals in an
organisation are dealt with according to the due process of organisation law
and order.
7. Status System :- In formal organisation generally men hold status because of
their skills, abilities and experience. The status in formal organisation is
determined by the position or responsibilities of the job rather than the
sentiments that members of the group have for each other in formal
organisation. Likewise authority in formal organisations stems from a position
held or a work assignment delegated from some higher authority.
8. Organisation Communication :- In formal organisations channels for certain
kinds of information are spelled out specifically. The organisation hierarchy is
expected to serve as a primary vehicle for much of the formal communication.
Thus, the orders request for information and explanation of management
discussions are examples of communication that often flow downward through
the hierarchy from higher to lower organizational levels. Conversely much
information is passed upward to higher organizational levels through the formal
70
structure. Report on results achieved, questions concerning policy issued and

employees complaints are typical of upward flowing communication. Similarly
horizontal and lateral communications between organisational units are also
often spelled out by the creation of standard procedures.
8.6 CHARACTERISTICS OF INFORMAL ORGANISATION:
1. Informal Organisation Evolve Naturally : As we aware that formal
organisations have technical requirements which arise from their explicit goals.
The goals require the performance of a certain amount of work. Men are
assigned the specific jobs to perform this work. So far informal organization are
concerned, they do not arise as a result design or deliberations but evolve
naturally whenever men interact with each other over extended period. While
the formal organisation is a means to an end the social organisation is
important to members for their own sake because it fulfills the basic needs of
human association.
2. Develop Standards and Norms :- Just as society in general develops laws;
taboos and beliefs about what is right and wrong conduct so too does the
informal organisation. People in groups generally tend to think and act alike
and continuous association leads to shared values and forms. A norm is a
standard of expected behaviour established by the group. These standards of
behaviour are written down but they are often expressed orally. If there is a
violation by anyone the group enforces them by social pressure or perhaps
evenphysical violence.
3. Standards are Designed to Provide Protection against Dangers:- Another
feature of informal organisations is that some group standards are deliberately
to protect the members against real or imaginary outside dangers particularly
those from the top management.
4. Members in Informal Organisation are Anxious to Conform to Standards of
Behaviour :- It is the general tendency of informal group to exert pressure upon
its members to conform to the group norms: However, an interesting trend is
that members are quite anxious to conform. In fact, the desire of people to
belong to be accepted is very intense in their minds. Therefore, the individual
conforms to be expectations of the group. If he does otherwise it might prevent
him from belongingness. Even when an individual disagrees with a standard he
tend to go long because he want to be well regarded by the other members.
5. Informal Leadership :- With regard to leadership in informal organisation we
can say that informal leader emerges from the group and guides and directs
through persuasion and influence. The members know him because they
recognise the need for leadership and know that if the group is to provide
benefits someone must lead it. Similarly there are several leaders in the group
performing different roles. One may promote internal harmony and another
may serve as the liaison with management. Generally the emergence of a leader
takes place from a situation.
6. Status System in Informal Organisation :- Status structure As determined by
the feeling or sentiments that members of the groups have for each other.
Status plays an important role in the interaction between the members of
71
group. From status the employees will create an informal social structure.
Thus, status structure will facilitate the operation of the organisation by
providing status rewards goals and satisfaction for member.
8.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF FORMAL ORGANISATION
1. Thinking Capacities of People are Limited :- To be more specific, limited
thinking capacity means that most individuals are not knowledgeable in a large
number of diverse areas. Even if we know a great deal about many things, we
do not have the 'time to make decisions in several fields in a short span of time.'
Such a situation necessitates dividing the various activities into various
specialities and assigning them to different individuals. In other words, formal
organization is necessary for the performance of complex and diverse activities.
2. Difference in Abilities of the People :- In our everyday life, we observe that
some persons are capable of performing some activity very well but while doing
other kinds of tasks they succeed marginally. This can be attributed to be
differences in up bringing and background. Formal organizations make use of
these differences by placing individuals in those positions where their talents
can be helpful in the accomplishment of the goals of the organisation. By
combining varied talents into a cooperative activity, the formal organizations
can be helpful in enhancing the abilities of all.
3. Time Requirements :- The formal organisations not only allow the different
talents and abilities to complement each other but at the same time help in
increasing the potential for achieving goals within a specified time frame.
Formal organizations can bring together large number of people or members of
the organisation who when working together can meet deadlines that could not
be achieved by smaller numbers. Increase in human force can thus, compress
the time necessary in the accomplishment of a given goal.
8.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF INFORMAL ORGANISATIONS
The formal organisation satisfies many of the need of its members but it does not
satisfy all the needs. Infact, it is due to nature of formal organisations and at the same time
formal organisations lack the capacity to meet all the needs. Thus, an individual must seek
satisfaction from another source. This is the major argument ordinarily given for the
development qf the informal organisation within formal organisation. The following are the
major reasons responsible for the development of the organization.
1. Informal organisation satisfies the social need:- Most of the persons join tlye
informal organisation for,the satisfaction of their social needs. It Is Informal
organisation for the satisfaction for the satisfaction of their social needs. Man
by nature is a social animal and cannot live in isolation. He has the desire for
affiliation and the need for relationships with other people. When an individual
joins a formal organisation one of his objectives is companionship. If he fails in
his mission, he feels isolated and tends to be dissatisfied with his position.
2. Helps in Developing Sense of Belongingness and Identification: - Chester
Barnard in his book, The Functions of the Executive has pointed out that
affiliation within informal organisation is more than just friendship. In fact, it is
sense of belongingness. To belong is a feeling of personal comfort and social
relations. Sometimes, it is viewed as solidarity, social integration and social
72
security. Through the sense of belonging to the informal organisation facilitate

the individual for satisfying the need for identification because everyone
searches for identity.
3. Assists in Determining Approved Behaviour :- Another valuable service that
the informal organisation provides to us is the assistance in determining
acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. When an individual enters an
organization, he is generally uncertain about what behaviour is expected of
him. In this respect, information and knowledge is provided by his associates.
To be more specific, for getting knowledge of approved behaviour he relies on
his associates for guidance.
4. Helps in Perpetuating cultural values :- The informal organisation helps the
members in perpetuating their cultural values. For instance, a group of
employees may be united in their desire to maintain a certain standard of
education discipline or training.
5. Provides Assistance in Achieving Objectives :- Another valuable service that
the informal organisation provides to its members is assistance in achieving
their objectives. However, informal organization, the individuals willingly give
up some of their personal freedom in exchange for assistance in meeting the
objectives.
6. Acts as a Means of Providing Information :- A work group in an informal
organisation acts as a means of providing information and keeps the members
of the group informed. Infact ordinarily it is the tendency of the member at all
the levels of organization to know what is going on in their organization because
there is a high degree of articulation amongst them. That is why it has been
rightly remarked by some scholars, if formal organization could be sufficient in
communicating the members immediately, there would have been little need for
the informal organisation to get information. Therefore, group develops system
and channels of communications, facts and rumours transmitted by the words
of mouth generally travel fast.
7. Need for Sympathy :- During the course of their service in the formal
organization the individual encounter tensions and frustration. It is in informal
orgnisation that grieved persons are able to find sympathetic friends, who has
similar experiences and therefore, can understand their problems. In this way,
individuals develop self-confidence. On the other side if no opportunity is
available to the individuals to express their grievances, they may feel
disappointed, consequently, may lose confidence and their own abilities.
8.9 SUMMARY
Both formal and informal relation are indispen component of any organisation. Input,
informal organisation to valuable. Component of the formal organisation are fills in some of
the vital gaps in the ratter. Therefore, administration should not consider informal
organisation hesite to formal organisation. Even administration which encourage the informl
organizations for keeping harmonious relations in the organisation and for achieving the
organisation objectives.
73
 Singh Sahib & Singh Swinder 2016, Public Administration, Jalandhar, New
Acadmic.
 Barnard Chester, 1908, The functions of Executive.
 Henry Nicliolor, Public Administration and Public Affairs, 3E, New Delhi.
8.11 GLOSSARY
 Prevailing Norms - Current expected social behavior.
1. Define organization and discuss the types of organisation.
2. Differentiate formal and informal organisation.
Suggestive answers to self-assessment questions
1. Organisation is systematic bringing together of interdependent part to form
unified whole.
2. Clearly defined structure, permanent nature of organization.
74
Lesson - 9
PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION:
HIERARCHY, SPAN OF CONTROL & UNITY OF COMMAND
Structure
9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Hierarchy
9.2.1 Functions of Hierarchy
9.2.2 Information channels and Hierarchy
9.2.3 Hierarchical controls
9.2.4 Problems with The Levels
9.3 Span of Control
9.3.1 Origin
9.3.2 Factors Determining Span of Control
9.4 Unity of Command
9.4.1 Significance
9.4.2 Unit of Command and Functional Authority
9.4.3 Criticism
9.5 Summary
9.6 Glossary
9.8 Model Questions
9.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson you would be able to :
 identify the important principles of organization.
 explain the concept and significance of hierarchy.
 elaborate the meaning and implications of Span of Control.
 describe the meaning and significance of Unity of Command.
9.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous lesson we discussed the major theories of organization. We also noted
the principles of organization as given by classical thinkers and certain later thinkers. In this
75
lesson we’ll examine some of these basic principles viz. hierarchy, span of control and unity
of command. These principles are quite essential to run the organizations but at the same
time there are certain problems too which are associated with these principles We’ll now
examine each of these principles in some detail.
9.2 HIERARCHY
The organization in their skeleton form are of pyramidal shape. This shape is the
result of a smaller number of supervisors supervising a large number of subordinates. In this
structure we find that between the lowest and the highest levels, everybody has a superior as
well as a subordinate. At the apex of the pyramidal structure is a person called the chief
executive. This order is called the hierarchical order or the hierarchy of position in an
organization. According to L.D White “Hierarchy consists in the universal applications of the
superior-subordinate relationship through a number of levels of responsibility reaching from
the top to the bottom of structure.”
In a hierarchical structure the distribution of functions and responsibilities is both
horizontal and vertical. An organization structure grows both vertically and horizontally.
When additional levels are added in an organization structure, it is called vertical growth, but
when more functions or positions are added without increasing the number of levels it is
called horizontal growth.
The working relationships is an organization designated by the term ‘hierarchy’
constitutes a particular organization procedure for handling the authority of legitimacy.
Acceptance of the working procedures of an organization by a member includes acceptance
of the obligation to go along with proposals of a hierarchical superior, at least within a limit
of toleration ‘area of acceptance’. Thus, whether the other reasons for obedience are
operating or not confidence, identification or sanctions, organization members will feel that
they ought to obey their superior’s legitimacy is one of the most importance sources of the
authority of the hierarchical superior.
The feeling that hierarchical authority is legitimate is immensely strengthened by
previous social conditioning. Hierarchical behaviour is an institutionalized behaviour that all
organizations members bring to the organization with them. Hierarchical behaviour involves
an inferior-superior, role-taking of persons well versed in their roles “Inferiors” feel that they ought to
obey their “superiors” feel that they should be obeyed.
9.2.1 Functions of Hierarchy
The arranging of authority in hierarchical order serves many purposes of an
organization. The two most important are the following :
1. Setting Goals and Allocating Work: A hierarchical arrangement arises quite
naturally out of the usual procedure for dividing the work when a large group task is to be
accomplished. The whole task of the group is divided into major segments, each with its sub-
goals, and each segment is assigned to a major organizational unit. Each segment is then
further subdivided into components, each of which is assigned to a submit, so that the
resulting structure is hierarchical. It is quite natural, then to vest with each level of the
hierarchy the task of orienting the work of subdivisions at that level to the goals to which the
activity of that subdivision is supposed to contribute. Thus, in a government, the department
heads would normally exercise the principal responsibility for validating the tasks and goals
of the major bureaus of their departments, and for seeing that the activities of these bureaus were
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oriented to their goals. However, there are additional reasons why those ill the higher hierarchical positions
play a prominent part in the control of goals.
Firstly, in terms of the more surrounding authority relationships, these higher
executives are accepted as having the “right” to interest themselves in problems occurring over a wider
area than the area of concern to their subordinates. A person who concerns himself with the goals of
organization units broader than the one for which he is responsible may encounter resistance from other
who challenge the “legitimacy” of his concern.
Secondly, goal validation is related to hierarchy because the persons at higher levels of
the hierarchy may be expected, by reason of their responsibility, to identify with the broader
goals of the organization, while those at lower levels will more often identify with the sub-
goals of the smaller organization units. Securing conformity of the goals of these smaller
units to the goals of the larger then becomes an important concern of the executives at
higher levels.
Thirdly, the role of the superiors in the maintenance of organization against external
demands and pressures given hierarchical superiors a particularly close relationship with
goal setting. It is in this process of guarding the organization against “external dangers”—
that changes or potential changes in goals and activities “are most frequently brought to the
attention of the organization. Because of the nature of his activities, the executive near the
top is often the first to be aware of the menaces that threaten his programme.
2. Coordinating and Setting Disputes : This is another important job of a
hierarchical superior. In any complex task there are numerous opportunities for difference of
opinion as to the precise objective to be accomplished and even more important as to the
best method for accomplishing it. Often there are several courses of action open, each of
which would be reasonably effective, but the needs of coordination may require that the
same course be adopted by the entire organization. The need for a well-understood method of
umpiring disputes is recognized wherever the activities of several organization units are so
related that coordination is necessary for the successful attainment of goals. It is difficult to
overemphasize this coordinating role of the hierarchy. Without a common hierarchical
superior, or with a common superior at levels too distant to be appealed to except is acute
emergency, administrative units may engage in strife that can half effectively work. The
absence of a common hierarchical superior often impedes the amicable settlement of
disputes between subordinate levels and leads to protracted, and sometimes ill-tempered,
bargaining and power tactics.
9.2.2 Information channels and Hierararchy
Superiors can communicate to their immediate subordinates, vice-versa. Where the
hierarchy is used for communications, each step in the communication chain acts as a
screening point to decide how much of the information needs to be communicated further
down or up the line, as case may be. Thus, hierarchy provides the most used channel of
communication for formal orders and for the upward and downward flow of information.
Hierarchical channels are usually very slow, however, for the indispensable crosswise flow of
information, for example the diagram below (taken from Henry Fayol’s book ‘General and
Industrial Management published in 1949) explains that A represents the top man in the
organization who is directly over B and L, B in turn is over C, and L is the immediate
superior of M, and so on down the line. In strict observance of ‘Channels’ and
communication from F to P would go all the way up one side of the triangle to A and down
the other side.
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A
B L
C M
D N
E O
F .......................................................................................................................................................................... P
The strict observance of the channels not only slowdown the flow of information but it
also makes the executives in the organization pyramid the bottlenecks in the communication
flow. Hence, in actual organizations information flows through many channels, formal and
informal, other than the hierarchy. Henry Fayol suggested that gangplanks (dotted line as
can be seen connecting F and P in the above diagram) should be used to prevent the chain of
command from bogging action down. He suggested that the gangplank could be thrown across
without weadening the chain of command. It would only be necessary for the superiors of F and P to
authorize them to treat directly with each other, provided each informed his superior of any action.
9.2.3 Hierarchical controls
The traditional theory of hierarchical control of administration is started seems by the
However Commission : “Responsibility and accountability are impossible without authority
power to direct. The exercise of authority is impossible without a clear line of command from
the top to the bottom, and a return line of responsibility and accountability from the bottom
to the top”. If the top executive is elected by the people, if he can hire and fire his first-line
lieutenants, if they can hire and fire their immediate subordinates, and so forth, then the
values in administrative decisions will come from the people and flow down his line of
command always enforced on those below by threat of the sanction of dismissal. Then
administration will be responsible and accountable to each higher hierarchical control. But
such a concept of hierarchical control is not to be found in the modern-day organizations.
There are certain limitations to this king of hierarchical controls. These are the following :
1. Complexities : Modern day management in the organizations is very diverse
and complex. It is impossible for a single superior to effectively handle
everything by himself, nor does he have enough time to do that. Thus, the work
is assigned to expert subordinates who enjoy vast powers because of their
technical and professional expertise. The chief executive’s control over such
technical and professional matters is either nominal or not there at all.
2. Separation of Powers : Especially in the case of government where the
separation of powers is there between legislature and executive the controls
with the chief executive becomes conditional. For so many proposals he has to
rely on the wishes of the legislature. Similarity, the judicial system functions in
accordance with certain laws, and is functionally independent of the chief
executive.
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3. Overhead Units : The proper exercise of authority is impossible without the

aids which the “staff” institutions can provide to assemble facts and
recommendations upon which judgments can be made and to supervise and
report upon the execution of decisions. These staff institutions help the chief
executive in effectively controlling the organization. Without them the chief
executive’s control cannot be as effective.
4. Limits on Communication: A final limitation on hierarchical control is the
frequent failure of communication. If decisional premises are not communicated
or are filtered of distorted in the process; to that extent hierarchical controls arc
not operating at all. And if the top man knows little about what those at the
bottom are thinking, it is also true that those at the bottom know little about
what the top man is dunking.
9.2.4 Problems with The Levels
It is generally considered that organizations are considered to be best conceived in
case there is the clarity and completeness of departments and department levels. Division of
activities into departments and hierarchical organization and the creation of multiple levels
are not completely desirable in themselves. In addition to the above-mentioned limitations of
the hierarchical controls, there are certain problems which arise on account of the relation of
levels. These problems are the following :
1. Levels are Expensive: As the levels increase, more and more effort and money
redevoted to managing, because of the additional mangers, staff to assist them
and the necessity of coordinating departmental activities, plus the costs of
facilities for such personnel. Accountants refer to such cost as “overhead” or
“burden” of “general and administrative” in contrast to so-called direct costs.
Real production is accomplished by factory, engineering, or sales employees,
who are or could logically be counted for as direct labour. Levels above the
“firina line” are pedominently staffed with managers who are not directly
productive and whose cost it would be desirable to eliminate if that were
possible.
2. Levels Complicate Communications : An enterprise with many levels has
greater difficulty communicating objectives, plans, and policies through the
organization structure than does the firm in which the top manager
communicates directly with employees. Omissions and misinterpretations occur
as information passes down the scalar chain. Levels also complicate
communication from the “firing line” to superiors, which is every bit as
important as downward communication.
3. Levels Complicate Planning and Control : The plan that may be definite and
complete at the top level as it is subdivided and elaborated at lower levels loses
coordination and clarity. Control becomes more difficult as levels and managers
are added, while at the same time the complexities of planning and difficulties
of communication make this control more important.
9.3 SPAN OF CONTROL
The concept of span of control, is also known as ‘Span of Management’. It refers to the
number of individuals a manager can supervise. There is a limited in each managerial
position to the number of persons an individual can effectively manage, but the exact
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number will vary in accordance with effect of underlying variables and contingencies and
their impact on the time requirements of effective managing.
9.3.1 Origin
This principle was first asserted by Ian Hamilton who commanded the British forces in
the Battle of Gallipoli in World War. According to him “The average human brain finds its
effective scope in handling 3 to 6 others brains”. He developed his ideas through
observations during his military experience. He argued that the span of control was related
to the ‘degree of responsibility’ exercised by the group members. The smaller the
responsibility of the worker, the greater could be the span of control. Thus, at the bottom of
an organization it is possible to supervise about 6 individuals.
As for the decision as the how wide should be a span it can be said that different
management consultants have given different numbers of subordinate to be supervised by superiors. One
view is that this number is usually 4 to 8 subordinates at the upper levels of organization and 8 to 15 or
more at the lower levels.
J.C. Worthy in his article entitled ‘Men, Management and Organization’ Published in
the proceedings of Fifth Personnel Management and Industrial Relations Seminar in October
1951 in Los angles, remarked that a manager may be able to manage as many as 20 to 30
subordinates.
9.3.2 Graicunas Theory
V.A.. Graicunas published an article entitled ‘Relationship in organization’ published
in Bulletin of International Management Institute in 1930 in, Geneva. He analyzed
Subordinate Superior relationships and developed a mathematical formula based on the
geometric increase. This formula was developed by him by nothing that managers like all
other people have limited time, attention, spans and resources. This formula may not be
universally applicable but it focus attention upon the control underlying problems of the span of control,
perhaps better than any other device. His theory identifies 3 types of subordinate-superior relationships:
1. The Direct Single Relationships : These relationships can easily be
understood and recognized. These relate the superior directly and individually with his
immediate subordinates. Thus if ‘A’ has 3 subordinates— B, C, D — there are 3 direct single
relationships as follows :
A with B
A with C
A with D
2. The Direct Group Relationships : These relationships exist between the
superior and each possible Combination of subordinates. Thus a superior might consult with
one of the subordinates with a second in attendance or with all his subordinates, or with,
various combinations of them. If A has 3 subordinates these relationships include :
B with C
B with D
C with B
C with D
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D with B
D with I
B with C and D
C with B and D
D with B and C
3. The Cross Relationships: These are created when subordinates must consult
with one another. For B, C and D Graicunas gave 6 cross relationships :
B to C
B to D
C to B
C to D
D to B
D to C
On the basis of these relationships. Graicunas developed the following formula to give
the number of a possible types of subordinates — superior relationships requiring
managerial attention.
n(2n  n 1)
R=
2
Were
R = number of relationships
n = number of persons supervised.
Thus, if a supervisor’s span of control is over 2 subordinates, the number of possible relationships
is:
R = 2 (2 + 2 – 1)
R=6
However, if two more subordinate are added, observer what happens.
R = 4 (22 +4 – 1)
R = 44
While the number of subordinates is increased by two, the number of possible
relationships in the group increased by 38. The table below illustrates the results of applying
Graicunas formula to groups ranging from one to twelve members :
Possible Relationships with Variable Number of Subordinates
Number of Subordinates Number of Relationships
1 1
2 6
3 18
81
4 44
5 100
6 222
7 490
8 1080
9 2376
10 5210
11 11374
12 24708
The rapid rise in number of relationships with the increase in number of subordinates
is starting Mathematically, but as will be seen from the table not necessarily in practice, an
executive with four subordinates by adding the fifth increases the possible relationships for
which he is responsible by 127% (from 44 to 100) clearly an executive must think twice
before he increases the number of his subordinates.
The usefulness of the formula is weakened because it does not deal frequency (in
terms of time demands) of relationships. Their total possible number is probably less
important to a manager than their frequency and their demand on his time.
The Graicunas theory emphasizes the complexity of managing more than a few
subordinates. Yet any managerial action that will reduce the number and frequency of
relationships requiring the manager’s attention will increase his span of management and
thereby reduce the costs and inefficiencies of undue number of departments.
Peter M. Balau and W. Richard Scott, in Formal Organization, published in 1962 in
San Franscisco, put forward another formula which provides a means of calculating the span
of control actually existing in an organization. The formula is :
S=L N
Where
S = span of control
L = number of supervisory levels
N = number of employees.
For example, in an organization, there are 370 academic employees and 15
supervisory levels the organization’s average span of control is :
S=5 370
S=3
In this case; S is equal to approximately 3, which is an approximation of the fifth root
of 370. We should recognize that an answer obtained by this formula is of limited value in a
practical sense. Firstly, it is only an average and says little about the span of control for any
particular level. For example, if, at the very top an organization, the span is only one and for
the next level about four. Obviously, departmental spans can be as large as twenty-five, but
there is a great range with some small departments and centres being only about three in
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number. Also, the average span of control is useful only in certain “macro” comparisons,
such as relating the average span in one organization to that in another. Any such
comparison much then be conditioned by the uniqueness of each structure being compared.
Some management writers, especially those in the early functional tradition have
attempted to draw specific limits to the span of control. Lyndall Urwick, the noted British
management consultant made a number of attempts to give a specific, span of control. In
1952 in his notes on “The Theory of Organization” he said that, “no person should supervise
more than five or at the most six direct subordinates whose work interlocks.” In another of
his writings titled ‘Axioms of Organization’ published in ‘Public Administration Magazine’ in
October 1955 at London he was found to be saying that, ‘the ideal number of subordinates
for all superior authorities – to be four, “and” at lowest level of organization, where what is
delegated is responsibility for the performance of specific tasks and not for the supervization
of others, the number may be eight or twelve. “However, in 1956 in his article titled, “The
Manager’s Span of Control” in Harvard Business Review, he reaffirmed his views expressed
in 1952.
Ralph C. Davis goes further by differentiating between the ‘operative and exclusive,
span of control: supervisors at the control: supervise more routine types-jobs so that the
span may vary from ten to thirty but will likely be between, fifteen and twenty; the span of
executive control, however, will probably be between three and seven, since the work at
higher levels is mostly mental, the supervision must also be mental and thus becomes more
limited.
9.3.3 Factors Determining Span of Control
Although there are certainly limits to the span of control, the tendency in recent year
has been to avoid stating absolute number because it has been recognized that the span is
influenced by a number of factors. Some of the most important are :
1. Name of the Work: In case the work assigned to the subordinates does not
require frequency technical advice from the superior and also if, the same task
is to be repeated time and again, the frequency of contracts between subordinates
and supervisor will be very less. In such a case the supervisor will be in a position to
supervise the work of a large number of subordinates. This will be so because the contract
required will be only at the time of issuance of instruction by the supervisor, or subordinates
approaching him for the solution of any on the job problem. Here lesser the contracts
number required, wider can be the span of control.
2. The Ability of the Manager: Some managers are more capable of supervising
larger number of people than others. The capable managers are in a position to
issue most relevant, precise and clear instructions to the subordinates, thus
reducing the requirement of subordinates referring back them frequently for
clarifications. In addition, the capable manager also is in a position to project
an image of himself which inspires the subordinates to inculcate in themselves
a spirit of self-imposed discipline. In case of any discipline problem or some
technical problem, the capable manager is in a position to find an acceptable
and lasting solution. Thus, as compared with an incapable manager, he is in a
position to control a large number of subordinates.
3. Efficiency of the Organization : Organizations with efficient working systems
and procedures can have larger spans of control. An efficient system helps the
organization in a number of ways. It is realistically designed and tested over a
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long period of time. In a bureaucratic organization such efficient systems on

one hand make the subordinates work without too much of detailed
instructions and on the other they leave minimum scope for supervisory
interference. Thus, more efficiency the systems, wider can be, the span of
control.
4. Staff Assistants: When staff assistants are employed contact between
supervisors and subordinates can be reduced as a result of which the span can
be broadened. These staff assistants to a great extent enjoy the powers
delegated to them by the superiors. Thus, the superior is left normally with
such work which has to be performed only by himself. The routine problems
and such other matters can safely be handled by the staff assistants.
5. Subordinate Training: The better training of subordinates, the less the impact
of necessary superior subordinate relationships. A well-trained subordinate
required not only less time of the manager, but also, fewer contacts with his
superior.
Training problems increase in new and more complex industries. Managers in
the railroad industry for example, would after a long development of railroad
technology tend to be more completely trained than those in the aerospace
industry. Similarly, the rapid changes in policy and procedures in the complex
electronics and missile industries would increase training problems.
6. Delegation of Authority : Although training procedures enable managers to
reduce the frequency and severity of time consuming relationships, the
principle cause of the heavy time burdens of such relationships is to be found
in poorly conceived and confused organization, The most serious system of poor
organization affecting the span of management is inadequate or unclear
authority delegation. If a manager clearly delegated authority to undertake a
well – defined task, a well-trained subordinate can get it done with a minimum
of the superior’s time and attention. But if the subordinate’s risk is not, one he
can do, if it is not clearly defined, or if he does not have the authority to
undertake it effectively, he will either fail to perform it or take a
disproportionate amount of the manager’s time in supervising and guiding his
efforts.
7. Planning : Much of character of subordinate’s job is defined by the plans he
expected to put into effect. If these plans are well defined, if they are workable within his
framework of operations if he has the authority to undertake them and if he understands
what is expected he will require little of his superior’s time’. Such is often the case of
production foreman operated satisfactorily with as many as sixty or seventy subordinates.
On the other hand, where plans cannot be drawn accurately and where the
subordinate must do much of his own planning, his decision may require
considerable guidance. However, if his superior has set up clear policies to
guide his decisions and made sure they are consistent with the operations and
goals of the department and if the subordinate understands them, there will
certainly be fewer demands on the superior’s time.
8. Rate of Change : Obviously certain enterprises change much more rapidly
than others. The rate of change is important in determining the degree to which
policies can be formulated and the stability of formulated policies maintained. It
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may, indeed, explain the organization structure of companies, railroad, banking

and public utility companies, for example – operating with wide span of
management or, on the other, hand, the very narrow span of management used
by General Eisenhower during World War–II.
The effect of slow change on policy formulation and on subordinate training is
dramatically shown in the organization of the Roman Catholic Church. This
organization, in terms of durability and stability, can probably be regarded as
the most successful in the history of Western civilization. Yet the organization
levels are few: in most cases, bishops report directly to the Pope, and parish
priests to bishops, although in a few instances bishops report to archbishops.
Thus, there are generally only three levels in this world-wide organization and a
consequent wide span of management at the top. Even though it is
unquestionably too broad, this, extraordinarily wide span is apparently
tolerable, partly because of the degree of training possessed by the bishops and
oven more because the rate of change in the Church has been exceedingly slow.
Changes in procedures of policies are developments of decades and objectives
have remained the same over almost two millennia.
9. Use of Objective Standards : A manager must find out, by either personal
observation or use of objective standards whether subordinates are following
plans, Obviously, good objective standards, revealing will case any deviations
from plans, enable the manager to avoid many time consuming relationships
and to direct his attention to exceptions at points strategic to the successful
execution plans.
10. Communication Techniques : The effectiveness communication techniques
are used also influences the span of management. Objective standards of
control are a kind of communications device, but many other techniques reduce
the frequency of superior-subordinate relationships.
If every plan, instruction, order or direction has to be communicated by
personal contact and every organization change of staffing problem handled
orally, the manager’s time will obviously be heavily burdened. Some executives
use “assistant-to” positions of administrative staff personnel as a
communications device in helping to solve their problems with key
subordinates. Written recommendations by subordinates, summarizing
pertinent considerations, frequently expedite decision making. The authors
have seen busy top executives widen their span of management by insisting
upon summary presentation of written recommendations, even when these
involved enormously important decisions. A carefully reasoned and presented
recommendations help the executive reach a considered decision in minutes,
when even the most efficient conference would require on hour.
An executive’s ability to communicate plans and instructions clearly and
consisely also tends to increase a manager’s span. The subordinate who after
leaving his superior desk or receiving his memorandum of instructions is still in
doubt as to what is wanted or what has been said is sure to increase the
relationships that will sooner or later require the manager’s attention. One of
the pleasures of being a subordinate is to have a superior who can express
himself self. A manager’s casual, easy style may please subordinate but where
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this easiness degenerates into confusion and wanted time, the effect is sharply
to reduce the effective span of management and other morale as well.
Modern communication techniques are of considerable variety. Some are
mechanical and some are electrical, like the telephone, the dictating machine
and the buzzer. The electronic data-computing machine has made
communications more expeditious, exact and complete, and, if properly used,
may considerably affect the span of management. Whatever techniques are
used are subject to invention and discovery, so that what may be a limited span
for a manager today may be less limited tomorrow.
11. Amount of Personal Contact : In many instances in management, face-to-face
relationships are necessary. Many situations cannot be completely handled by
written reports, memoranda, policy statements, planning documents or other
communications not calling for personal contact. The executive may find it
valuable to him and stimulating to his subordinates to meet and discuss
problems in the give-and-take of a conference. There may also be problems of
such political delicacy that they can only be handled in face-to-face meetings.
This is also true when one comes to appraising people’s performance and
discussing it with them. And there are other situations where the best way of
communicating a problem, instructing a subordinate, or getting a direct “feel”
as to how people really think on some matter is to spend time in slow personal
contact.
One wonders, however, whether the high percentage of executive time spent in
conferences and committees might be reduced somewhat by better training, better policy
making and planning, cleaner delegation, more through staff work, better control systems
and objective standards, and in general, better application of sound principles of
management. One wonder also, whether much of the time spent in personal contact might
not be much better spent in thought and study.
At the other extreme of management, may organizations seem somewhat unaware of
how newer personnel techniques affect first-line supervisors, many of whom appear to have
spans far beyond their abilities to handle. Merit rating insurance programmes grievance
procedures, and other personnel matters now requiring the foreman’s time to face-to-face
relationships have perhaps reduced his traditionally are not worth their cost, but the span of
management limitations must be evaluated in light of these factors.
John G. Udel in his study entitled “ An Empirical Test of Hypotheses Relating to the
Span of Control.” (Administrative Science Quarterly, December 1967) attempted to
empirically test some of the accepted views concerning span of control. Among other things
his analysis found that sharing supervision (such as the use of assistants), geographic
dispersion of subordinates, and similarity of jobs were positively related to the size of the
span of control. The study did not support the idea that the span decreases as the
responsibility for coordination increases.
In summary, it seems fair to suggest this the size of control is related to numerous
variables and no single limit is likely to apply in all cases. Quite literally as Donald Drumtre
illustrates (Supervisory Management, August 1972), the span “applies to the horizontal reach
of the supervisor, “and control” applies to the direct supervisor-subordinate relationship.
Thus, span of control is the number of personnel directly accountable to the manager. A
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variety of factors can influence the resulting number of the optimum span of control of any
particular organization.
9.4 UNIT OF COMMAND
One of the basic management principles is the unity of command principle. The more
completely an individual has a reporting relationship to a single superior, the less the
problem of conflict in instructions and the greater the feeling of personal responsibility for
results. In discussing delegation of authority, it has been assumed that the right of
discretion over a particular activity will flow from a single superior to a subordinate.
Although it is possible for a subordinate to receive authority two or more superiors and
logically possible to be held responsible by them. The practical difficulties of serving two or
more masters are obvious. An obligation is essentially personal, and authority delegation by
more than one person to an individual is likely to result in conflicts in both authority and
responsibility.
9.4.1 Significance
The principle of unity of command is useful in the clarification of authority –
responsibility relationships. A president, for example, does not normally divide sales
activities among sales, manufacturing, public relations, finance, accounting and personnel,
with no single person responsible for them. Instead, since sales is a cohesive activity,
assignment is made to the sales manager. Unit of command would not exist if, instead of a
single sales manager, the president appointed an executive committee to run the
department. To force every major subordinate in the sales department to own full obligation
to each committee member other than to one manager would produce confusion, buck-
passing and general inefficiency. Similarly, it is undesirable to have several managers assign
duties to one employee, who would then be obligated to each of the several bosses.
The principle of unity of command is a directing as well as an organizing principle. It
reflects the desirability of subordinates being responsible to only one superior. It is well
known that employees work better under one superior, thus avoiding division of loyalties,
problems of priorities and conflicting orders.
Few would deny the importance of maintaining unity of command. It is not easy for a departmental
head to be responsible to two or three people; at the worker level it may be disastrous to attempt multiple
responsibility. Some disunity in command may be unavoidable, since functional authority relationships are
often unavoidable. But the manager should remain aware of the difficulties of multiple authority and should
either limit them even at the cost of some uniformity or less of the fruits of specialization- or else carefully
clarify them.
Futhermore, too much staff activity may complicate the line executive’s job of direction
and control. An executive may be so busy dealing with the recommendations of a large
number of staff assistants and straightening twisted line of authority that he may not be able
to give requisite time and attention to his operating departments; or the business may
become so oriented to making policy and setting procedure that there is little time left to
make shoes or give transportation service.
The principle of unity of command is followed in military organizations with greater
scope. This specifically relevant because of the sensitivity of the responsibility given to the
head of the military organization. J.R. Beishline wrote, in 1950 in his book titled ‘Military
Management for National Defence (published in New Jersey), that the principle of unity of
command is followed “so that its responsible head can be held solely accountable for results
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to higher authority.” The emphasis is placed upon protection of the superior, through the
personal obligation of a subordinate to see that assigned activities are properly performed.
Little thought is given, apparently, to the improved, efficiency of the subordinate as a result
of this unity of command.
In fact, the term ‘unity of command’ came from the military and a traditional infantry
regiment can be a good example :
* Traditional Army Line of Command
4 - Star General
ARMY
3 - Star General
ARMY CORPS
1 - Star General
BRIGADE
Colonel
REGIMENT
Lieutenant Colonel
BATTALION
Captain
COMPANY
Lieutenance * John M. Pfiffner and

PLATOON
Sergeant Frank P. Sherwood

SQUAD Administrative
Organisation
At the bottom is the squad led by the sergeant; two or three squads constitute a
platoon led by a sergeant or lieutenant: two or more platoons make a company led by a
captain; three or four companies led by a battalion led by a lieutenant colonel: and several
battalions go to make up regiment commanded by a colonel. In the composition of a
traditional division two or more regiments make a brigade commanded by, a brigadier
general and two or more brigades comprise a division commanded by a major general. Above
those is the corps a grouping of divisions and the army, a grouping of several corps.
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In any formal organization the lines of official authority run from boxes on a
subordinate echelon to boxes on the next higher, and so on until they all coverage at a single
box at the top. At each level there are evidences of unity of command, meaning that
subordinates formally report to only one boss. Ultimately all authority and responsibility
rests in the top box. This is the supreme coordinating entity with official authority to impose
its Hat upon all subordinate echelons.
9.4.2 Unit of Command and Functional Authority
Functional authority is the right which an individual or department may have
delegated to it over specified processes, practices, policies, or other matters relating to
activities undertaken by personnel in departments other than its own. If the principle of
unity of command were followed without exception, authority over these activities would be
exercised by their line managers, but numerous reasons including lack of special knowledge
lack of ability to supervise processes and danger of diverse interpretations of policies explain
why they occasionally are not allowed to exercise this authority. In such cases the line
manager is deprived of this limited authority. It is delegated by their common superior to
staff specialist or manager in another department.
However, the experience has been shown that the functional authority be delegated
only where a necessity exists. Limiting the area of functional authority is important in
preserving the integrity of the managerial position. If a company had executives with
functional authority over procedures in the fields of personnel, purchasing, accounting
traffic, budgets, engineering, public relations, law, sales policy and real estate, the
complications of authority relationships could be great indeed. A factory manager or a sales
manager might have, in addition to his immediate line superior, five, ten or even fifteen
functional bosses. Although much of multiplication of command is command is unavoidable
because of the demands for specialist prescription in complex area, it is obvious that it can
precipitate serious, and frequently intolerable, confusion and dispersal of responsibility.
Some semblance of unity of command can be maintained by requiring that the line of
functional authority shall not extend beyond the first organization level below that of the
manager’s own superior. Functional authority should be concentrated at the nearest possible
point in the organization structure, preserve, as much as possible, the unity of command of
the line of executives.
This principle is often widely violated. Top managers with functional authority
sometimes issue instructions directly personal throughout the organization. Where the policy
or procedure determination is so important that there must be no deviation. Both the
prestige of the top manager and the necessity for accurate communications may make it
necessary and wise to issue such instructions. Issuing them to the responsible line
subordinate, as well as to the functional counterpart at the lower level, may not seem
harmfully to increase the multiplicity of command. As will be noted there are forces of
centralization of authority that may make the kind of exercise of functional authority
unavoidable.
1. Two disadvantages of hierarchy.
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2. Three factors determining the 'Span of Control'.
3. Basic meaning of 'Unity of Command'.
9.4.3 Criticism
The principle of unity of command however, has not been universally accepted.
Sociologists like Chester I. Bernard and Herbert Simon throw doubt upon the validity of the
extreme view of unity of command. According to them the unity of command is just a myth.
F.W.Taylor also thoroughly rejected the principle when he experimented with an organization
structure that permitted eight functional foreman to give orders to the individual workmen.
His view was that a worker, in the performance of his job, should be supervised by experts.
Such expert supervision of different aspects of his job will get to organization the best of the
workman.
To conclude it can be said that no doubt the principle of command cannot be
universally applicable in its strict sense of the term but still it helps in the identification of
one apex entity in the organization in whom is vested the final authority.
9.5 SUMMARY
Most of the principles of organization as given by classical school and later theorists
are quite significant to run the organizations successfully. The principles of sealer
chain/hierarchy, span of control and unity of command which have been examined here are
essential but following them strictly universally may pose certain problems at time. It is
therefore true that these principles which provide solid base to the structure and functional
aspects but at the same time these principles should be adopted as flexible principles only.
9.6 GLOSSARY
 Span of Control - Number of persons/functions under the supervisor
 Functional Authority - Having permission/legitimacy to exercise power.
 Delegation of Authority - Assigning the specific powers/functions to other
office or subordinate
 Unity of command - A system of receiving order from a single boss or
authority
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1. Mohit Bhattacharya, New Horizons of Public Administration., Jawahar

Publisher, New Delhi.
2. R.D. Prasad and others, Administrative Thinkers, Sterling, New Delhi.
3. D.S. Pugh, Organization Theory- selected Readings, Penguin, Middlesex.
9.8 MODEL QUESTIONS
1. Define Hierarchy. Discuss advantages and disadvantages of hierarchy.
2. What is ‘Span of Control’ ? Discuss the factors influencing the span of control.
3. Write a short note on Unity of Command.

1. Delays, more expensive, problem in planning & implementation
2. Nature/compability of work, Mangerial Ability, Administrative Capability/
Trainerd Staff
3. One person/worker to receive orders from one boss only.
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Lesson - 10
CENTRALIZATION AND DECENTRALIZATION
Structure
10.0 Objectives
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Centralization
10.2.1 Meaning
10.2.2 Nature of Centralization
10.2.3 Problems of Centralization
10.3 Decentralization
10.3.1 Decentralization and Deconcentration
10.3.2 Aspects of Decentralization
10.3.3 Difference between Delegation and Decentralization
10.3.4 Territorial and Functional Decentralization
10.3.5 Quantum of Decentralization
10.3.6 Factors Affecting the nature and Degree of Decentralization
10.3.7 A Model of Decentralization
10.4 Delegation
10.4.1 Definition of Delegation
10.4.2 Importance of Delegation
10.4.3 The Process of Delegation
10.4.4 Revocation of Delegated Authority
10.4.5 Prerequisites for Effective Delegation of Authority
10.4.6 Common Faults in Delegation
10.4.7 Methods of Delegation
10.5 Summary
10.6 Glossary
10.0 OBJECTIVES
 distinguish the concepts of centralization & decentralization.
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 elaborate the nature and significance of decentralization.

 appreciate the significance, advantages and limitations of delegation.
10.1 INTRODUCTION
In any organization or administrative system, the concept and practice of
centralization, decentralization and delegation are highly significant for the working and
effectiveness. The smooth working of any system is greatly influenced by the nature and
extent of delegation of power. Both centralization and decentralization have relative
advantages and disadvantages. Various aspects of these two principles along with the
concept and significance of delegation has been examined in this lesson.
10.2 CENTRALIZATION
Centralization denotes a high concentration of power (measured by criteria of weight,
scope and domain) by a few within an organized social group. Centralization came to be used
frequently in the early 19 th century, particularly in France, to denote a process of increasing
governmental power, especially over local political areas. The term was given wide currency
by De-Tocque Villa who wrote, Centralization is a word in general and daily-use, without any
precise meaning being attached to it. Nevertheless, there exists the distinct kind of
centralization, which it is necessary to discriminate with accuracy. Certain interest are
common to all parts of a nation, such as the enactment of its general law other interests are
peculiar to certain parts of the nation, such for instance, as the business of the several
townships...... when the power, that directs the former or general interests in concentrate in
one place or the same persons, it constitutes a centralized Government. To concentrate in
like manner in one place the direction of the latter or local interests, constitutes what may be
termed a centralized administration.
10.2.1 Meaning
Administration authority, like political authority, may be concentrated or dispersed.
Constitutional and legislative bodies may distribute administrative power on the basis of two
major rules. Much administrative authority may be vested by law or by the constitution in
the local governing bodies of a governmental system, as for example in the countries and
cities within a state. In this case the administrative system is decentralized. Conversely,
relatively greater administrative power may be vested in hands of officials of the Central
Government, with a consequent diminution of the authority and discretion of officials in
lower government levels; the system is thus called “Centralized”. The process of transfer of
administrative authority from a lower to a higher level of government is called
“Centralization”. The supervisory authority vested in 1935 in the Federal Social Security
Board over the cooperating state and local security officers is an example of the trend
towards centralization on national scale. The audit of the local finance by a state fiscal
agency in an illustration of the same process within a state. The tendency in the United
States for the last half century has been steadily towards greater centralization.
The term, centralization, is also used with other meanings. It may refer to the
relations, between headquarters and field in any given jurisdiction, as a description of the
relative amount of freedom, to field agents or the trends in this relationship.
With any single level of Government as a city, a state, a country or the nation, the
administrative authority of a specific jurisdiction may also be concentrated or dispersed. An
administrative system in which authority is vested by law in the chief executive is an
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integrated system, one is which authority is vested in a number of independent officers and
commissions may be described as a disintegrated system. The process of concentrating
administrative authority within one level of Government or within an operating unit, is the
process of integration. In the administrative system of most countries, official authority is
vested widely dispersed various segments being vested in independent, directly elected
country officials. The Commission in cities also disperses administrative authority, in
contrast either to the mayor-Council Plan or the Manager Plan. The state constitutional
officers holding a mandate like the governors by direct popular election, cause a dispersion of
authority in the states. The tendency has been gradually in the direction of integrated
administration system.
The establishment and maintenance of a smooth-working organization are profoundly
influenced by the location and delegation of authority. Within any given administrative
agency all authority is usually vested legally in its head, i.e. the individual director, secretary
or commission. Subordinate official is not generally granted any direct authority by law or by
constitution. Officials, at the second and lower levels of operation thus normally derive their
authority by delegation of authority at the higher levels, and less ranges in lower echelons. At
the end, responsibility for the performance of a single task is delegated to persons lowest in
the scale.
About the closet one can come to stating a principle of centralization is to say that
those functions should be centralized that can be handled at the top-planning, external
relations, power relationships, research, the quest for consistency, access to large financing
and the like. Thus, centralization leads towards power and domination.
10.2.2 Nature of Centralization
The continental pattern of central control of local authorities has been never taken
hold in the United States. Thus, they have no field representative of the federal or state
government corresponding to the French perfect, not is their administrative power to compel
specific performance of mandatory duty by a local authority. They have no system of
penalties which can imposed by higher administrative for failure of local bodies to perform
their duties apart from withdrawal grants.
In the United State may devices have been employed, however, either in the nation –
state or in the state – local relationship, by means of which central influence and – authority
are brought to bear upon lower jurisdictions. The forms of centralization are too varied to
permit complete enumeration, but, in the following classification some of the more common
methods are exhibited. The range from those which prescribe the least to those which impose
the greatest degree of central control.
(1) Advice and Information :- The Central authorities may content in itself
maintaining research and information services, available to other administrative agencies.
John Stuart Mill conceived this to be the primary duty of the central authority. The case is
admirably illustrated by the scientific, research, and informational services to the deptt. of
Agriculture. Within the states analogous services are often maintained by the health
departments for use of local health officers. State generally has been relatively inactive in
this field, but state leagues of municipalities have developed admirable, informational
services in lieu of such state supported functions.
(2) Periodic Reports :- Local authorities may be left free to perform their respective
duties, but, are required to report to the central government. The form of the report usually
prescribed by the central body in the interest of uniformity. The most extensive and
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important examples are those of a fiscal nature. A substantial majority of the states requires
one or more types of periodic reports in this class.
(3) Central Review :- Most administrative operations by lower authorities are
final, but, in some instance they are regularly reviewed by a higher administrative body
before they become binding. An excellent illustration is furnished by the act of assessment of
property. Boards of equalization and tax commissioners are authorized by review original
assessments in order to equalize any variation in general standards which intercountry
competition of tax relief may have brought to pass. Plans of municipal housing authorities
are sometimes reviewed by state or central agencies. In some cases, individual tax-payers
may appeal to the State Tax Commission for correction of errors or other relief.
(4) Grant-in-Aid :- The conditional grant of money by a higher to a lower authority
is potentially a powerful means of administrative control. State-grants to their sub divisions,
however, are always accompanied by conditions or by administrative supervision and
enforcement of the conditions. Thus, state departments of education have not exercised
mush influence on city school system by reason of grants which they have administered. The
means of control as noted above, lie in the power of the granting authority to decline to allow
a grant in the first instance to impose conditions, or to withdraw a grant for failure to
observe the conditions. Of all the methods of expanding central influence and power ever
lesser agencies, the grants-in-aid is potentially one of the most effective.
(5) Inspection and advice :- As a transitional stage, state officials are sometimes
authorized to inspect and advice, but without authority to compel compliance with their
recommendations. They reported to the central agencies which may induce further
legislation. A widespread instance of this type of centralization in the inspection of schools by
visiting teachers.
(6) Fixing of Standards :- As a result of the operation of central supervision through
the means already enumerated, there is a definite tendency to work towards common
standards in scattered and otherwise unrelated administrative units. These standards may
have reference to substantive actions, to administrative methods to the amount and
character of expenditure, to qualifications and appointment, and to other aspects of officials
work. The drive for higher standards is wide-spread in many fields, and it cannot be doubted
that, in general, central influence has been steadily in favor of better lower administration.
(7) Requirement for prior Permission :- In a slowly number of cases, plans developed
by the field officers or the state must be presented to the state or the national authorities
respectively for approval. This requirement is usually associated with a grant of money, but
always. Thus, approval of plans for country and city hospitals by a state board of health is
now common. State approval of rural highways construction is also general. And similar
approval of state plans by national authorities is a case of centralization.
(8) Issuance of orders :- Higher authorities may be vested with the right to issue
general regulations binding upon the lower levels, or orders applicable to a single local
jurisdiction. Both types are common in the field of Public Health. Here the initiative passes
from the local to the states agencies.
(9) Partial or total assumption of activity :- The logical end of this series is reached
when responsibility is transferred out righted from the city of country to the state. Railroad
regulation was subject to the country Board in America when Massachusetts establishment
the first railroad transportation has now shifted to the Inter-State Commission.
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Growing Centralization is one of the most prominent tendencies of administrative in

modern times. The influences working in favour of such a development are many. Firstly, the
shift means communication now at our disposal have made centralization possible.
Secondly, there is a widely held belief that central supervision, regulation and control make
for economy and efficiency and so centralization is the cure for inefficiency, waste and
nepotism. Thirdly, there is the financial argument in favour of centralization. Under modern
conditions, jurisdiction smaller than the central government found to be financially
inadequate. Fourthly, the needs of modern defense and economic planning also are factors
which contribute to centralization. We live in the era of total wars which for their successful
prosecution, require the total mobilization of national resources. Fifthly, centralization
means economy of the citizens attention. Mistake of judging and following the work of public
authorities is reduced to manageable proportions.
10.2.3 Problems of Centralization
Argument against the centralization is that firstly it results in the congestion of
business at the higher levels of administrative ladder, creates bottlenecks and causes delay
in making decisions and carrying them into effect. Secondly, the central authorities, for
removal from the people, cannot have adequate knowledge of local conditions and problems
which vary from place to place. The result is that centralized administrative cannot be
adapted to the local variations and neglects precious and vital regional differences. Thirdly,
centralization reduces the opportunities for the popular initiative and participation in
administration and thus tends to weaker democracy. Finally, it is denied that centralization
is necessary for economy and efficiency which with proper care, can be equally had under a
decentralized system. Good Government and Self-Government and not incompatible and
even if they were, the former must yield place to the latter in the interest of democratic way
of life.
10.3 DECENTRALIZATION
We had already discussed the meaning of centralization and decentralization. It must
be remembered that complete centralization is an impossible because management would
not be possible without some measure of delegation of authority. The belief that completes
decentralization is a desirable state of affairs is also fallacious as this would amount to
virtual disintegration.
10.3.1 Decentralization and Deconcentration
Decentralization is contrasted with Deconcentration. The former means a system in
which there are many centers of Government: local and central each with a recognized right
of independent existence and functions, the latter means a system where all authority is
deemed to be in the central government with local government existing rather for the
convenience of the Central Government than the benefit of the locality. In deconcentrated
system local authorities simply act as the agents of the Central Government. The English
system is based on decentralized as contrasted with the continental system which is based
on decentralization as contrasted with conditional system which is based on
deconcentration.
10.3.2 Aspects of Decentralization
Decentralization has five aspects, two of which are administrative, one political, one
geographical and one functional. They are :
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 Delegation of authority in such a way that large areas of discretion are

entrusted to subordinate officers and comparatively few questions are referred
to the chief at the apex.
 Board grant of power to individual component parts of the organization and
retention of only certain essential powers of control in the head office.
 Much power in the hands of effective bodies and considerable popular
participation in administration.
 Freedom to the field units or agencies away from headquarters and near to the
people.
 Functional autonomy to the various departments in respect of their several
functions.
10.3.3 Difference between Delegation and Decentralization
To have clarity about these two terms it is better to know the difference between these
two terms :
1. Delegation is a process while decentralization is the end result of a deliberate
policy of making delegation wide-spread in the organization.
2. Delegation generally takes place between superior and subordinate while
decentralization involves delegation as between the top-management viz-a-viz
middle management and lower management e.g. decentralization to the district
level officers.
3. In delegation control rests completely with the delegating authority but in
decentralization, the top management may exercise the minimum of control in a
broad way and delegate the authority to control the divisions concerned.
10.3.4 Territorial and Functional Decentralization
Decentralization can be territorial as well as functional. Territorial decentralization
arises when the field agencies and officials of the government scattered in various places all
over the country are allowed to decide most of the problems on the spot, or when local bodies
are given large power to care for the needs of their local population. It is thus, a matter of
relationship between the headquarters organization and the outlying field agencies and
officials or between the central government (or State Government) on the one hand, and local
bodies on the other.
Functional decentralization means leaving power of decision in respect of technical or
professional matter, largely to the appropriate technical or professional units of the
organization, i.e. educational questions to the universities or broads of education, medical
questions to medical units, engineering questions to engineering units and so on. Functional
decentralization is thus an issue of the relationship between the general administrator and
his technical or professional staff whether they are geographically separated or work under
the same roof. If the administrative head of the organization e.g. minister of Health interferes
with the decisions of secretary of the deptt. regarding the kind of medicines to be stocked
and the methods of treatment to be adopted there is no functional decentralization in that
case.
Decentralization is often confused with the process of geographical dispersion.
However, the two concepts are by no means identical. The mere existence of field offices of an
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organization does not necessarily indicate decentralization. A realistic analysis of

centralization or decentralization would indicate by a study of the allocation of decision in
the organization; the more the decisions made in the field offices, the more decentralized an
organization. We are here concerned fundamentally with decentralization in the sense of the
systematic effort to delegate to the lowest levels all authority expects that which can be
exercised at central points. In other word decentralization here refers to the dispersal of the
centres of decision making throughout the organization. The difference between the two
concepts is well brought out by Fesler.
“Whether a given field service leans towards centralization or towards decentralization
may be discerned from observation of the importance of matter on which official have decision
making authority, compared to matter wholly retained by headquarters’ decision : the extent of
central consultation with field officials on matters that arise and are formally decided at
headquarters, and the weight such field opinion carriers; the frequency with which field
officials must refer matter to headquarters for even though they arise at and are partially
‘processed’ in the field, the number and specificity of central regulations and orders governing
decision-making in the field; the provision for citizen appeals to head-quarters for over ruling of
field decision; the degree to which all the agency’s field activities within each geographic area
are directed by a single filed officials; and the caliber of field officials. Neither the mere
existence of a field service nor its carrying of a heavy work-load nor its employment of non-
tenths of the agency’s personnel constitutes evidence of decentralizations.”
10.3.5 Quantum of Decentralization
Dale has formulated some objective criteria that can be very helpful in measuring the
extent of decentralization. He states that greater the degree of decentralization :
1. Greater number of decisions made lower down the management hierarchy;
2. More important the decisions made lower down the management hierarchy for
example greater the sum of capital expenditure that can be approved by the
plant manager without consulting anyone else, greater the degree of
decentralization in the field;
3. More functions affected by decisions at lower level. Thus, Companies which
permit only operational decisions to made at separate branch plants are less
decentralized that those which also permit financial and personnel decisions at
branch plants;
4. Less checking required on the decision decentralization is greater when no
check at all must be made; less when superiors have to be informed of the
decision after it have been made; still less if superiors have to be consulted
before the decision is made. The fewer people to be consulted and the lower
they are on the management hierarchy, the greater the degree of
decentralization.
Let us now understand these concepts with the help of concrete examples. World
Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. The constitution of
the WHO consists of XIX chapter containing 82 Articles. The basic structure of the WHO
comprises three organs : (i) The World Health Assembly, (ii) The executive Board and (iii) The
Secretariat headed by the Director General. The WHO has been the first international
organization to lay a great deal of emphasis on decentralization of functions and powers. This
has been provided Chapter XI “Regional Arrangements” containing eleven article (Article 44
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to Article 54). The WHO’s constitution has entrusted decentralized policy-making functions
of regional interest to the regional organizations. It has been officially stated by the WHO that
“Regionalization properly speaking connotes the geographical arrangement used by the WHO
to establish decentralization.” At present, there are six regional organisations of the WHO in
the world based on decentralization. These six regions are : Eastern Mediterranean; Western
Pacific; South-East Asia; European; African and American. In each region, there are the
offices of the ‘Area representative’ located in each country. For example, in South-East Asia
Region there are 10 member-states and there is an office of Area Representative in the
territory of each member state-Bangla Desh, Burma, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,
Mongolia, Maldive Islands, Nepal, Indian, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. These offices
have no decision-making powers. These offices are to decide only consultation with Regional
offices. Thus the Regional Organizations are decentralized with area representative office are
simply the examples of deconcentration. The machinery of decentralization in WHO has been
quit effective to achieve the objective of the WHO Dr. C. Mani who has the Regional Director
of the South-East Asia Regional Office of the WHO remarked, “For the first time in Public
Health History, an International Health Organization and the National Health departments
were brought together so closely and so effectively. I have no about that popularity and
success of WHO today is in large measure due to this effective system decentralization.
Through this system, health official of the government and of WHO are ultimately thinking
together. WHO is not a far-off organization to be approached for technical assistance through
long range paper artillery? The organization is situated on the government’s very door-step in
fact 4 immediately inside their door and available for consultation and assistance.”
Let us take another example for discussion. The scheme of financial control and
delegation of financial powers which existed in pre-independence days was found to require
modifications as a result of the expansion of government activities both in size and
complexity after independence. With the introduction of Five-Year Plans, it was felt that the
efficiency of administration, the old system consisted of highly centralized treasury control
through the machinery of the budget, supplemented by detailed scrutiny of staff
contingencies, outlay on civil works and so on before any amount of money could be spent by
and administrative ministry. This was backed up by centralized accounting and post audit
by the Comptroller and Auditor General through machinery of appropriation reappropriation-
Audit of sanctions, audit of propriety, scrutiny, of excess and short speeding all of which
again was backed up by the watch-dog role of the Public Accounts committee. While this
structure was adequate to deal with traditional functions of Government as a maintainer of
law and order and provides of sonic minimum amount of infrastructure to economy, it was
not really adequate, to deal with a modern government system as we now have in the country
with the predominance of the public-sector. The tremendous increase in government
expenditure under the Five Year Plan called for a sound system of financial control which
would at once ensure a quicker movement of the administrative apparatus as well as
economy in expenditure. The Estimates Committee in its Second Report (1950-51) stressed
that present rules under which the heads of ministries or departments have been vested with
certain financial powers were in their opinion, inadequate. The committee recommended that
in order to avoid unnecessary delay in the day-to-day performance of the normal functioning
of a ministry, greater-financial powers in the field or minor items of expenditure should be
developed in the heads of the ministers and departments. The first important scheme of
delegation of financial power was introduced by the government in 1958. The revised powers
were codified in the form of statutory rules, called the “Delegation of Financial Power Rules,
1958” issued under clause 3 Article 77 of the Constitution. In September, 1961 and June,
1962, a scheme was introduced based on revolution of greater measure of financial
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responsibility to administrative ministries. The most significant among the increased

financial powers of Minister’s under the scheme were those relating to (a) reappropriation of
funds between the primary units in which provision was made for grants for allied scheme
and (b) redelegation of powers to Heads of Department and Heads of offices. There was more
decentralization in 1968 and 1973. As a result of the suggestions which were given effect to
in April 1975, more decentralization was enforced with a view to meeting the requirements of
Fifth Plan. Thus, the ministries, have been delegated powers from time to time to provide the
administrative ministries necessary operational facility in the implementation of their
development programmes.
10.3.6 Factors Affecting the nature and Degree of Decentralization
So far, the discussion has probably implied that decentralization is somehow better
than Centralization. In truth, neither concept is ideal not intrinsically good or bad.
Centralization or decentralization, however, are not a, Priori principle which can be
universally applied at any time; they have situational relevance. The degree and the nature of
decentralization in any organization will be generally influenced by the following factors :
1. Management Philosophy :- The character of top executives and their
philosophy have an important influence on the extent to which authority is
decentralized. If the top executive like to concentrate authority in their hands, it
would lead to centralization. One the other hand, some top executive’s fine
decentralization a means to make a complex organization function efficiency.
Such a philosophy would encourage decentralization in the organization.
2. History of the Organization :- If the organization has developed from the small
structures to complex structures, it shows the sign of centralized features. On
the other hand, organization which are borne as a result of amalgamations and
consolidations are likely to show a definite tendency to retain decentralized
authority. For example, WHO is a decentralized organization as it was born it
was born out of a number of regional organizations existing at that time.
3. Availability of competent subordinate managers :- A real short competent
and qualified managers limits the extent of decentralization of authority since
the transfer of decision-making requires the availability of trained managers at
lower levels. Therefore, there is need of training the managers before
introducing decentralization. The key to safe decentralization is adequate
development and motivation of managers.
4. Costliness of the decision :- Perhaps the most important factors determining
the extent of decentralization is, as in other aspects of policy, the criterion of
costliness. Decentralized operation should not be costly. For example, in WHO
it was mentioned that expenditure on the machinery of Decentralization has
been rewarding.
5. Stability of Policies and methods :- Stability of policies and methods is
fundamental to decentralization. “So long as headquarters itself is in ferment
over these, the confusion would be worse confounded amongst its field agents
and the latter would be turned loose with the unguided decision-making
authority.” Thus, the decentralization should take place only when the policies
and methods have been established at headquarters.
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6. Need for Speed and Economy in Operations :- Decentralization is affected

also by the need for speed and economy in operations, both to satisfy citizens
as clients of the agency and to meet budgetary and efficiency goals of the
agency. Long back, J.N. Mill recommended the vesting the local agencies ‘not
only the execution but to a great degree the control of details. Alexi de
Tocqucville’s view in this context are significant, “Indeed I cannot conceive that
a nation can live and prosper without powerful centralization of government. But I
am of opinion that centralized administration is fit only to enervate the nation in
which it exists by incessantly diminishing their local spirit. Although such an
administration can bring together at a given point all the disposable resources : It
may ensure a victory the hour of strife but it gradually release the sinews of
strength. It may help admirably the transient greatness of man, but not the
desirable prosperity of a nation.”
7. Uniformity of Policy :- Those who value consistency and uniformity; above all
mostly in favor of centralized authority, since this is the easiest road to such a
goal. If the uniformity of policy is of critical importance, then decentralization
may be limited in such cases.
8. Economic Size :- For decentralization to be thoroughly effective, the unit must
possess a certain economic and managerial self-sufficiency. If the size of the
organization is very small, then, there may be no need of decentralization.
9. Functional Factors :- The variety of functions an agency performs may affect
its readiness to decentralize operations. An agency with a single function has a
relatively simple problem and analysis and decision in order to determine the
appropriate degree of decentralization. In an agency performing multi-
functions, reconciliations of these different viewpoints may not be possible with
the result that either no decentralization occurs or each division decentralized
as it chooses.
10. Environment Influences :- There are also definite external forces affecting the
extent decentralization. Government regulations of many kinds makes it
difficult are sometimes impossible to decentralize authority.
Similarly the rise of professional association/trade unions in the past four decades
has led a centralizing influence, on business. The tax system of the national, state and local
governments has had a marked regulatory effect on business.
On balance, the answer to the what is the optimum degree of decentralization is that it
depends on the situation. Newman, Summer Warren suggest seven questions that may be
considered in determining the degree of decentralization.
(1) Who knows the facts on which the decision will be based or who can get them
together most readily ?
(2) Who has the capacity to make sound decisions ?
(3) Most speedy on the spot decision be made to meet local conditions ?
(4) Must the local activity be carefully co-ordinated with other activities ?
(5) How significant is the decision ?
(6) How busy are the executives who might be assigned planning tasks ?
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(7) Will initiative and morale, be significantly improved by decentralization ?

An analysis and weighing of these seven factors can provide the required insight into
the proper degree of centralization-decentralization. Yet even with specific guidelines such as
these, “the managerial task of organizing calls for a high degree of judgement.”
10.3.7 A Model of Decentralization
Alfred P. Solan, the great organizer has given us the most widely cited model
decentralization, contrary to common belief, centralization, as well decentralization, played
an important role in his scheme. His model is based on two important premises :
(1) “The responsibility attached to the chief executive of each operation shall no
way be limited. Each such organization headed by its chief executive shall be complete in
every necessary function and enabled to exercise its full initiatives and logical development
(decentralization of operations).
(2) Certain central organization functions are absolutely essential to the logical
development and proper co-ordination of the corporation’s activities (centralized staff services
to advice the line on specialized phases of the work and central measurement of results to
check the exercise of delegated responsibility)”.
Simply stated, Solan’s General Motors Model utilize centralized control of
decentralized operations. Many large industrial organization have designed themselves after
the Solan Model. One important way, these complex organizations in U.S.A. have overcome
breakdowns in communication, control and managerial effectiveness, is through centralized
control of decentralized operations.
Peter Drucker interviewed several G.M. executives who had worked under the solan
type of structure. He found that some practical day-to-day benefits have resulted from this
model. These advantages are summarized by Peter Drucker in the following manner :
(1) Speed and lack of confusion with which a decision can be made.
(2) The absence of conflict of interest between corporate management and the
divisions.
(3) The sense of fairness, appreciation, confidence, and security that comes when
organizational ‘politics are kept under control.
(4) The democracy and informality in management where everyone is free to
criticize but no one tries to sabotage.
(5) The absence of gap between the “the privileged few” top managers and the great
many subordinate managers in the organization.
(6) The availability of large of good, experienced leaders capable to make top
responsibility.
Thus, decentralization can be effective only if it is balanced by an appropriate measure
of centralization.
The Recentralization Issue :- Although decentralization has been the “golden call”
for the past couple of decades, many academicians and practitioners are now visualizing a
recentralization of organization structure. Herbert Simon is the leading spokesman of this
idea. He has stated : “The automation of important parts of the business data-processing and
decision making activity and the trend towards a much higher degree of structuring and
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programming of even the non-automated parts will radically, after the balance of advantage
between centralization and decentralization.”
Simon’s argument for re-centralization is based primarily on the premise that
computerized information will create centralized planning and control. Other organization
theorists do not agree to his view. For instance, John Dearden argues, “It is not therefore,
lack of the right kind of information that has made it necessary to delegate authority : it is the
lack of knowledge necessary to use the information most effectively. As a result, I do not see
how (he increased use of computers and more sophisticated information technology will have
any significant effect on the degree to which delegation of authority is necessary.”
Decentralization, thus, refers to the consistent and systematic, delegation of authority
to the levels where action takes place. There cannot be any scientific principles, of
decentralization which can help to improve the organizational output under all situations.
One company president has said, “Decentralization is like a getting married. You take a lit on
faith and try, to work out the rest as you go along.” There is undoubtedly a great deal of merit
in this observation. However, just as certain fairly dependable guides can be established by
observing and taking to married couples, we can also derive basic approaches to
decentralization by study of organizations, which have decentralized successfully. As a result
of the study of the organizations, it has been contended that decentralization can be effective
only if it is balanced by an appropriate measure of centralization. Decentralization should be
undertaken to lesson the burden on top executives, to facilitate possibilities of diversification,
to help in executive department, to improve the morale of the employees, to improve
motivating, and to bring about speedy and efficiency decisions. On the other hand, the
central authority of the organisation must make over all decisions in planning, organising,
motivating, co-ordinating and controlling if the decentralized operating units are to function
with the necessary uniformity and co-ordination toward a common goal or objectives or
mission.
10.4 DELEGATION
Delegation of authority is prerequisite for the existence and efficiency functioning of
an organization. It is only through delegation of authority that functioning of an organization
is possible. It has been stated that just as authority is the key to manager’s job, delegation of
authority is the key to organization. Boards of directors’ delegate their authority to chairman
or managing director who in turn delegates the same to their executives. These middle level
executives re-delegate their authority to lower level i.e., to the hands of those who carry out the
actual work of the company. It may thus, be soon that delegation of authority from top level
management to lower-level management through middle level management is a hierarchical
order.
It should however, be noted that delegation does not mean transfer or abdication of
responsibility from superior or subordinates. Overall responsibility will always remain with
the delegating authority. The latter only transfers sort of work to subordinates who are
expected to operate within specified limited.
Delegation means “to send as representative, to entrust another to act on one’s
behalf.” In management, however, the word is used when a higher authority transfer some of
its authority to a subordinate. Delegation is way of doing work by sharing some of it with
others. It is a means by which the strength and ability of the subordinates are properly
utilized. Delegation is a process of giving power, authority and responsibility to subordinates
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to carry out a function. It is inherent in the very nature of relation between superior and
subordinate.
10.4.1 Definition of Delegation
According to Mc Farland, “Delegation is the primary formal mechanism by which the
network of authority relationship is established.” To Terry delegation means, “conferring
authority from one executive or organizational unit to another in other to accomplish
particular assignments.” Hodge and Johnson define delegation as “a process whereby a
superior divide his total work assignment between himself and subordinate manages of
operative personnel in order to achieve both operative and management specialization.”
According to Douglas C. Basil, “Delegation consists of granting authority or the right to
decision making in certain defined areas and charging the subordinate with responsibility for
carrying through an assigned task.”
In a simple way it can be said that delegation is means of assigning work to others
and giving them due authority to do the same. It is a process or means which enables a
manager to put the organizational plan in action. It is a right given to people selected to carry
out specific duties.
10.4.2 Importance of Delegation
Delegation of authority is crucial importance for effective and efficient functioning of
an organization. Delegation is considered to be one of the most important method of training
subordinates and building morale. It is imperative as the same enables a manager to
concentrate his time on the important task of planning, organizing, leading and controlling.
It is therefore, highly, desirable that jobs which are primarily operative in nature should be
delegated as far as possible.
In today’s highly intricate world of business the success of an enterprise depends to a
considerable extent, upon effective utilization of employee’s ability. It is successful policy of
delegation that has enabled firms like Sears, Roebuck and Company to develop initiative and
self-reliance among subordinates. The success of Andrew Carnegie who literally rose from
‘range to riches’ was due to the policy of delegation. It is now widely acknowledged the
delegation of authority is one of the surest and best methods of getting better results. It is
delegation that paves way for operative and management specialization. Douglas C. Basil
states : “Delegation can be one of management’s best technique for satisfying needs and for
motivating subordinates to better performance. In terms to technical aspect of business,
delegation through task assignment can achieve faster decision and eliminate cumbersome
information system. In terms of behavioral aspects, delegation can satisfy man’s demands for
responsibility, recognition, and the opportunity to exercise authority.”
The importance of delegation also stems from the fact that lack of courage of delegate
properly and lack knowledge how to do it has been one of the most general causes of failure
in organization. As Mooney and Raley record : “Once of the tragedies of business experience
is the frequency with which men, always efficient in anything they personally can do, will
finally be crushed all fail under the weight of accumulated duties that they do not know and
cannot learn how to delegate. Whether his condition is due to egotism which manifests itself
is a distrust of the relative capacity of others, or to a training which has always been
confined to narrow horizon, and has thus destroyed the capacity to envisage greater
undertaking, the effect is always the same. Under such conditions growth delegation is
absolutely prevented by the character of the leadership.” It is also worthwhile to note that
delegation is not to be considered a defense mechanism to alleviate pressure on
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overburdened top management. It would be better if it is used as an aggressive move to

secure the benefits of direct and immediate decision making.
Briefly the delegation of authority is necessary because of the following advantage :
1. It enables superior officers to devote more time to important things like
planning, organization etc.
2. It gives a good opportunity to the subordinates to grow because responsibility
brings out of the best in people.
3. It enables effective managerial supervision.
4. It spurs initiative and keeps enthusiasm alive.
5. It thrown responsibility for planning at the lowest level.
6. It enables subordinates to e his own boss and enables him to control his work
environment.
7. It enables those who are closest to the scene of action to deal with problems
that arise and time is saved by not sending information up the line and
direction down again.
8. It will satisfy the egoistic and self-actualization needs of the individuals.
10.4.3 The Process of Delegation
A careful analysis of the act of delegation will show that it consists of three aspects :
(1) assignment of duties, (2) grant of permission to make commitments and (3) creation of an
obligation. The process includes identifying the parts of the job that can best be passed
along, ways for getting others to accept these positions of the job and ways for checking and
controlling the related activities.
1. Assignment of Duties : The first aspect of delegation is assignment of duties by
superior to his subordinates. The person who is delegating must first decide an
to what he expects the subordinate to do. Duties can be described in terms of
function or in terms to result which one wants to achieve. The task of
assignment of duties will be meaningful only when the subordinate clearly
understands what activities he has to undertake and what goals he has
accomplish. The best thing for the manager is to assign operative duties to the
subordinate so that he may concentrate on more important managerial
function.
2. Granting of Authority : The second aspect of delegation is that permission must
be given to the subordinate to make commitments of men, money, materials
and machines so that he may carry out the assigned duties efficiently. In other
words, persons to whom duties have been assigned must be given due
authority to carry them out. Having chosen the delegate, it is highly imperative
for the executive to allow him freedom to take all action which are necessary to
perform the duties.
3. Creation of an Obligation : The third aspect of delegation is that it creates an
obligation on the part of the subordinate that the latter will perform assigned
duties satisfactorily. It is the obligation of the subordinate to satisfy his
superior that he has performed his duties wisely, according to the best of his
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abilities. “By accepting an assignment, a subordinate in effect gives him

promise to do his best in carrying out his duties. Having taken a job, he is
morally bound to complete it. He can be held accountable for results.
1. Give two examples of Decentralization in India.
2. Name any three factors Reading to Decentralization.
10.4.4 Revocation of Delegated Authority

It has already been stated that by delegating authority the executive does not divest
himself of his authority. He has always the right to revoke or recover the delegated authority
might become necessary when the manager wants to bring about reorganization and
realignment of organizational structure Suppose in a-big concern one vice-president was
looking after two departments, viz. production and marketing. After some time, the
marketing department was put under a separate vice-president. It means that authority of
the vice-president who formerly looked after two departments was recovered and was
delegated to the newly appointed vice-president. It is the implied authority to the superior
executive to recover the delegated authority and then to delegate it to someone else.
It may be pointed out that in actual practice, the process of delegation tends to be
irreversible. When once authority has been delegated it may be difficult to revoke it. The
person to whom authority is delegated, through his manipulation, may create conditions, in
which the delegating authority may find it almost impossible to reverse the process of
delegation in management. Professor C.N. Parkinson, in his delightful satire on the jet plane
as a management tool, suggests that quickest way to get rid of an inconvenient superior is to
make a world traveler out of him. Peter F. Drucker, the well-known exponent of
contemporary management practice, considers ‘delegation in management’ as some kind of
contradiction. In his usual effective style he points out :
There has been for years a great deal of talk about ‘delegation’ in management. Every
manager whatever the organization-business, government, university or armed forces-has
been exported to be a better ‘delegator’. In fact, most mangers in large corporations have
themselves given this sermon and more than once. I have yet to see any result from all this
preaching. The reasons who no one listens is simple, as usually pretended, delegation makes
little sense. If it means that somebody else ought to do part of ‘my book’, it is wrong. One is
paid for doing one’s own work. And if it implies, as the usual sermon does, that laziest
manager is that best manager, it is not only nonsense, it immoral.
General and Specific Delegation
Delegation of authority may be general or specific. In general delegation of authority,
the superior tell subordinate to do whatever he feels necessary. In case of new enterprise
general delegation might be expedient but as a rule delegation on authority should be clear
and specific. Specific and written authority is desirable more from the point of view of
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subordinate as it would avoid overlapping, confusion and uncertainty. “It is much better to
be precise and clear instead of letting the subordinate guess how far his authority may go. If
the limits of his authority are clearly defined there will be no need for him to wonder how far
it goes and to experiment by hit or miss, therefore it is, advisable to be clear and specific as
to the extent of delegation of authority.”
Shared and Splintered Authority
Authority is said to be “shared authority” when it is delegated to two or three
subordinates together. In such cases the responsibility for making decisions is given to two
or more persons without following the chain of command. In a manufacturing concern, the
managing director might ask the production manager, marketing manager and finance
manager to share authority for diversification of products. In this case the decisions
regarding the new products will be taken by all the managers jointly. Splintered authority
“exits wherever a problem cannot be solved or a decision made without pooling the authority
of two or more managers”.
It is not uncommon to see problems in an organization that cut across departmental
lines. In such situation it becomes necessary for several managers to pool their authority to
make the decision.
10.4.5 Prerequisites for Effective Delegation of Authority
A manager will be able to delegate his authority if he understands the following
prerequisites of effective delegation :
(1) He must understand his own responsibility and authority
(2) He must determine the portion; of his authority he wants to delegate.
(3) He must have a thorough knowledge of the abilities and limitations of his
subordinates.
(4) He must ensure that the subordinates have understood the work delegated to
them.
(5) As far as possible he should delegate only operative or routine functions.
(6) He must understand the need, importance and value of delegation.
(7) Only those functions should be delegated which can be performed
independently.
(8) He must avoid the temptation of making decisions for subordinates when they
themselves have authority to make them.
(9) For effective delegation the manager must release decision making power to his
subordinates.
(10) For effective delegation the manager must have adequate communication
network.
(11) Standard of accountability must be clearly defined.
(12) Delegation must be done in accordance with some overall plan for completion of
the task.
(13) Delegation should be conforming to the organizational structure.
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According to Torgersen and Weinstocks, the appropriate degree of delegation rests on

a number of key variables such as a need for constancy and coordination, Levels of
competency, motivation of subordinates, feedback mechanism, information flows, managerial
philosophy and subordinate acceptance.
10.4.6 Common Faults in Delegation
1. Too Close Supervision :- One important fault on the part of manager pertains to
close supervision while practicing delegation. He fruits of delegation will not be
reaped if there is too close supervision and if the subordinates are not
permitted to function independently.
2. Failure or provide direction :- Sometime the very purpose of delegation is
frustrated because the manager fails to provide proper direction to his
subordinates. In some instances result of overzealous approach to delegation is
that the subordinates do not know what expected of them.
3. Lack of Accountability :- One of the greatest weakness of many managers is their
failure to check on the performance of the delegated task. This soon creates a
sense of irresponsibility which quickly spreads to all parts of the organization.
4. Usurping Authority :- Many managers who apparently practice delegation usurp
the very authority they have delegated. If delegation has been proper care and
consideration the manager should not delegate the authority.
10.4.7 Methods of Delegation
It has already been stated that delegation is an art which many managers have yet to
learn. Most managers often talk about delegation but in practice they do not delegate for
various reasons stated above. These managers know that delegation is the key to
management and yet they do not delegate because they do not know how to delegate
authority. At the outset it may be pointed out that there is no hard and clear-cut formula of
delegation of authority. In General Motors, the basis of delegation is “give a man clear-cut job
and let him do it.” Johnson and Johnson believe that the best way to delegate is to pick up a
good man and allow him full freedom to do his job. In this company the major departments
are separated corporations where heads are like ships at sea, each with a separate captain
with full control. Most of the companies believe in giving general direction to the
subordinates. However, lately, the method of delegation by vague directions has lost much
ground. Moore has argued against such vague delegation on account of the following reasons
: (1) it leaves too much to chance, (2) strong and aggressive men take over what they like
best, this gives them quick recognition, (3) this method does not bring the best men to the
top, (4) the brunt of unclear delegation usually falls heavily on the juniors and (5) it makes
people hesitant and may lead to frustration.
The proper method of delegation, therefore seems to be to give specific directions to
the subordinates. The delegation of authority should be sufficiently clear beyond ambiguity
and properly specified in writing. It should neither be too rigid nor too elaborate. But once
authority is delegated to the subordinates, they should be given sufficient freedom to act
accordingly to the best of their ability. Trust in subordinates should be the basis of
delegation. If the manager is unable to trust his subordinates it is better for him and
organization that he continues to supervise his subordinates rather than to delegate. It may
be pointed out that inadequate and ineffective delegation is worse than to delegate. One of
the greatest dangers of ineffective delegation is the destruction of relationship between the
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manager and his subordinates. Once the authority is delegated the manager should accept
the decisions of the subordinates if they fall within the previously assigned limits. Nothing
can be worse than over ruling the subordinates’ decisions. If this becomes a common feature
it can be said that delegation has ceased to exist and it would lead to deterioration of
relationship between superior and subordinate.
Authority should be delegated as far down the line as possible so that men may act
confidently as close as possible to the problem with which they are dealing. A good rule
would be that “all authority not expressly reserved to higher management is granted to lower
management.” Allen has stated : “Just as a man’s legs should be long enough to reach the
ground, and no longer, enough responsibility and authority should be delegated to a position
to enable to incumbent to accomplish whatever objectives are set for him.”
Trends in India
Delegation of authority has not been a popular idea with Indian businessmen as well
in Government. In the various government departments and public health enterprises
delegation of authority has been introduced and comprehensive documents have been
prepared but in practice the delegation followed by various restrictions. Such a trends kills
the spirit of delegation. Their basic policy has been towards centralization of authority. They
always overestimate the abilities of their managers and subordinates. Trust, which is the
Organizational manager, Larsen and Turbo Ltd. has pointed out that the observed pattern of
superior-subordinate relationship in India organization is that of “centralization of authority,
subservience and sycophancy of subordinates.” “Barring a few exceptions business in India
is directed by family hold reins in tight grasp. The directors from the family find it difficult to
delegate responsibility to subordinates. Similarly, by the top elite in the Indian
Administration. are reluctant to delegate. This is because they are very fond of power do not
trust their men, and do not have enough people to whom they can delegate. Again, and again
these directors from the family assert lack of confidence in their subordinates. The result is
that managers are not given opportunity to shoulder responsibilities. They do not acquire the
desired experience. In most instances nothing can be done without the approval of directors.
A study conducted by the course leader of the present course, on delegation of
authority in HSEB shows that the most dominant reasons of inadequate delegation are
superior’s lover for authority and their lack of confidence in subordinates. In India, an
average manager is greatly worried about the security of the job which compels him to hold
back work from subordinates. He tries to do everything himself ...... Our administrators are
afraid that the subordinates, if work is delegated, will know everything and overtake their
superior over a period. They also wrongly think that they exercise better control by not
delegation and by interfering in the routine work of their subordinates, least realizing the
resulting frustration among the latter.
If business is to make a headway in India it is highly desirable that authority should
not concentrated at the top in one person, but it should be delegated to people below. This
would lead to quick decisions and promote action.
10.5 SUMMARY
Centralization and decentralization are not the systems which may be labeled as good
or bad or capable of being adopted or discarded at the which of administrators. These may be
present in an organization to some or great extent. However, with the increase in size,
functions and complexities – organizations are compelled to be more decentralized. With the
increased functions of state, public administration is generally advised to be more
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decentralized so as to be close to actual work and to be next door to citizens. World Bank
and other international organizations have repeatedly advocated for decentralization as an
important ingredient of good governance.
10.6 GLOSSARY
 Deconcentration - Transfer of some responsibility to lower units.
 Delegation - Assigning powers/function to lower units.
 Obligation - Legally bound to duty/tasks
 Revocation - Concentration (of decision/decree)
 Recentralization - Process to Centralize again
1. Mohit Bhattacharya, New Horizons of Public Administration, Jawahar
Publisher, New Delhi.
2. R.D. Prasad and Others, Administrative Thinkers, Sterling, New Delhi.
3. D.S. Pugh, Organization Theory - selected Readings, Penguin, Middlesex.
1. Define Centralization and Decentralization. Discuss their merits and demerits.
2. Distinguish Centralization, decentralization and delegation. Discuss the world
trends in this regard.
1. Local Government, Local Officer of various Departments
2. Size of Organization/Administration, Large geographical Area, Democratic
Spirit, Management Policy.
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Lesson - 11
THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE: TYPES, FUNCTIONS AND ROLE
Structure
11.0 Objectives
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Meaning and Position
11.3 Mode of choice and appointment
11.3.1 Terms of Office
11.3.2 Re-eligibility of Office
11.4 Types of chief executive
11.4.1 Nominal and Real Chief Executive
11.4.2 Parliamentary and Presidential Types
11.4.3 Singular and Plural Chief Executive
11.4.4 Hereditary and Elective Chief Executive
11.4.5 Permanent and Temporary Political Executive
11.4.6 Dictatorial and Constitutional Chief Executive
11.5 Functions and Powers
11.5.1 Legislative Functions
11.5.2 Judicial Functions
11.5.3 Welfare Functions
11.5.4 Administrative Functions
11.6 Role of Chief Executive
11.7 Summary
11.8 Glossary
11.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this lesson you should be able to :
 explain the meaning and position of chief executive.
 list the different types of chief executive.
 describe the functions and powers of chief executive.
 elaborate the role and significance of chief executive.
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11.1 INTRODUCTION
The chief executive occupies a central position in Public Administration. The success
or failure of any organisation largely depends on the chief executive. It is the pivot around
which the actual administration of the state revolves and includes all officials engaged in
administration. Nigro writes,” the chief executive is the key figure in any undertaking, may be
public or private’’. In fact, the chief executive in at the apex of the administrative pyramid.
James Fester is right when he remarks “the administrative structure of government is often
pictured as a neatly symmetrical pyramid in which each stone is a unit of executive branch
and the cap stone is a Chief Executive”. In this lesson, we shall explain, the various choices
to have a chief executive, their different types, role and functions to be undertaken by the
Chief Executive.
11.2 MEANING AND POSITION
By Chief Executive we mean the person or the body of persons at the head of the
administrative system of a country. The administrative hierarchy of a country is like a
pyramid, broad at the base and tapering towards the top till it ends at a single point, the
apex. The chief executive is the apex of an administrative pyramid. In India the President is
the chief executive of union and the Governors of the states. In England the Queen / King is
the chief executive in the U.S.A. the President and in Switzerland the federal council. At
every level of government has its chief executive. In a federal country like India or U.S.A.
there is chief executive of the central government and also the chief executive of the state
governments. At the local level (Rural and Urban Administration), we have Mayors,
Presidents, Chairman, City managers, Burgomasters, etc. who are the chief executives of
their respective jurisdictions. It must be noted that chief executive at whatever level, is the
political leader as well as the administrative head.
11.3 MODE OF CHOICE OR APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Different methods of choosing the Head of the state have been adopted by different
countries, some of these are the hereditary principle, direct election by the people, indirect
election by a body of electors chosen for that purpose, election by the legislature and by
nomination.
1. Hereditary Principle : Monarchical governments have been associated with this
method. The term of office is for whole life and succession goes from father to son. Hereditary
executive is the result of historical conditions rather than of deliberate choice and it now
survives in a handful of old countries like Britain.
Merits : Firstly, this principle, speaks of strength, vigor and energy of action,
promptness of decisions, unity of council, continuity and consistency of policy.
Secondly, by virtue of a long and uninterrupted tenure of office the king/Queen gains
mature administrative experience to guide his ministers who are generally amateurs in the
art of administration. He exercises what Lowell calls the “unifying dignifying and stabilizing
influence.‘’
Demerits : Firstly, this system is an evil. There is no guarantee that an able, capable
and benevolent ruler must always succeed to the throne. History tells us that imbeciles and
fools have been the rulers whereas the states man and sage rulers have been the exceptions.
Secondly, participation of people in some form is excluded.
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2. Direct Popular Election : This method grants the people the right to elect their chief
executive who should represent their will and enjoy their confidence. At present France,
some of the Latin American States and Democratic German Republic Have deliberately
adopted it. But the method is in frequent use in selection of “Chief Magistrates” of the
territorial divisions of modern states as for example, the Governors of the constituent states
of the United States of America.
Merits : Firstly, it secures the responsibility of the executive directly to the people.
Secondly, such a system stimulates interest in public affairs, affords a means of the political
education of the masses and present the example of government by the people. People
themselves have to determine, who should be the chief executive, they minutely evaluate the
merits and virtuous qualities of each candidates seeking election and final choice falls on a
man in whose ability and integrity they have faith.
Demerits : Firstly, the people are incompetent judges for electing so high a personage
as the head of the state. The selectors can easily be influenced by the contestants who
always tries to play with their emotions, and the popular choice may not be the best.
Secondly, periodical elections of the chief executives of the states create political
tension and excitement in the country. Political rivalry, factions intrigues and often corrupt
methods employed by the party machines account for general demoralization.
Lastly, popular election of the chief executive, under the parliamentary system
produces a radical change in the character of public life. The chief executive becomes the
standard bearer of a party or combination of parties. He could hardly be expected to
maintain, under these circumstances, the mediating role as head of the nation.
3. Indirect Elections : By this method people elect their chief executive by an electoral
college. President of the USA is elected by an electoral college in which every state has as
many representatives as it has in both houses of congress.
Merits : This method avoids the heats, tumults and convulsions of direct elections.
The choice of electing the executive head is left in the hands of persons who are better
qualified to judge than the masses. When the final choice rests with a small body of
representatives the selection is likely to be an intelligent.
Demerits : Firstly, this method is mere theoretical. The elections are indirect only in
name the immediate representatives who constitute an electoral college, gives little evidence
of independence of character and judgement. In almost every country, where political parties
are highly organized, the electors are chosen on party pledges to vote for the party’s
candidate. They hold definite mandate and are mere party agents with 90 discretions to
exercise their votes.
Secondly, it is a momentous event which involves nationwide propaganda and entails
an expenditure of millions of dollars on publications, meetings, “rounding up delegates”
seeing that the goods are delivered.’’
4. Election by the legislature : This method is yet another type of indirect election. The
constitution of India provides that the President of the Republic shall be elected by an
electoral college consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected
members of the legislatures of the States. In Switzerland the federal executive council is
elected by the federal legislature.
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Merits : Firstly, under this method of election, the selection is made by those who are
best qualified to exercise their judgements in public affairs, Being actively concerned with
public affairs and intimately acquainted with public careers of the statesmen, the members
of the legislative assemblies are of the persons, more qualified to choose the best man for this
august office.
Secondly, this method ensures greater harmony and cooperation between the
legislative and executive wings and avoids all the possibilities of friction between the two.
Demerits : This method negates the theory of separation of powers. When the
executive Head is elected by the legislation, he becomes its nominee and this may lead to
political bargains, intrigues and jobbery. Such a method of election is sure to impair the
independence of the chief executive and make him subservient to the will of the legislature.
5. Nomination : Nominated executive, for the most part, exists in dependencies of some
great powers. The Governor General during the British rule in India, was a nominated
executive. Similarly, the Governor General of Korea was appointed by the Japan and the
Imperial Diet.
The choice of the incumbent of the office is made on the basis of these qualifications
and special fitness for the job which he is called upon to supervise. The Governor-General of
Canada as well as that of Australia are appointed by Her Majesty the Queen on the
recommendations of governments of their respective Dominations from amongst Englishmen
in public life, or the nationals of their own countries.
11.3.1 Terms of Office
Different opinions are made regarding the term of office of the head of state. In
practice, the executive tenure ranges from two years which is the rule in many states in the
United States, to seven years, which is the term of president of the French Republic. The
President of India holds office for a term of five years, whereas it is only four years in the case
of the President of USA. The term of the Swiss federal council is four years and the office of
its president rotates every year among its members. The nominated Governor–General of
Canada and Australia are appointed for a term of five years.
The argument in favour of short tenure for the executive is that shorter the period of
office, the greater the security against abuse of power. But we cannot deny the fact that too
short a term of office, like one or two years, is politically in expedient. A short term makes
the executives timid, weak, lacking in independence and without a policy.
Popularly elected executive are generally amateurs in the art of administrations. By
the time they acquire some familiarity with their duties and responsibilities, their brief term
of office expires and they quit. The result is that another, amateur comes, who is as much in
experienced as this predecessor was continuity of policy and stability of administration are
not possible under such circumstances.
The term of office of the head of the state should neither be too short nor too long. A
very short term of office bears no fruit and a very long term may lead to abuse of power. A
four to five year’s term has much more to commend it.
11.3.2 Re-eligibility for Office
A long term of office obviates the necessity of re-eligibility in some Latin American
States the constitution forbids re – election. In Argentina, Brazil and Chile a second term is
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permitted after a lapse of a specified intervening period. The Irish constitution permits one
term re-election. The constitution of India does not impose any express limitation to the
number of terms for which the President may be re-elected.
Some favorable conditions are claimed for a single term ineligibility to a second term,
it is maintained tends to secure independence in the executive and it serves as a check upon
the personnel ambitions of the head of states. A man who knows that he is not eligible for re-
election will not ponder to the people. When re-election is allowed, he will undertake nothing
new and a large portion of the latter part of his term of office will be occupied in matters
relating to his election and to the neglect of his official duties.
But the consequence of opinion is in favour of re-eligibility of executive heads elected
for short times. Hamilton summed up in the Federalist that re-election of executive was
necessary to enable the people, when they see reason to approve of his conduct to continue
him in the station in order to prolong the utility of his talents and virtues and to secure to
the government of advantages of permanency in a wise system of government.
The system of re-eligibility enables the states to retain the services of the experienced
and talented men who command public approbation and confidence. To forbid re-eligibility is
to deprive the state of the services of a wise and experienced statesman. Re-eligibility ensures
stability in administration. If re eligibility is not permitted, administration would drift along
without plan or policy.
The expediency of re-eligibility, however, depends upon the length of the term of office
and the extent of power which the executive head actually exercise. Once elected for six or
seven years can manifestly be made ineligible for a second term but the executed head
elected, for say, four five years should obviously be made eligible for the second term to
increase his responsibility.
11.4 TYPES OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Different countries have adopted different kinds of government. Therefore in
considering the nature of executive we can usually distinguish, the following types of chief
executive :
11.4.1 Nominal and Real Chief Executive
In the countries, which have parliamentary type of government, a distinction has to be
made between the titular or nominal chief executive and the real one. In the parliamentary
system, the head of the state performs ceremonial ties. Normally, the area of influence of
ceremonial head is very limited. The real functionaries are the political persons, who makes
the government and are headed by the Prime Minister. In these counties, all executive power
is exercised only on the advice of the ministers. In effects, the legal powers of the titular
executive pass, for all practical purposes into the hands of the cabinet or the ministry, which
thus become the real chief executive. In England the queen and in India the president of the
republic are nominal chiefs and, in both countries, real executive is in the cabinet headed by
the Prime Minister. It is the same with the Governors in the states of India.
In countries like USA where the presidential form of Government, prevails, the
position is different. They have no titular or nominal executive there is only the President
who is the real chief executive, and the powers legally vested in him are exercised by him
personally and independently, he is under no legal obligations to act on the advice of anyone
else. Real chief executive lies where the same persons play both the roles of head of state and
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of the government and he combines into himself the ceremonial as well as political
responsibilities.
11.4.2 Parliamentary and Presidential Types
The parliamentary executive is one where the executive is responsible to the
legislature, where in the Presidential executive the executive is independent for the
Parliamentary control. England and India are the example of parliamentary executive. In
parliamentary executive the real chief executive is the cabinet. The President or the King is
the nominal executive. Thus, we can say that real chief executive in the Parliamentary
countries lies in a plural body, the cabinet, which consists of a Prime Minister and a number
of other ministers, while in the Presidential countries, the chief executive, the President, is a
single individual.
Taking into consideration the real chief executive in both Parliamentary and
Presidential forms of government, we can point out the following differences.
Firstly, chief executive in the parliamentary forms of government is a small body
which consists of Prime Minister and cabinet ministers. Whereas in the presidential form of
government the chief executive is the President who is a single individual.
Secondly, the chief executive in Parliamentary system is related to legislature. The
members of cabinet are drawn from the members of majority party in the legislature. They sit
in the parliament, lead it, initiate and legislate the law and the budget and assume
responsibility, before parliament for the entire administration. In Presidential country like
America, there is a separation of powers and a system of checks and balances. The President
is elected by the people for a fixed period of 4 years during which he is irremovable except by
impeachment. Neither he nor his secretaries can sit in the legislature or participate in its
proceedings. They are not responsible to the Congress. The consequences are that legislative-
executive’s relationships are difficult.
Thirdly, Parliamentary Executive more or less is responsible to the legislature. If it
fails to fulfill the needs of the public, it can be put in an embarrassing situation by the
legislature. Since the ministers are the members of the legislature, they are in a better
position to know and understand the views and grievances of the people. While there is no
such responsibility to the legislature in the presidential Executive. But it does not mean the
Chief Executive in the presidential form of government is left uncontrolled. Approval of
treaties, confirmation of appointments made by the President are subject to the Control of
Senate.
Lastly, Parliamentary and Presidential Executive have got an administrative
significance. The Cabinet with its plural composition is less troubled with the problems of the
‘Span of Control’ than the individual head like the U.S. President. Under the Parliamentary
executive the task of supervision and control gets distributed among the ministers and
comparatively few problems needs go to the Prime Minister. In a Parliamentary Executive
there are less chances of the rise of dictatorship or a single individual than in a Presidential
one.
Comparing both these systems, it would appear that the advantage lies on the side of
parliamentary chief executive as it is better suited for administrative efficiency, effective
supervision and control, better responsibility. Further close link between the legislature and
executive, less chances of becoming dictator makes the parliamentary system effective than
the presidential one.
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11.4.3 Singular and Plural Chief Executive

Where all the executive powers are vested in one hand as the President of America,
that state is called singular chief executive. On the other hand, when powers are
decentralized to some group of persons or associations it is called plural Chief Executive as
in Switzerland and Russia.
In India, under the parliamentary system, the real chief executive is the cabinet
headed by Prime Minister is a unit and goes out of office as a unit is a singular chief
executive. “The Prime Minister is” according to Lord Morley, “the keystone of the cabinet “and
occupies a position of exceptional and peculiar authority”. Greaves says that, “the
government is the master of the country, and he is the master of government.” He forms it,
he can alter or destroy it. He is the chairman of the cabinet, and the chief coordinator of the
policies of several ministers. He is recognized to have an immediate authority to correct what
he may consider the errors of omission and commission of his colleagues in the government
Their identity is unknown without the Prime Minister. The cabinet is thus a unity in
collectivity and question of divided responsibility does not arise.
Switzerland, People’s Republic of China, Yugoslavia and other Communist countries of
Eastern Europe present the system of Plural Executive. The executive authority of Swiss
federation is exercised by a commission of seven members known as the Federal Council.
The federal council is chosen after every four years by the federal assembly and one of its
members is annually elected to serve its chairman and designated as President. The office of
the president rotates among members of the federal council. The President is in no sense the
chief executive nor is he the chief administrator. He has no more powers than his colleagues.
All decision emanates from the federal council as a single authority.
11.4.4 Hereditary and Elective Chief Executive
Monarchical government has adopted this type of chief executive. A hereditary king
enjoys a life tenure and, the office passes to his heirs according to the law of primogeniture.
Hereditary executive is the result of historical conditions rather than of deliberate choice and
it now survives in a handful of old countries like Britain the queen of England, the kingdom
of Nepal (switched to democracy in May 2009)
When the head of State is elected by people directly or indirectly for a number of years
and after the expiry of his term of office, if not re-elected, he joins the ranks of ordinary
citizens of the state. The President of America and India are the examples of this kind, it
must be noticeable here that elected President may be nominal or real chief executive.
11.4.5 Permanent and Temporary Political Executive
Permanent chief executive is a huge and expanding machine employing a large
manpower possessing varied skills and competence. The administrative system at the central
level alone employs, over four million persons and they constitute the permanent executive
because the members of the political executive are temporary, coming into the public office
and going out of it depends upon the electoral verdict. They are recruited on the basis of a
set of objective criteria and, are expected to serve the political executive with utmost
devotion, competence and impartiality.
Political executive is a group of elected representatives mandated to carry on the tasks
of governance for the period for which they are elected. This group of people, the political
executive, is under an obligation to ensure the continued performance of current functions
and enforcement of existing laws and, in addition, the accomplishment of goals and
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objective, it had itself outlined before the electorate. In India the political executive is the
council of ministers with the Prime Minister at its head, but in reality, it is the cabinet a
smaller body consisting of the more senior members of the council of ministers. The cabinet
functioning on the principle of collective responsibility is the top policy making body in the
government and exercise control over the entire machinery of government and public
personnel.
11.4.6 Dictatorial and Constitutional Chief Executive
When the chief executive comes into powers as a result of a coup, he is called
dictatorial chief executive. Force is the criteria of their political authority and they remain in
power as long as force can retain them. The whole authority of state is vested in one
individual person and he personifies the state. To make a sharp distinction between rulers
and subjects and to blow the distinction between Government and the state are the
principles of modern dictatorial chief executive. General Zia ul Haq’s coup in 1977
establishment of the military regime in Pakistan is the example of this type. Political parties
were banned, strict censorship of the press as enforced; powers and jurisdiction of the
judiciary were also curtailed.
Promptness to decisions of foster national unity and establishing confidence in the
people by demonstrating various activities are carried out under dictatorial chief executive.
But crushing of individual and press liberty and suppression of human personality,
brutalizing of human can never be ignored.
On the other hand, when the chief executive is dependence for his existence and
powers on the provisions of constitution, he is called constitutional chief executive. All
democratic countries have this type of constitutional chief executive-like in India. According
to article 53 of the Indian constitution.
“The executive power of union shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised
by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him.”
11.5 FUNCTIONS AND POWERS
The modern state is a complex structure, and it has to cater for the satisfaction of
innumerable human needs. Modern governments have become more socialistic in their
outlook. The theory of individualism that state is a necessary evil and its only function is to
preserve internal peace and external security has taken wings. The state is now regarded as
a means for achieving the welfare of man. It must provide for that atmosphere in which
welfare can best be realized. Broadly speaking the essential functions of the chief executive
may be enumerated as follows :
Internal Administration : Every state is a politically and administratively organized
society; The purpose of the state can be realized; unless there is internal peace and order. It
is the foremost duty of every executive to devise ways and means to ensure the maintenance
of peace and is the duty of the home department. It has maintained law and order in
country. Chief Executive is the Supreme Commander.
External Administration : All states are sovereign and independent. But no state can
lead an isolated life or exclusive independence. All states exist under conditions of mutual
dependence. To ensure mutual peace and security and avoid all acts of aggression against
one another, states adjust their differences. If any, through diplomatic negotiations. For
international good will and amity treaties are concluded. The department of foreign or
external affairs includes the reception and dispatch of diplomatic agents and recognition or
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non-recognition of the independence or legitimacy of new states and Government. It

negotiates and concludes, through its representatives, treaties and agreements. In some
states treaty-making power of the executive is subject to the approval and ratification of one
or both House of Legislature. In the USA the Senate ratifies all treaties.
Defence in War : It is the essential function of the executive to secure territorial
integrity of the state and to project the country from external aggression, and when
necessary, to wage war. No country can afford to wait for defense until war is declared. It
must always be prepared to ward off the probabilities of war and to win, if it actually begins.
The department of Defense determines the strength and organization of armed forces of the
country, Army, Navy and Air Force and appoints the Central and other Commanders. In
Great Britain, the executive has the power to declare war. But in every country the powers of
the executive during the period of war increase immediately and immensely. Usually, the
legislature expressly confers powers on the executive to control production and
transportation, to establish rationing, to institute censorship, for instance in some states
press censorship has been introduced and to suspend the operation of certain guarantees of
rights and civil liberties. Even when such powers are not conferred, the executive may take
any action necessary to safeguard the safety of the state and ensure the successful
prosecution of war.
11.5.1 Legislative Functions
The right of the Executive to summon, adjourn and prorogue the sessions of the
Parliament is almost everywhere. In parliamentary government the executive dissolves the
popular house and orders fresh election. It can also convene special sessions of the
legislature whenever necessary. The speech from the throne, at the opening of the Parliament
in Britain or the President address, on the opening day of each new session of parliament in
India is generally the exposition of the policy which the government desires to pursue.
In a parliamentary government the real executive, that is the cabinet is to initiate and
pilot all public bills and see them through in the legislature. All bills passed by the
Legislature must receive the assent of the executive head in order to become law.
The chief executive is armed with the power of issuing ordinances. The Constitution of
India empowers the president to issue at any time, except when both houses of Parliament
are in session, ordinance which will have the same effect as Act of Parliament. Even such
ordinance must be laid before both houses of Parliament and it leases to operate at the
expiry of six weeks from the reassembly of Parliament or if before the expiry of that period
resolutions disapproving it are passed by both houses.
Delegated legislation has significantly added to the powers of the executive. The
increased range of activities of the state has forced parliaments, during recent years, to
delegate wide legislative power to the executive. Rules, regulations and orders so made by the
executive are known as delegated or subordinate legislation, and have the force of law.
Delegated Legislation enables the executive to provide for all the unforeseen contingencies
arising out of reform without having to return to Parliament for amending acts or for
additional powers. Delegated Legislation also relieves the pressure on parliamentary time.
11.5.2 Judicial Functions
The right of pardon or clemency is, by common consent, regarded as a mature and
necessary part of executive function. Like, some person may be convicted of political
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offences, but with the lapse of time their detention may become inexpedient. By vesting the
executive with the power of pardon, the release of such persons can be ensured.
The emergence of administrative adjudication empowers the executive agencies to
hear cases involving particular fields of administrative activity. Finer maintains that”
Whenever there is administration and law, there is administrative law” The great majority of
legislation passed by parliament of every country and regulations made there under relate to
matter of public administration and vast judicial power in the executive.
11.5.3 Welfare Functions
No executive can afford to ignore subjects like commerce, education, agriculture,
transport and communication etc. Most of the governments now actually run certain public
utility services and impose statutory restrictions on the production and sale of various
commodies. The scope of modern state has increased enormously and with it have expanded
the functions of executive. Finer says that the scope of State today “hardly fails to envisage
any branch of the moral or material sides of human behavior, the record is written on the
roads, and buildings and spells what the state has done in order that surety may have a
modicum of wisdom, protection of persons against criminals and mechanically propelled
vehicles, and environmental and personal defense against deadly bacteria. Every year
thousands of rules and orders are enacted explaining plan of activity of all modern states. It
reveals how the state concentrates upon each individual. The state leaves hardly a gap.
Michahael Curtis has rightly said, “The Chief executive in a welfare state implies
control over taxation and banking loans, over public expenditure and the total volume of
expenditure in the community. “Lastly chief executive in a welfare state is expected to
perform miracles of security and liberty, liberalism and conservation and equality.
11.5.4 Administrative Functions
The Chief executive has to perform a number of administrative functions, Luther
Gullick devised the word “POSDCORB” for the administrative functions of the executive The
word “POSDCORB” stands for Planning Organisation, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating,
Reporting and Budgeting.
Prof. L.D. White has described the administrative functions of the chief executive
under the following heads :
1. Deciding Administrative Policy : In the first place the chief executive lays
down the administrative policy. The legislature determines the general policy in broad terms.
White enacting general policy the legislature leaves to the chief executive to provide
administrative policy in order to implement the general policy of the legislature. Further, for
the implementation of the general policy the executive has to decide a large number of
questions pertaining to administrative policy. For example, executive may propose and the
legislature may pass a law to the effect that the recruitment to the public services shall be
merit based. This is primary policy. It does not contain all the details required for its
application, because all the permutation and combination of circumstances which may have
to be talked in its detailed application cannot be foreseen and provided for at the time of
passing the law in question. Some of the more important of these details, e.g. when
implementation of the policy is to begin through what agency it is to be carried out how
exactly merit will be determined whether it should be determined through the same or
different tests for various kinds of posts. Whether any posts should be excluded from the
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preview of the merit system etc. are supplied by the chief executive at the administrative
level.
The administrative policy defined by E.N. Gladden as “the form in which the
ministerial administration or board carries the will of the government into effect. “As general
administrative, the chief executive has to issue a number of instructions and orders, written
or oral, to enable the administrative officers to perform their duties in a proper manner.
Apart from these the departmental heads and division chiefs also issue a number of orders,
instructions, circulars, formal letters and proclamations. The chief executive is sometimes
consulted by the departmental heads and other principal officers on many states matters
particularly those which are important and controversial. The ability and personality of the
chief executive has a closed bearing on administrative efficiency.
2. Planning : The chief executive’s work is to outline the things that need to be
done and the methods for doing them to accomplish the purpose set for the organization. The
chief executive is required to see that proper planning is being made before any work is to be
executed. All reforms, improvements, reorganization etc. have to be planned. Any chief
executive with an ambition to achieve something during his term of office, and not content
with the mere carrying the day-to-day administration must necessarily plan the new
ventures he proposes to undertake. Planning is necessary for the development of national
resources defense of the nation, to remove unemployment, to raise the national standard of
living etc. and the chief executive has to attend to them.
3. To Authorise Details of Organisation : Legislature usually provides for the
establishment of main units of organization like departments, commission, corporations etc.
The details of these internal organizations are filled in by the chief executive. The chief
executive leaves the working or divisions, branches and sections in the hands of their chiefs
subject to his approval. The number of duties of the various sub units, the setting up of
various ad-hoc committees to meet particular situations are determined by the executive.
The chief executive is to check out the details of the organization through which objectives of
policy are achieved.
Similarly, the executive prescribes the manner in which the several operating services
shall perform certain or all of their duties. The chief executives is to decide how to maintain
care and operate the plant, how to recruit the personnel, how to purchase and how to supply
the things and how to keep the accounts and maintaining the file etc.
The chief executive has also the authority to create temporary committees or
commissions for doing particular work. He has also the authority to modify various units of
the organization in the interest of good administration, which have been created by the
legislature. Further the legislature makes allocation of work among the different
organizations. But is concerned with the major assignments. The rest of the allocation work
is done by the chief executive and his subordinates.
4. To Appoint and Remove the Personnel : In modern times thousands of
people are required to fill the various administrative jobs. A substantial majority of those
persons are recruited on the basis of merit. This is particularly so with regard to lower
appointments, most of the personnel recruited at a young age by the public Service
Commission through competitive examinations. The Commissions are merely
recommendatory and not appointing authorities. The executive which is the appointing
authority may refuse to accept the recommendations.
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The selected young person’s rise up the ladder by gradual promotions, but there are
certain appointments, which are of higher category, such as Ambassador’s, Governors,
Advocate General, Chief justices, and Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, the
chairman and members of the Public Service Commissions are made by the President in
India. In USA the President makes high level appointments subject to the approval of the
Senate. The recruitment of officers in the lower ranks is made by the Public Service
Commissions. After appointment all other issues like training, pay, increment, promotion is
determined by the chief executive.
The chief executive also has the power of dismissal or demotion of public servants if
he finds it necessary in the interest of efficiency in administration. In general, with regard to
the removal of high officers whose appointments he has made, he has full discretion, but, in
the removal of personnel of the lower cadre, he is guided by the civil service rules.
There are certain constitutional and statutory guarantees, which the executive cannot
over-ride, e.g. Article 311 of our constitution provides that no member of the civil service will
be removed or dismissed by any authority subordinate to that by which he was appointed,
and that no such person shall be removed or dismissed or reduced in rank until he has been
given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the action proposed to be taken
against him.
5. To Control the Finances : All governments spend huge sums of money every
year to perform their multifarious functions. When money is to be spent, it must be obtained
by some means. Government meets there expenditure by taxing the people and by tapping
other sources of income. This is an executive function and the department which makes
provision of way and means is called finance department.
It is believed that the purse strings are in the hands of the legislature but in practice
the central management of finances has passed into the hands of the executive. It is the chief
executive who has the duty to make full report not only regarding past operations and
present conditions, but also a statement be made for meeting the revenue and expenditure,
needs of the government in the future. This recommendation goes in the form of a document
called the budget.
Therefore, the chief executive prepares and submits the annual budget to the
legislature. The legislature, in parliamentary democracies, has very little power of altering the
programme of the cabinet. In matters of finance the executive proposes as well as disposes.
The legislature after considering the various items passes it in an Appropriation act. After the
passage of this Act the executives has the duty of supervising the expenditure and collection
of money.
6. To Coordinate the Organisation : The chief executive has to maintain
coordination between the various parts of the organization. It is very necessary for the
smooth running of the administration. Modern administration is a mosaic of departments
commissions, divisions, sections each performing only a specialized part of the function To
create unity in this huge mass of diversified activities, a high degree of coordination and
integration is required. In spite of the presence of coordinating machinery, mutual rivalries,
conflicts and differences are likely to arise. If these conflicts and differences are not settled at
the lower levels, the last resort is the chief executive, who has the highest power to do so and
his decisions are acceptable to the parties concerned.
7. To Supervise Control and Investigate the Administrative Operations : The
functions of the executive is not only to carry on the public business itself, but, also to see
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that it is being carried on properly. It has to supervise the work, give necessary instructions,
warning when the work is not being done properly, and encourage when it is running
smoothly. He does this task by means of periodical reports which he receives from his juniors
down the administrative hierarchy.
The chief executive enjoys the power to investigate and enquire into administrative
activities. He can set up investigation committees for this purpose. The administrative
vigilance Commission; the Central Bureau of Investigations; Research and Analysis Wing and
Directorate of Military Intelligence are working on permanent basis in the central government
for such purposes.
8. Public Relations : The chief executive has to manage public relations of his
organization. Since administration is ultimately responsible to public, as such it has to keep
the people well informed about the policies and programmes of the government and to
remove the misunderstanding of the people. We hear of corruption and redtapism in a
particular department or so, it becomes the duty of the chief executive to hear the complaints
of the people and clarify the position and defend the administration. The chief executive
maintains relations with the press, interest groups and voters and the legislatures. He listens
their views and tells them the views of the government thus the chief executive is supposed
to maintain a department of public relations for this purpose.
9. To Issue Orders and Directions : The chief executive has to issue relevant
orders and instructions to enable the administrative officers to perform their duties in a
proper manner. These may be written or oral. Apart from these, the departmental heads and
bureau chiefs have to issue a number of orders/ instructions. These usually take the form of
executive orders, proclamations, informal letters, circulars, instructions and oral directions.
For example, in India the chief executive instructs all the states and union territories to
tighten the security measures to combat any possible attempt by terrorist to disrupt peace
during the religious/ social congregations or political rallies/ demonstrations.
1. Name the types of Chief Executive.
2. Name any four administrative functions of a Chief Executive.
11.6 ROLE OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE

The chief executive can be compared with that of General Manager in a corporation.
The General Manager in a corporation is subordinate to the Board of Directors. He is the
agent through which directors carry out their powers of general administration. He is subject
to direction, supervision and control of the Board of Directors and is accountable to it, he is
actually responsible for running the enterprise smoothly and efficiently, the administrative
functions of the chief executive are also performed by the General Manager in any
undertaking. W.F. Willoughby is strongly of the opinion that the office of the chief executive
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must be raised to the status of General Manager. Willoughby wanted the necessary changes
in the American Constitutional set-up, in order to erect the chief executive, i.e. The President
as the General Manager.
Actual role of the chief executive : From the above list of the duties of the chief
executive it is clear that he has a lot of functions to perform. As administrator in chief, he
has to deal not only with the administrative machinery of the government, but has also to
maintain relationships with the judiciary, the legislature, the political parties. He is the head
of the administration as well as the political leader of the country. He has to perform not only
administrative functions, but, has also to deal with people, group press, parliaments and
parties. He supervises the administration and plans policies for the future. He keeps
harmony in the administration thus saves it from the trouble. Prof. Dimock describes that
the actual role of the chief executive is that of “a trouble shooter, a supervisor and promoter
of the future programme.“ Further the fore-going analysis also leaves an impression that he
is nothing short of a dictator in whose hands all authority is concentrated who can issue,
orders whatever he likes and extract obedience to them from his subordinates.
But the real picture is not like that. The operational reality is that he is just like
Captain of the team who cannot play the whole game himself. The chief executive on all
matters has to depend to a large extent, on his subordinates, among which the work of the
organization is distributed. Even the ‘POSDCORB’ functions are performed through a chain
of supervisory subordinates of various ranks and degrees of authority, placed at the various
steps of the administrative hierarchy. Most of the issues which arise, are settled lower down
the hierarchy and the chief executive may not even know about them, sometimes, few things
go up to him in a duly prepared or cooked up form and the chief executive has merely to say
‘yes’ or ‘no] Even if he wishes to bring a change in his policies and programmes he has
neither time nor capacity to do so effectively.
Prof. F.H. Bierne has assessed the role of chief executive from the realistic point of
view that “ he was practically nothing to do except to decide what is to be done, to ask
somebody to do it, to listen to arguments against doing it or for doing it differently, to follow
up whether it is done or not done, to listen to excuse from persons responsible for doing it as
to why it is not done to decide whether the excuse- maker should not be fired, to think how
much better he would have done the thing himself, and finally come to the said conclusion
that any such course would be impracticable for him.”
11.7 SUMMARY
The Chief Executive is at the apex of any administrative pyramid. He holds the key
position. The success or failure of an organization largely depends on the leadership qualities
of a Chief Executive. There are many modes to have Chief Executive in different parts of the
world. That is why the Chief Executive are of different types having varying tenures. The
Chief Executive performs numerous functions both as a political and administrative head
like Internal and External security, welfare activities, legislative activities and whole
dynamics of POSDCORB.
11.8 GLOSSARY
 Nominal - Existing in name only.
 Hereditary - Conferred or based on inheritance by Birth.
 Collegial - Shared responsibility in a group
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1. Bharmbri C.P. 2002, Public Administration, Educational Publishers, Meerut.
2. Nigro Felix A. and Nigro, C; 1995, Modern Public Administration, New York.
3. Singh, Sahib and Singh, Surinder, Public Administration Theory and Practice
1. Define Chief Executive. Discuss its types and Differentiate between
Parliamentary and Presidential Chief Executive.
2. Explain the Administrative functions of the Chief Executive and discuss the role
of Chief executive in different Conditions.
1. Nominal/Real, Parliamentary/ Presidential, Collegial Type, Elected / Hereditary
2. Planning, Organising, Coordination, Administrative Planning and Control,
Controlling finances……….
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Lesson - 12
LINE AND STAFF AGENCIES
Structure
12.0 Objectives
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Agencies for Chief Executive
12.3 Staff Agencies
12.3.1 Function of the Staff Agencies
12.3.2 Types of Staff Agencies
12.3.3 Characteristics of Staff Agencies
12.4 Line Agencies
12.4.1 Characteristics of Line Agencies
12.4.2 Difference between Line and staff Agencies
12.5 Auxiliary Agencies
12.5.1 Meaning
12.5.2 Advantages of Auxiliary Agencies
12.5.3 Disadvantages of Auxiliary Agencies
12.6 Summary and Conclusion
12.7 Glossary
12.0 OBJECTIVES
 explain the significance of various agencies for chief executive
 list the functions and types of staff agencies
 distinguish line and staff agencies.
 appreciate the functions and significance of Line agencies.
 explain the concept of auxiliary agencies.
12.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous lesson we studied the functions and role of chief executive and found
that he has a long list of functions to perform. However, in actual practice all these functions
are not performed by the chief executive alone. Most of these functions are actually
performed by various other organizations which are conceptually categorized as line
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agencies, staff agencies and auxiliary agencies. In this lesson we’ll examine the nature,
functions and significance of these agencies.
12.2 AGENCIES FOR CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Gone are the when a king could spare time to go around his kingdom even at night to
see about the comfort of his people personally. Now the states have gone bigger both in
territory as well as in population. Research in science and technology as well as in other
fields of human knowledge has further brought in specialization in almost every field of
administration. So, the Chief Executive of today has great responsibilities in almost every
field of human activity. A close look at his functions will easily convince us that it is not
possible for him to perform all these functions effectively, promptly and efficiently, without
aids and assistance. A reel help is needed for him. The individual officers and units who help
and advice the Chief Executive in the performance of his functions and duties are called staff
officers or units. And all those officers or units who actually perform these functions on
behalf of the Chief Executive are called line Agencies or line units.
A government conduct its business with the help of a highly elaborate system of
organization held together by what may be termed “chain of command “. The central
hierarchy comprises the Line, assisting the Line are the staff and the auxiliary agencies. Line
works at the direct accomplishment of programme objectives, and is served by Staff and
auxiliary services. Staff provides specialized advice but does not command. Auxiliary
provides common services. Willoughby divided the governmental activities into two parts –
the primary or the functional and the institutional or housekeeping activities. Willoughby did
not mention Staff activities as the third category of activities. Subsequent writers distinguish
the government agencies into Line, Staff and Auxiliary.
L.D. White writes : The business of government-corporation is transacted by means
of an elaborate organization, held together in a universal superior-subordinate relationship,
and based on the principle of specialization. The central hierarchy comprises the line :
assisting the line are various units, some concerned with advisory and preparatory
operations known as Staff, some concerned with housekeeping operations called auxiliary
agencies. The Line authorities are concerned with the substantive functions of government.
They deal directly with people providing services, regulating conduct collecting taxes and
generally carrying forward the programmes authorized by legislative bodies. They are the
central element of any administrative system : Staff and auxiliary agencies are necessary in a
large and complex organization, but they are secondary. They serve the line; the line serves
the people.”
12.3 STAFF AGENCIES
Literally “Staff means a stick carried for support or deference. In public
administration, staff refers to such activities in an organization which assist the
Departmental Head or the Chief Executive in the performance of his duties. The Staff assist
the line by studying administrative problems, planning communicating, advising and
suggesting. It is thus, an expansion of the personality of the administrator, meaning, “more
eyes, more ears and more hands to aid him in forming and carrying out his plans.” The staff
agencies deal with the problems and plans before they actually come before the Chief
Executive, they collect the relevant data and suggest possible solution for Chief Executive to
make a decision. Then it is for the Line Agencies to carry out these programmes according to
the orders of the Chief Executive. Its distinguishing feature is that it cannot command, it has
no operating responsibility.
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12.3.1 Function of the Staff Agencies

The main function of the staff agencies have been summarized by L.D. White in the
following lines :-
(1) To ensure that the chief executive is adequately and currently informed;
(2) To assist him in foreseeing problems and planning future programmes;
(3) To ensure that matters for his decision reach his desk promptly, in condition to
be settled intelligently and without delay, and to protect him against hasty or
ill-considered judgements;
(4) To protect his time;
(5) To exclude every matter that can be settled elsewhere in the system; and
(6) To ensure means of ensuring compliances by the subordinate with established
policy and execution direction.
According to Mooney staff work has three aspects :
(1) Informative, (2) Advisory; and (3) Supervisor.
By information, he means that the staff is to collect all the required and relevant
information on which the Chief Executive has to make a decision. The information to be
shaped in such a manner that it can be used according to the situation and occasion.
By advice he means the best possible advice which the “Staff” can give to the
Executive on which he can make the correct and effective decisions. Then by supervision he
means that the staff is to see that the final decision made by the Chief Executive is delivered
to the ‘Line’ and is also executed by it in the wanted manner.
12.3.2 Types of Staff Agencies
The staff agencies can be classified into four categories :
1. Control Agencies, which are set up to “take over management’s worries” within
a certain field. Agencies of this type include organization, cost control, industrial engineering,
standard practice, budgetary control, personnel administration, accounting auditing and
credit.
2. Service Agencies, which exist for the purpose of relieving the operating
department of the necessity of performing some function common to all and, through
assignment to a single well-qualified agency, secure the advantages of a specialized attention,
better service, close coordination and control, and usually lower cost. Typical activities in
this category include research and development, engineering and construction, purchasing
statistical, traffic, tax, real estate and insurance.
3. Coordinative Agencies, to coordinate and handle functions in which two or
more department have joint interests. Examples of this type include order and distribution
department, production planning department and merchandise department.
4. Advisory Agencies, the primary purpose of which is to render specialized
advice and counsel, to management on request. Among the functions which fall into this
group are legal, economic, public relations and labour relations.
Dale Yoder states the staff functions within formal organizations thus :
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Staff functions...... are essentially advisory and supplementary. The staff of an

organization is removed from the lines of action in order that it may counsel, advise, and
assist the line, Staff functions have the responsibility for getting the facts upon which
decisions on appropriate actions may be based. The staff should be ready to provide
technically competent advice. It continually audits and appraises line operations, thus
determining the effectiveness of both policies and practices. The result of such appraisals,
together with the best information obtainable from other organizations and from research,
are then placed at the disposal of the line organization. The major responsibilities of a staff
division are five :-
(1) Formulation of policy,
(2) Programme planning,
(3) Constant review and appraisal,
(4) Consultation,
(5) Services to the operating line.
In an organization staff function are, in themselves complex. Staff members may serve
as coach, diagnostician, observer of needs, trainer and guide, coordinator, policy planner,
creative thinker, catalyst, follow-up man, integrator of ideas and strategist. But Pfiffner has
given another list of functions of the staff Agencies which are as follows :-
(1) Advising, Teaching and consultations;
(2) Co-ordination;
(3) Fact finding and research;
(4) Planning;
(5) Contract liaison with other organization and individuals to know what is going
on;
(6) Assisting the ‘line ‘by working with it, but without infringing its authority;
(7) Sometimes exercising specially delegated authority from the Line commander,
within clearly known and defined limits.
So we can well understand that the function of the Staff is only to help and assist the
Chief Executive in making plans, programmes and decisions. The ultimate object staff is an
improvement of both the product and the production methods.
12.3.3 Characteristics of Staff Agencies
From the above viewpoints, the following characteristics of staff agencies are worth
nothing :
(1) It is auxiliary in nature.
(2) It provides counsel, advice and guidance.
(3) It has no command prerogative.
(4) It provides facts and information on which the line can base its policies.
(5) It has no right to demand accountability.
(6) It carries on its work through influence.
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(7) It is a support for the boss.

(8) It has no responsibility.
(9) It continually audits and appraises line operations.
Some Staff Agencies in India :- Staff Agencies in India include the cabinet
Secretariat, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, the Cabinet Committees, the Planning
Commission, the Budget and Economic Affairs Department in the Finance Ministry, the
Administrative Vigilance Division in the Home Affairs Ministry, and the Staff, Inspection Unit
in the Finance Ministry.
12.4 LINE AGENCIES
The principal agencies in any administrative system are organized on the basis of
major substantive purpose, and are concerned with the provision of service for people, or
with regulating their conduct in particular fields. It is the line agencies that the ordinary
citizen come into contact, and it is they which constitute the kernel of the administration.
Line agencies are given the main or primary functions for which the organization came into
existence. The major line department in the Government of India are those of Health,
Defence, Labour, Education, Railways, Communications etc. The general responsibility of the
‘line’ is to execute the law. In pursuance thereof, it has a number of general functions :
(1) To make decision;
(2) To take responsibility;
(3) To interpret and defend policy and operations;
(4) To plan; and
(5) To maintain production, seeking economy and efficiency.
These agencies are, thus, concerned with the execution or fulfillment of the primary
objects of the government : and deal directly with the people; supplying services to people,
regulating their conduct, implementing progammes sanctioned by the legislature, collecting
taxes and the line.
12.4.1 Characteristics of Line Agencies
(1) It consists of direct vertical relationships.
(2) Authority in such an organization flows from top level management to the
lowest level.
(3) Each member knows from whom he has to receive orders and to whom he has
to give orders.
(4) A superior exercises direct command over his subordinates.
(5) In such an organization specialization is not practiced.
(6) It consists of those who are directly responsible for the accomplishment of
objectives of an enterprise.
12.4.2 Difference between Line and staff Agencies
The terms “Line” and the “Staff” are in fact used in the Army terminology.
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In army, the chief of staff has under him Generals, Lt. Generals, Brigadiers, Colonels,
Majors, Captains and Lieutenants, who are all commanding the troops in the field, they are
all called Line officers as their main job is to fight and win the war. But can they really win
the war without the help of other officers and units providing them with Supplies,
Ammunition, Medical aid, Engineering service and so on. These services though do not
actually fight but their help is very essential. They are the staff services in the wider sense of
the term but in the narrow sense the staff services are limited only to those who assist and
help the Commanding Officer in the preparation of plans etc. and these services which help
in the effective working of the line’ agencies are called as Auxiliary Services or units.
The ‘Line’ is said to have the power’ of command and Authority for the execution of its
functions whereas the staff’ does not possess any such command or Authority as their role is
only advisory and helping in nature. However, sometimes even ‘staff ‘claims to possess
command as they remain close to the Chief Executive, at the top of the department.
The ‘Line ‘agencies work in close co-operation with the people while remaining under
the supervision and guidance of the Chief Executive. But the staff agencies never come in
contact with the general public. Their main function is only to aid, assist and advise the
Chief Executive.
While theoretically, there is a clear distinction between the line function and the staff
function in actual practice it may be that the two functions may do best in one of the same
person or body of persons. More particularly in a small organization these two functions are
indistinct and vest in the same person. In relation to his superiors an officer may be a staff
agency while in relation to his subordinates he is a line officer. Similarly, there are
departments like. Health, Education, planning etc. which act as staff while advising the
government on various Social Services and plans whereas, they work as, line units while
performing their own functions.
From the proceeding discussion, it is quite-evident that the classical concept of the
staff is to advise and that of line is to decide. The staff briefs the line and the line makes the
decision. In actual practice, however, it may be difficult to make this distinction. Ernest Dale,
one of the leading authorities on the subject, in his classic work on company organization
structure points out five means by which the staff may exercise command over line
executive.
1. Superior Articulation : Staff men are generally articulate and skilled in
persuading other to accept their ideas, while the line executive is often less vocal.
2. Command through Status : Many staff specialists are considerably higher in
the management hierarchy and in the salary scale than the executive they advise, and are
able to obtain acceptance on that account as well as because of their technical competence.
3. Technical Competence : Since the staff specialist has technical skills and
knowledge not possessed by the line department, his advice like legal counsel, may have to
be accepted.
4. Command Through Sanctions : If a line executive does not agree with the staff
proposals, the staff men may appeal to the line executive’s superior and then to the
president, who could force the line to accept the staff counsel (advice).
5. Command by Default : Important problems may exist on which no line of
actions have been taken. This may be due to lack of time or interest on the part of the line.
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Consequently, the line executives may depend upon lower ranking staff specialists to reach
agreement in information discussion.
It will be seen that on account of the factors mentioned above it is the staff and not
the line which have started, representing real power in the modern industrial corporations.
Consequently, we have an odd reversal of conventional organization theory. The line – the
central and fundamental authoritative chain of command – is becoming increasingly
dependent upon a considerable number of specialized staff groups. Simultaneously, the staff
groups – the advisory and service groups who “cannot exercise authority because of the
logical necessity for unit of command – are becoming powerful because of the importance of
their knowledge and skill and because of management’s delegation to them of control and co-
coordinative functions.
12.5 AUXILIARY AGENCIES
12.5.1 Meaning
The auxiliary function or the house keeping’ function as Willoughby terms it is
undertaken to enable the line agency to perform its primary function. In civil administration,
we call those units or agencies as Auxiliary which perform certain duties and functions
common to various administrative departments. These functions are mainly to assemble
means to achieve the ultimate aim and do not belong to the direct concern of the
Department’s activity. The purchase of various kinds of stores, printing, recruitment of
personnel, audit and accounts etc. are some essential things for every department although
that is not their main aim and objective. So, these jobs are performed by the Auxiliary
agencies to help the line in the performance of their duties. The Central Public Works
Department and the Directorate General, of Supply and Disposal may be mentioned as the
examples of Auxiliary Agencies in the Government of India. The former undertakes the
construction of works for all governments departments through its engineers, and the later
looks after the processing of the machinery and equipment for the Government before
purchasing these for the various Government departments.
Auxiliary services are not only important, but they are economical and expert services
as well in their respective fields. The whole sale purchase for all the departments together
will surely save a lot of money for the Government. These agencies are real help to the line in
the performance of its functions. Whereas Line helps the people by doing service for their
welfare, the Auxiliary helps the Line to make its work easy and effective. For examples, the
Department of Post and Telegraph is a Line agency doing its utmost to give the best possible
services, but is it possible for the Post and Telegraph Department to do its work without the
Auxiliary services like printing, stationery, Engineering etc. In this age of specialization, it is
almost a compulsion to get the expert services and advice before doing any important thing.
Though Staff and Auxiliary agencies assist the line, the distinction between the two
should not be forgotten. The staff has no operating responsibilities. Its work is of research
and consultative type. The auxiliary agency does have operating responsibilities, It
undertakes responsibilities for contracting, purchasing recruiting, keeping of accounts etc.
Secondly, the auxiliary agency’s concern is to maintain the line agency.
The Staff, on the other hand, has a wider jurisdiction, which is identified with Gulick’s
POSDCORB activities, though it is true, it is not final. The ultimate object of staff agencies is
improvement of both the product and the production method.
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1. Give two examples of line agencies in India.
2. Two Staff agencies in India.
3. Two functions of Staff Agencies in India.
12.5.2 Advantages of Auxiliary Agencies

(1) Brings in specialized services.
(2) Relieves the line agencies from some of the work not very much related to its
primary duties and thus save its time and energy for other important duties.
(3) It is also capable of securing economy due to wholesale purchasing and expert
knowledge in the field of purchasing.
(4) Removes the chances or duplications in the Auxiliary work if otherwise adopted
by the line agencies.
(5) Common purchase and supplies will also reduce the cost on stress,
maintenance, etc.
12.5.3 Disadvantages of Auxiliary Agencies
(1) With the establishment of the Auxiliary agencies the responsibility of the Line
Agencies become a shared one which can also lead to mal-administration.
(2) William N. Hogam says that this system can result in the division of authority
and responsibility and that the Auxiliary agencies can push beyond their limits
of usefulness. They can evolve themselves into a position which may hinder and
harass executive’s policies and decisions.
(3) Due to lack of co-ordination, the Line may not be getting the supplies well in
time and hence the results may be delayed.
(4) Conflict can also arise when both of them may try to pressurize each other and
then the thing may become complicated instead of helpful.
12.6 CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY
As we have seen, the long list of functions which are performed by the administrative
and other agencies are conducted in the name of chief executive. In fact, there are various
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agencies which actually perform these functions. These agencies are labelled as line, staff
and auxiliary agencies the terms derived from military organizations. However, in actual
practice most of agencies cannot be strictly categorized as purely ‘line’ or ‘staff’. There are
agencies which can be labelled as line staff organizations. The conceptualization of agencies
helps the organization planners to actually assign the types of functions to various categories
of organizations. Also, there is academic value helpful for the theoretical analysis and better
understanding of the nature of organizations.
12.7 GLOSSARY
 Advisory Agencies - Having Primary task to render advice
 Service Agencies - To serve the people
 Anxillary Agencies - Offices/agencies providing support services to other
agencies.
1. Bharmbri C.P 2002, Public Administration, Educational Publishers, Meerut.

1. What are ‘Staff Agencies’ ? Discuss their types functions and role.
2. Distinguish line and staff agencies. Highlight the functions and role of line
agencies.
1. Departments (Agriculture, Home, Education), Public Corporations
2. UPSC, Cabinet Committees, NITI Aayog.
3. Advisory, Consultative, information gathering & retrieving
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Lesson - 13
HEADQUARTER - FIELD RELATIONSHIP

Structure
13.0 Objectives
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Meaning and Significance
13.3 Reasons for Growth of Field Offices
13.4 Coordination Among Field Agencies
13.5 Headquarter - field Relationship
13.5.1 Headquarter Field Relations
13.5.2 Methods of control by the Headquarters over the field office
13.6 Prerequisite to Successful Relationship
13.7 Summary
13.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson you shall be able to :
 appreciate the significance of HQ-Field Relations.
 explain the reasons for field offices.
 describe the conditions for good relations.
13.1 INTRODUCTION
As noted in the previous lessons, there are large number of agencies operating in an
administrative system which are working and the ultimate supervisions of Chief Executive.
In fact, the success of public administration depends to a great extent upon the
understanding and harmonious relationship between headquarters and its field officers. If
there is a friction among them, the result would be interlocking situation thereby affecting
the performance of the organization. Recently in India, many problems are cropping up
relating to the Headquarters and field relationships. Proper attention must be given to these
issues otherwise the objective of the Organization may not be achieved. According to Pfiffner,
and John M. Presthus, “It has been said that there is a both headquarters and a field way of
life, and two groups often viewing each other with smugness and suspicion. Field workers
insist that headquarters do not understand their problems. Headquarters is characterized by
an intellectual or research to problems in contrast to field’s practical approach. This
statement clearly underlines the significance of meaningful cooperation between the
Headquarters and the fields and this all will be examined in this lesson.
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13.2 MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE

By the term “Headquarters’ we mean the central Controlling or supervising office. It is
the administrative center of an enterprise. The main function of the headquarter is to lay
down the administrative policy and keep watch over working of field offices. Report of the
Second Pay Commission puts, “headquarters organisation of the Government of India
comprises a number of Ministers and Department”. The offices which have to seek the
approval of the headquarters and act under the directions of the headquarter are called field
offices. Both these terms are relative. The field office may be headquarters for the offices at
lower levels. Let us understand with the help of an illustration. In Punjab like other states,
there is one Directorate of Employment Exchange at Chandigarh which is considered to be
an “headquarter organisation”. Below this Directorate there are sub-Regional Employment
Exchanges, District Employment Exchange, Sub-offices Employment Exchanges, rural man-
power Units, University Information and Guidance Bureau and special Exchange for the
physically handicapped. All these offices can be termed as field offices. But on critical
examination, we can say that Directorate of Employment Exchanges itself is the field offices
of the Directorate General of Employment Exchange and Training located at Delhi.
The setting up of field offices does not necessarily mean decentralization. Field
organisation have been employed both for centralization and decentralization of authority,
and perhaps even more important for any of the many degrees that are marked on the scale
between these two extremes. According to Marx, “Whether a given field service leans towards
centralization or towards decentralization may be disconcerned from observation of the
importance of matter on which officials have decision making authority, compared to matters
wholly retained for headquarters decision; the extent of central consultation with field
officials on matter that arise and are formally decided at headquarters, and the weight that
such field opinion carries; the frequency with which field officials must refer matter to
headquarters for decision even though they arise at and partially “processed” in field : the
number and specificity of central regulation and orders governing decision-making in the
field, the provision for citizen appeal to headquarters for over-ruling of field decisions; the
degree to which all of the agency’s field activities within each geographic area are directed by
a single field official. Neither the mere existence of a field neither service nor is carrying of
heavy workload, nor does its employment of nine-tenths of the agency’s personal constitutes
evidence of decentralization.” For example, the six Regional Offices of the World Health
Organization are an example of the decentralized field offices. On the other hand, the Area
Representative Offices of World Health Organization in most of the countries of the world are
the example of or field offices which are centralized.
13.3 REASONS FOR GROWTH OF FIELD OFFICE
The field offices of every organization are increasing very fast. For example, the
Director General of Employment Exchanges and Training has a network of 488 Employment
Exchanges spread all over the country. Besides 200 Employment Information Bureau cater
to the needs of rural population. Similar example can be cited from other areas of
administration. Let us analyse the causes of the growth of field organizations.
1. Welfare State:- India is committed to provide the welfare service to the people.
The idea of the welfare has prompted the expansion of administrative
machinery in the field. All the welfare department of the Government are trying
to reach the people through their field offices. Take the case of Banks. Every
bank is setting up its new field offices in villages and cities so quickly that the
number of field offices of these banks have been doubled during the last five
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years. Take the case of schools and colleges. The number of schools and college
is multiplying so fast that there is generally a school in every village and college
near a group of villages.
2. Expansion of Regulatory Activities of the Government :- the major
instrument used by the Government to implement its industrial policy and in
accordance with its broad socio-economic objectives is the machinery of
industrial licensing and administrative controls. Administrative controls are
intended to regulate production, pricing and distribution of commodities. In
order to enforce these controls, a number at field offices have been setup e.g.,
offices of Food & Supplies Department.
3. Scientific and Technology Advances :- Scientific and technological advances
have made the systems of communication very easy. This has played a very
important part in the expansion of field organization. For example, the United
Nations Development Programme has more than 80 field offices spread over in
different countries of the world. This has been possible as it has become very
easy to keep in touch with these offices from the Headquarters office at New
York through telephone, Telex System, etc.
4. Citizen’s participation and Convenience :- In order to associate the citizens
with the functioning of administration, it is essential to set up field offices.
Many field offices of the development departments are set up for this purpose.
5. Political Pressure :- The people of an area put political pressures through their
representatives for the provision of services at their door-step. People of the
village want the post offices, railway stations, transport officers etc. to be
located in the area. In order to meet the demands of the people, the number of
field offices are increasing.
6. Nature of the Services :- There are certain services for which field
organizations must be established. For example, the Food Corporation of India
has set up its field offices in the village to procure wheat. The Haryana Seeds
Corporation has set up its field offices in villages to distribute the seeds to
farmers.
13.4 CO-ORDINATION AMONG FIELD LEVEL AGENCIES
Most of the field agencies are inter- related and even Inter/dependent with one
another. For example, the district is the place where a large number of field officers of the
Union Government, State Government and Local Government are housed. The co-ordination
among all these field offices is brought about through the Deputy Commissioner. The
success of the District Administration, depends to a great extent upon the relationships
among the field offices. Similarly, there are field offices at Block level. Block Development
offices co-ordinates their activities at this level. In a country, there are a large number of field
offices of the United Nations and its specialized agencies like WHO, ILO etc. The co-
ordination among these offices is brought about through the Resident Representative of the
United Nations Development Programme. This type of co-ordination removes over-lapping
and duplication and the ultimate purpose is achieved in an effective manner.
Issues In Headquarters Field Relationship :- The organization of field establishment
from the point of view control may take either of the two forms – territorial of functional.
Willoughby calls them Unitary or multiple. In the unitary form, the whole agency may
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organize an integrated field service, with each regional district officer held responsible for all
agency functions performed in his assigned area. The officer in charge of the area is its head
and the heads of all other specialized units at this level are his subordinates. The position of
the India Deputy Commissioner in the district before independence was of this type. A good
example of the territorial or unitary type of field organization is the Perfect in France.
In the multiple or functional type, the area is no looked upon as a unit but” as an
assembly of units which are only loosely held together for matters of general administration
by the authority to the head of the station.” In such system, the different specialized section
units of the headquarters have their corresponding field establishments at different area
levels and maintain direct contact with them.
As to the questions which of the two systems should be adopted, any rule of general
application cannot be laid down, Marx has stated that, “The first alternative has the defect
that the execution of the agency programme is not integrated in each field area. The second
alternative has the defect that functional divisions at headquarters have no direct control
over execution of the subject matter programmes in the field. A major problem of
administration is to avoid the impasse better the apparently irreconcilable positions of
functions and area, of functional experts and general administrations. The solutions found in
this dilemma stem in considerable measure from the character of headquarters organization.
If the agency head is weak, or if the agency is mere confederation of unrelated functional
divisions with no really joint objective of programme the functional point of view was likely to
prevail over the agency wide point of view in field organization.”
Luther Gullick mentions three types of field organizations and calls them ‘All Fingers’
Short Arms, Long Fingers and Long Arms Short Fingers’ The word arms’ strands for the
“regional and geographical offices” while fingers’ means the line of communication reaching
to the lowest field units at the firing line” Under the ‘ all fingers’ type, the headquarters office
deals direct with the field offices without intervention of a “ regional or geographical” offices.
In the “” Short Arms Long Fingers” type, there are centralized sub-divisions which control,
the field offices in their respective areas. Under the “Long Arms, Short Fingers” type
geographical sub-divisions are decentralized.
The classification can be illustrated by an example. All the education officers of a
district are under the control of the District Education officer (D.E.O.) The D.E.O. has to
report to the Director Public instructions (D.P.I.) whose office is located at the State Capital.
This is ‘Long ‘Arms Short Fingers’ If the offices of both the D.E.O. and the D.P.I. are located
in the state Capital, it is short arms long fingers’ If there is no D.E.O. and every teacher is to
deal directly with the director, It is an “ All fingers” system.
13.5 HEADQUARTER FIELD RELATIONS
13.5.1 Head-quarter Field Relations
Regardless of the degree to which field programme operations are deconcentrated
geographically, central headquarters has to be adapted to the maintenance of continuing
supervision over, and communication with, such operations. One of the problems in
headquarters field relationship is the establishment of a system of good communication
between various levels. Communication in administration may be defined as the process by
which decisions, guidance and information are transmitted through an organization and to
the constituency it serves. Communication is a two-way operation, involving both a sender
and a receiver. When it concerns headquarters field relations it may and often does ; have a
three dimensional aspects including lateral communication between various substantive and
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operational units as at headquarters, and vertical communication between headquarters and

field personal. A primary purpose of such communication is to develop mutual
understanding of programme goals and of the instrumentals for implementing them.
Considered from this point of view, communication channels may be said to play the dual
role one providing the means by which the controllers control and for providing “feedback
filtering upward from subordinate (field) levels.
The techniques of administrative communication may be formal or informal primary
or secondary. In most of the organizations in India, communication is mostly one way i.e.,
from the headquarters to the fields and that mostly take the form of orders, directives
circulars, memoranda etc. Besides there are manuals to guide the headquarters and field
staff. Most of the manuals are outdated and do not meet the purpose of the organization.
Dimock and Dimock have termed this phenomenon ‘Manualties’ which is defined as, “an
occupational disease generally found in government this causes people to assume that
everything in administration can be reduced to rule and embalmed in a procedure manual
for the guidance of all employees in the organization.”
Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a good communication system between
the headquarters and fields. Effective communication would generate understanding among
the headquarters and field officials. This situation would remove many of the conflict which
left, undetected would be a great source of tension and conflict within an organization.
13.5.2 Methods of control by the Headquarters over the field offices
In order to ensure proper functioning of field offices, headquarters control over field
offices is essential. There are a number of devices by which headquarters administration
control the field offices. These devices may be classified in two types : (1) Control before the
action and (2) the control after the action. In the first type of control are such techniques as
(1) prior approval of individual projects before initiation by an operating unit (2) the
promulgation of service standards (3) budgetary limitations upon the magnitude of operation:
(4) approval of key subordinate personnel. In the second type of control, we use such
techniques as
(1) Reporting (2) Inspections and evaluations (3) meetings of field administrators and (4)
audit. Here, we shall discuss only the techniques of the second type of control as these are
mostly used for exercising control over field offices.
(I) Written Report :- A standard practice in supervision is to require operating
units to submit periodic or special reports about their activities. These reports may be
narrative or statistical : they may embrace the broad scope of all major activities or they may
be confined to a few essentials, they may emphasize achievement or deficiencies in
performance. The trouble with this method is that the returns and reports tend to multiply,
thus entailing untold burden on the headquarters. Besides, In an administrative
organization, reports are occasionally sugar-coated : Information that will evoke a favorable
reaction is played up and the lapses are glassed over.
Without some standard guide forms, it is all too tempting for reporters to inject
extraneous bits of information. For example, under the present system in the employment
Service Organization, as many as 14 reports of operations have to be submitted to the
central and state headquarters by every Employment Exchange : one of these reports is
monthly, five are quarterly, five half yearly and three yearly. The purpose of these reports is
to ensure that the arrangements for Implementing the objectives of the organization are
adequate. The study conducted by this writer of Haryana State Electricity Board indicates
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that the field offices consume more, than 60 percent of their time in submitting their reports
to the H.Q. An interesting feature of such, a trend is that most of the reports are overlapping.
Their number can be reduced if a little care is taken at the H.Q.
(II) Inspection and Evaluations: - Reporting as supervisory technique is usually
supplemented by some inspection practice. In whatever forms and at whatever intervals the
written report submitted by the operating unit can never adequately replace the usefulness
of personal first-hand acquaintance with the work. In fact, written reports and inspection are
complementary practices for the same purpose to convey information to supervisors and to
help supervisors obtain an understanding of the situation confronting operating officials.
Inspections help to build personal relationship of mutual acquaintance and confident.
Inspections seek to achieve :
(a) A high standard of service to the public;
(b) The proper use and perfection of procedure;
(c) The elimination of red-tape and practices which might delay prompt assistance
to the beneficiaries;
(d) An increase in output of the staff and the development of Initiative;
(e) Suggest improvement in organization systems, methods and procedures with a
view to increasing efficiency;
(f) To demonstrate on the spot as to how defects have to be eliminated.
In order to ensure proper functioning of field offices, inspections and evaluations need
to be conducted on a regular basis. The Study Team of the Administrative Reforms
Commission on State Level Administration also recommended that, “the provision relating to
periodic and other prescribed inspections by the inspecting and supervising offices at various
level should be meticulously carried out and any laxity in this regard should be severely dealt
with.”
(III) Meetings of the Field Administrators :- The Improvement of Headquarters
and field relations is essentially a question of better communication. Exchange of knowledge
and experience is essential in an administrative system which is largely decentralized.
Formal reports and correspondence can replace the understanding which flow from personal
discussions among staff members. For example, Deputy Commissioner, Superintendents of
Police. Block Development Officers etc. are called at the headquarters to discuss the
problems faced by them in the process of implementation and to get information on the
progress made so far. In order to get the best results of such meetings, these should be held
at regular intervals and there should be free and frank discussion among the headquarters
and field officials.
(IV) Audit :- Audit may be defined as an independent examination of every financial
transaction. The main function of the audit is to locate financial irregularities, carelessness,
errors and unauthorized expenditure. It has not been very effective as it is a paper audit or
legal audit as compared to the performance audit. There is a need to replace the present
Audit System by Efficiency Audit, Cost Audit, Social Audit etc.
13.6 PRE-REQUISITES TO SUCCESSFUL FIELD ADMINISTRATION
There is a lot of friction between the headquarters and the field offices. We must try to
remove these constraints to enhance the efficiency of organization. The success of the field
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administration would create a good image of administration in the minds of the citizens.
Citizens judge about the efficacy of administration not from the working of the headquarters’
organization but from the working of field offices. The Administrative Reforms Commissions
conducted certain studies in one district each of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, to find
out the reactions of citizens about the district administration. According to the U.P. Study,
there were nine main grievances against the district administration :
(1) Unhelpful altitude on the part of the officials ;
(2) Inordinate delay in transacting Government Business ;
(3) Corruption among the Officials ;
(4) Non-availability of essential commodities ;
(5) Lack of proper attention from Government agencies providing services to the
Common man - as for example, Government hospitals ;
(6) Favoritism and baptism in dealing with the general public ;
(7) Unsatisfactory progress of the community development programme ;
(8) Public dis-satisfaction with panchayati raj institution ; and
(9) Inefficient machinery for redress of public grievances at the district level.
From the above observations. It is quite obvious that the field agencies/offices are not
functioning well. We give below some facts and suggestions which if taken into
considerations would lead to successful administration:
(1) Rotation of Staff Between Headquarters and the field Offices :- The staff
working in the field offices should be transferred at headquarter and vice versa
at regular Intervals so that they can understand each other’s difficulties and
appraise the situation in true perspective. The Bridgeman Committee on reform
of the British postal service put this problem bluntly when it recommended.”
Officer should be appointed to an administrative position of importance at
headquarters until he has had a thorough training in an experience of, the
actual work of the post office provinces, there should be no difference in status
between the administrative staff at headquarters and the provinces.” The free
movement of personal both vertically and horizontally is necessary to increase
awareness of field problems at headquarters and to open opportunities of
promotion for field staff members.
But unfortunately, this is not being followed in most of the organizations. For
instance, in H.S.E.B. separate cadres have been created. H.Q. officials are
superior and are not posed in the field. However, in some categories of
employees common cadres exist, but much more needs to be done.
(2) Designing of an Effective Management Information System :- At present,
the headquarters get reports and returns from the field offices to ascertain the
performance of these offices. Some of these reports are useless and thrown into
the dustbins at the headquarters. Sometime, the required information is not
available. Therefore, there is a need to design and install an effective
management information system which can be really useful as a tool of
management.
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(3) Clear-cut Demarcation of Responsibilities Between the Headquarters and

the Field Offices :- At present, there is no clearly defined responsibilities of
headquarters and the field offices. In case a scheme goes wrong and has not
achieved the pre-designed results the headquarters official would blame the
field officials and vice- versa. The division of responsibilities should be so clear
that responsibility of the failure of any scheme can be fixed.
(4) Free and Frank Communication Between the Headquarters and the Field
Official :- There should be an atmosphere of trust between the officials of
headquarters and the field offices. The field officials should communicate with
the headquarters officials without any fear. If there is fear, then the field
officials would try to keep the headquarters about their problems in dark.
(5) Decentralization of Power :- The field offices must be given more powers to
decide matters on the spot. The powers given to field officers would relieve the
headquarters of unnecessary and routine work.
(6) Need for Training Power :- Training Courses, and conferences for both field
officers and headquarters officers would keep them aware of each other’s’
problems. This would result in understanding the real difficulties.
(7) Special Facilities in Hardship Areas :- India is a land of villages. There are
many places where the facilities available are very less. Incentive should be
provided to staff working in the offices located in such areas. The services of
persons working in such areas must be appreciated.
(8) People’s Satisfaction :- The field officials must satisfy the people by their
attitude and services being provided. But it is unfortunate that most of the
people are dissatisfied with the officials.
1. Why field officers are required?
2. Write any three ways in which HQ exercise control over field offices.
13.7 SUMMARY
With the increased complexities and responsibilities administrative network has
largely expanded during the fifty years. All the major departments of any government are
working with the help of a network of field agencies. The field agencies are really trying the
satisfy the requirement of decentralization. At the same time the HQ in required to maintain
effective liaison with these agencies. Any administrative system is required to follow certain
principles to have smooth relations between the HQ and field Agencies.
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1. Bharmbri C.P 2002, Public Administration, Educational Publishers, Meerut.
1. Discuss the significance of HQ-field Relations. Highlight major Problems in this
regard and give you suggestions too.
1. Expansion of Government activities, Need if Decentralization, Easy public
access and participation, Technological advancements.
2. Inspections, Evaluation Reports, Audit etc.
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Lesson - 14
COMMUNICATION: CONCEPT, PROCESS AND BARRIERS
Structure
14.0 Objectives
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Meaning and definition
14.3 The communication Process
14.3.1 Major Ingredients
14.3.2 Scope of Communication Process in Organizations
14.4 Importance of Communication
14.5 Types of Communication
14.6 Obstacles of Communication
14.7 Essentials of Good Communication
14.8 Summary
14.9 Glossary
14.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson, you shall be able to :
 appreciate the significance and process of communication.
 list the barriers in the way of effective communication.
 list the types of communication.
 explain the essentials of good communication.
14.1 INTRODUCTION
Other than the principles of organization, a basic ingredient for their working and
effectiveness is the communication system. Every organization needs effective
communication to achieve its objectives. Millet has rightly put communication as the blood
stream of administrative organization. In any organization, irrespective of its size and
importance, communication plays vital role as all the important decisions taken in that very
organization circles around the communication or information received. In the present age,
when much is talked of democracy and authority decentralization, it is becoming necessary
to keep the communication channel clean and quick. Communication helps in effective
decision-making planning and execution of policies etc. If an organization develops all the
latest techniques required for administration minus communication, it will be a mess
organization if not minus organization. Communication is an important aspect and
management’s directing function.
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14.2 MEANING AND DEFINITIONS

The word communication comes from the Latin word “Communis” which means
common. Thus, communication stands for sharing the ideas in common. Communication
refers to the various means or media of transmitting information from more one person to
another or from one place to another e.g. telephone, television, transmitter, telegraph etc. It
refers to the process of information in an industrial organization e.g. grapevine, complaint
box, notice board for formal chain of command etc. Primarily, we are concerned with that
concept of communication which aims at including others to interpret an idea in the manner
intended by the speaker or writer. If one individual write or speaks something which is not
understood by the other it is not communication. If an English talks to an audience, who
cannot understand English, the talk will fall flat on the audience, and there would be no
communication.
We shall list some of the standard definitions of communication with a view to clarify
the concept further.
Louis A. Allen states that “Communication is the sum of all the things which one
person does when he wants to create understanding in the mind of another. It is a bridge of
meaning. It involves a systematic and continuous process of telling, listening and
understanding.”
Charles Redfield defines communication as the board field of human interchange of
facts and opinions and not the technologies of telephone, telegraph radio and the like.
Shurter defines it as ‘imparting or exchanging thoughts or information.’
Pitman, British inventor of a system shorthand, defines ‘communication’ as
transmitting a message in order to evoke a discriminating response.
Millet says communication means “shared understanding of a shared purpose”.
Ordway Tead defines communication as a “composite of (a) information given and received (b)
learning experience in which certain attitudes, knowledge and skills change, (c) listening
effort by all involved (d) sympathetic fresh examination of issues by the communicator
himself, and (e) sensitive interaction of points of view leading to a higher level of shared
understanding and common intention.” Communication thus means interchange of
thoughts, ideas and a sense of participation and sharing, it is a meeting of minds on
common issues.
The American Society of Training Directors defined communication as the interchange
of thought or information to bring about mutual understanding and confidence or good
human relations.
Newman and Summer define communication as an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions
or emotions by two or more persons.
It is of late that this technique of communication has come in the administration.
Much of the recent improvement in administration is attributable to the stress on free flow of
information. Simply by developing individual communication skills, however, will not solve
conflicts rooted in basically opposed value system “Nor are management and the workers
also able to communicate effectively with each other even though their message may
exquisitely logical and beautifully reasoned.” But if communication is effectively exchanged it
can prove beneficial by passing a way towards accommodation and eventual agreement on
the issues.
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14.3 THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

We have understood from above given definitions that communication means the
process of conveying message. The process of communication which takes place between one
human mind and another establishes a common meeting ground for understanding. If you
do not understand this lesson, the author has merely written it and not communicated. In
short, if no one is listening or if no one understands what is being said or written, then there
is no communication. The process of communication will be complete and effective only when
receiver of the message after receiving it understands the idea in message, gets motivated or
inspired to behave in the same manner as desired by the communicator.
14.3.1 Major Ingredients
According to well-know analysis of the communication process, there are give
ingredients of communication. These are :
(1) Source, (2) A Transmitter, (3) A Signal, (4) A Receiver, and (5) A Destination.
We shall discuss below a simple model of communication process as developed by
David K. Berlo.
A schematic representation of Barlo’s model is being given below :
Fig. 1
Human communications take place because someone has a reason : that is a person
or group of persons with purpose use communication to try to get someone else to do
something. Thus communication includes :
Source : Source single or multiple that has some thought, need, idea or information
which gives the source a purpose of communication.
Encoding : The source must put its perceptions into some message through language
or some other symbol. This is known as ENCODING. The next phase is concerned with the
transmission of this message.
Message : The message means an idea to be transmitted. It may carry facts, opinions,
suggestions, advice, order, warning etc. It may be oral or in writing.
Channel : The channel is the element in model which carries the message. As a carrier
of message, the channel performs a linking service in the model by connecting the source
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with a target of communication. It is a medium to transfer the message. e.g. telephone,

telegraph, notice, circular etc.
Receiver : Some Receiver must be there on the other end of the communication. When
we write, someone must read and when we talk, someone must listen.
Decoding : The Receiver must decode the message and covert it into some terms which
he can understand.
Meaning : When the receiver receives and decodes the message he attaches meaning
of it. For effective communication, the meaning must be understood in the similar way as the
communicator wants to convey.
Feedback : Another element in the two persons communication is “feedback,” the
response that the receiver makes upon decoding and interpreting the meaning of the source
encoded message. If response occurs, as in two person’s direct communication, then the
source will know whether or not his message has been received and interpreted correctly.
When the receiver gives response to the received message, he becomes a source.
Noise : The element that reduces the accuracy of communication and hangs over the
system like an umbrella is called Noise.
14.3.2 Scope of Communication Process in Organizations
In the early stages of industrial revolution, the communication process was strictly a
“One way” affair and was confined merely to the “going of orders and instructions”. Boss
ordered, subordinates translated into action and not to reason why but to do so die.
Later on, it was realized that the “One way” communication was not ideal one and was
even useless functionally. It was realized that opportunities must be provided to the middle
management as also the operative employees to question the rationale of issued instruction,
offer suggestion and assist in the smooth functioning of the organization. This spirit leads to
the development of the concept of “two-way communication system.”
Two way communication means giving and receiving information both by management
and workers : passing information, orders and instructions downward from top management
through the intermediate management to the workers and funneling report and ideas
upwards from lower organizational levels to higher levels.
A schematic representation of the various systems of communication is given below :
ONE WAY COMMUNICATION
Top Management
Orders
Middle Management
Instructions
Operation Force or Employees
Fig. 2
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1. Name any four basic ingredients of effective communication process.
TWO WAY COMMUNICATION

Top Management
Orders and Instructions
Reports, Ideas, Suggestions

Middle Management
Operation Force of Employees
Fig. 3
In the present day industrial organizational set up there are three phases of industrial
communication:
(i) Inter Scalar,
(ii) Intra Scalar, and
(iii) Extra organizational.
Communication between different levels of authority in organization is known as “Inter
Scalar” e.g. a professor talk to a lecturer in a university set up.
Communication between persons of the same level (of authority) in an organization is
termed as Intra Scalar e.g. when a lecturer talks to another lecturer in a university set up.
Intra Scalar communication increase understanding, accentuates group identity speeds up
action, increase morale and provides supplementary information. However, if it is over
emphasized, tends to weaken an organization.
Communication that takes place between outside or extra company agencies and the
people within an organization known as “Extra Organization Communication”. The following
diagram depicts such a system of communication :
THREE PHASE COMMUNICATION
Scalar Level
1. Top Management
Extra
Organisational
agencies 2. Intermediate Management
3. Operative Employees
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Fig. 4
In short, the entire concept of communication includes :

(i) Transmission of information, orders and instructions from top management to
middle management and through them to workers;
(ii) Transmission of reports, ideas, suggestions, complaints, grievances from
workers and management;
(iii) Cross-communication between management group and workers’ group, and
(iv) Communication to the workers or the management through extra company
agencies such as unions or the workers family.
14.4 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is fundamental to all aspects of life; Communication forms a large
part of our lives. Of the effects of technological development perhaps the most pervasive in
our society are the communication media. A breakdown in communication is viewed as a
serious matter that can affect the entire society’s functioning. Think of demoralization of
people living in flooded areas if radios do not operate informing people of efforts to correct the
situation. A person cut off from all communication is unlikely to survive for long.
An organization consists of people and net-work of decisions affecting them. To any
executive communication is very important. Managing is getting things done through others,
a task which requires the manager to communicate with other people. A manager wishes to
assure that orders are understood and also desires to receive accurate information
concerning the effectiveness of execution, knowledge of attitudes and feelings of subordinates
toward the job, firm supervisor and environment is of immense importance to a manager.
This also establishes the importance of downward and upward channels and
communication.
In modern times, every organization realises the importance of training. An increase in
skill usually results in an increment in both quantity and quality of output. To understand
increasingly technical nature of modern jobs, it is absolutely essential to undergo systematic
training. Training is facilitated through a proper and efficient system of communication. In a
country like India where the labour force is uneducated, the need of appropriate manner for
communications cannot be over emphasized.
Federick W. Taylor defined Scientific Management as “management by facts and
measurements rather than by guess work.” The scale at which business is being done at
present requires voluminous exchange of information and its co-ordination. At the same
time, it is also essential for an enterprise to keep in touch with external business
environment as it also influences it functioning and results a great deal. A manager cannot
decide wisely on whether to offer a new product line if he has no knowledge of market
potential, competitor activities, organizational changes involved or capital required. Similarly,
a branch manager cannot decide upon inventory to be carried without knowledge of sales
programme requirements, production and shipping schedules, carrying costs, availability
prospects and price trends. Though the ability to get results depends greatly upon having
adequate and timely information, the manager will be successful in carrying out a plan of
action only if effectively communication his ideas to his superiors, associates in
management, subordinate employees and outsiders.
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Communication is a tool for building human relationship. Businessmen are aware

that ability to get along with people, to advance in their jobs and to sell their goods, depends
on clear communication.
Communication is vital to the function of integration. Effective communication results
in better presentation of information and creates awareness among the work force of their
working conditions. It is responsible for mutual understanding and promotes good relations.
It is not enough that an employee is able to work; he must also be willing to work. Employees
will obey because they want to and not because they have to. This willingness is based
largely on management’s ability is integrate to interests and needs of its employees with the
objective of the organization. The process of stimulating willingness to work is largely a
process of communication.
According to Keith Davis, an authority on management, whatever happens in an
organization, happens through communication. In large organization, co-ordination is an all-
pervasive element. Co-ordination is largely achieved through communications. Instructions
must have down the line of command, reports and suggestions must come back to form
basis of future action. The significance of communication can be judged from the following
points :
(i) Smooth and unrestricted running of the enterprise: In every organization,
big or small, private or public sector, communication plays an effective role. The
more complex the organization the more difficult it becomes to establish that is
to pass on the correct information, to the right person, at the right time and
through the right medium. Communication forms the superior forms the basis
of action at lower levels of authority in an organization. Similarly, the
communication from the subordinates to superiors provides the basis for taking
corrective action at the right time and through right medium.
(ii) Quick decision and implementation : Communication are the only basis for
taking effective decisions in an organization. Effective communication is the
“sin quo non” for quick and systematic implementation of the managerial
decisions. It is the basis of direction and leadership.
(iii) Proper planning and co-ordination : Communication help in planning and co-
ordination. In any organization two functions are performed : the executive
functions and operative or implementation functions. Executive functions are
performed by management and the operative functions are performed by
employee’s co-ordination between those two groups is must for “effective
functioning of the organization” to a large extent, this co-ordination and co-
operation achieved through an effective system of communication all levels.
(iv) Maximum production with the minimum cost : Whatever may be form of
organization Line, Staff or Function, the information passes through a variety of
filters and there is always a chance of misinterpretation. According to Whyte,
the great enemy of communication is the illusion of it. Effective system of
communication plays vital role in avoiding this illusion.
Besides, this is the optimization of production. Here the employees are told exactly
what has to be done, where, when and how much to be done? Merely a help of A grade
machines and materials cannot accelerate production. Not only it requires the process of
giving instructions, but certain feelings have to be expressed and certain amount of inter
personal perceptions must be exchanged, or this management has to sell ideas to motivate
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the workers to work with a will, and build up high morals in the organization.
Communication plays a vital role in achieving the above objective. It becomes, thus a part of
education, propaganda, leadership and guidance function of management.
14.5 TYPE OF COMMUNICATION
Within an organization, different types of communication patterns exist. An attempt
would be made to describe these various types. A diagrammatic representation of such a
classification is given below :
CLASSIFICATION OF COMMUNICATION
Verbal,
Written,
Symbolic
etc. Formal Informal Downward Upward Horizontal
Lateral
Instructions, Grapevine
Orders, rumours
Suggestions & Ideas etc. etc.
Fig. 5
1. Verbal, written or symbolic communications : In the case of verbal

communications, everything is oral and there is nothing in black and white e.g. orders
through fact to face discussion, telephonic talks, lectures, conferences, interview, personal
counseling plants, broadcast, movies, radio television etc.
Written communication on the other hand is expressed in black and white and is
capable of being recorded and filed. Examples of written communication are newspapers,
bulletin boards, letter and memos, reports and forms, manuals and handbooks, protests,
written grievances, suggestion system, attitude questionnaire etc.
2. Formal and Informal Communication : Formal communications are mostly in
black and white and are usually conveyed through the formal channels of communications
within an organization. When the general manager instructs his subordinates by virtue of his
position, it is the form of formal communication. Informal communications on the other
hand are spontaneous and free from such formalities. They are based on informal
relationship between the parties. They are termed generally as Grapevine. Rumours are also
an example of informal communication. Symbolic communications are neither verbal not
written but usually gestorial. Examples of such communications are smile, frown, signing,
silence or simply working; straight looking into someone’s eyes.
3. Downward Communication : Directive and other messages fall under the
category of downward communication. Such orders, messages directive originate at the top
the organization and are passed down through the hierarchy through the different channels
of hierarchy to the lowest rank. The traditional approach to the administration gave more
emphasis to this kind of communication and ignored the other two. Infect traditional
administration worked on this assumption that management is only suitable body to look
into the interests of employees and can work as master-mind to take all sort of decisions.
And whenever any problem developed at the level at the lower time of implementation, the
problem was attributed to the shortcomings of the lower ranks. To add further, authority was
concentrated in the hands of management so that there is full compliance of the orders.
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However, Hawthorne experiments showed that downward communication was not easy as
the decisions taken by the management were acceptable to the lower levels. So, there is need
of upward communication-which means transmission of information and opinions by the
workers to highest level through the hierarchy. In large organizations, downward
communication funds problems of levels. More the levels through which the information is to
pass more the compulsion is.
4. Upward Communication : It was suggested in Hawthorne experiments that
upward communication should be developed in organization to make effective downward
communication. Upward communication means to pass message from lower levels of the
hierarchy to the higher level. Upward Communication faces many problems. Firstly, there is
problem of distortion at each level. As information is passed up the hierarchy, it is subject to
a filtering process at each level. This filtration is sometimes deliberate and unconscious at
most of the times. Moreover, good news ascends the hierarchy much more easily than bad
news. There is another habit to present bright picture of information received from below
which distorts the information. Secondly, the problem of distance. The larger the
organization, the greater the number of links in the supervisory channel and these links
create distance between the management and the lower level. Thirdly, the attitude of the
supervisors is as such that they do not encourage upward communication. Sometimes they
are so much engrossed in their own problems that they find little time to listen to the
problems of the subordinates.
Upward Communication is considered as unnatural and like rowing upstream against
the current. However, the need for upward communication is growing day by day.
5. Lateral or Horizontal Communication : Lateral Communication is that which
takes place among workers of the same level in the hierarchy or among the individuals of
different levels who are not in a superior subordinate relationship. F.A. Nigro makes use of
the world lateral instead of horizontal to include all across the organization contacts.
Traditional organization is based on the assumption that the co-ordination is achieved
through command-downward communication. But this concept is no longer accepted now
because of the complex operations of modern organizations. More, coordination enforced on
the employees is not better than the co-ordination achieved otherwise. F.A. Nigro claims that
real team play is characterized by spontaneity. In the modern organization process of
decision making is becoming more participative as decision making bodies have to depend on
the specialized knowledge of its subordinates. This type of participation requires that both
upward and lateral communication should be developed.
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General Manager
Horizontal
Production Communication Marketing Personnel Manager

Manager Manager
Communication
Foreman Marketing Officer
Communication
Personnel Officer
Downward
Upward
Chargeholder Marketing Personnel
Supervisor Supdt.
Workers Salesman Clerks

Fig. 6
14.6 OBSTACLES IN THE WAY OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Communication is not a one-way process but a two-way process. Once a sender
communicates a message the job is not done, unless the same is understood by the receiver
and his response is communicated again to the sender.
Communication is a vital element in the success of an organization and the problems
of communication will retard the success of the administration in the performance of their
functions. If messages are not properly transmitted, work will not be done and management
cannot plan and control effectively.
Distortion : Distortion is one type of communication problem in which the message is
not properly understood by the receiver. On account of many factors such as the inadequacy
of words, the precise meaning of the message may not be understood by the receiver. Let us
take an example : If an accountant submits a report to an Economist, distortion may result
because of difference in the meaning of the word ‘costs’.
This distortion can be got over by expanding the horizons of each member of the
management team so that each can understand the meaning of other member. In other
words, the communicator should project oneself into the view of the other person, so that no
possible distortion takes place.
Overloading : Generally administrators are too busy with reports and memoranda. In
other words, they are over-loaded. More messages do not necessarily mean more information.
Overloading of the communication channel can be tackled in monitoring the channels in
order of priority and importance. The communication system should provide editing devices
to regulate the quality and quantity of communication with regard to adequacy of
information for decision-making.
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Timing : Messages, to be effective should be communicated at proper time, Timing of

communications sometimes result in problems. Some messages need to be released so that
everyone will receiver these simultaneously. Some massages need to be released sequentially
so that receivers will not be confused by issues that are not important to them at the
moment.
Routing : If a supervisor receives the pertinent information from his subordinates, it
signifies a short circuit in his line of communication from top management and thus
threatens his status authority. The routing communication problems can be eliminated
through planning of communication system in an organization.
The Principal of Clarity : We have already said that communication is a two way
process. If the message is not understood by the receiver; the value of the communication is
lost, as it has not served the purpose. This may be due to the language used in the
communication by the sender or due to lack of attention on the part of receiver to
comprehend the message of the sender. In either case the communication is not complete. It
is the responsibility of the sender that his communication should possess clarity.
The Complexity of the Organization : If the organization is a complex one then the
problem of communication is more. It will not be clear that through whom the message is to
pass as there will be many number of levels in the organization. Moreover number of levels
will add to the delay in communication.
We can discuss these obstacles or barriers to communication in other way also.
Barriers to Communication :
Let us now discuss some of the barriers to communication. These barriers could be
classified as :
(a) Physical barriers
(b) Personal barriers
(c) Psychological barriers
(d) Cultural barriers and
(e) Semantic barriers
(a) Physical barriers : Physical barriers to communication in an organization are
such factors as distance, noise etc. The greater the number of levels of
authority in an organization the greater are the chances of communication
being misinterpreted.
(b) Personal barriers : Personal barriers are such factors, as human tendencies for
lethargy and laziness. Individuals may not bother to transmit the
communication received to other levels or simply they may be too lazy to take
further action.
(c) Psychological barriers : This is rather a difficult barrier. The same
communication is interpreted differently by different people to the utter
amazement and surprise of management. This is because no two individuals
are psychologically alike. The same phenomenon is viewed differently by
different persons, one sees the glass half empty, always and the other says that
the glass is half full. When management sends an ‘O’ and ‘M’ man to study the
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work being done on the floor, their intention is to help the workers, but the
workers see the ‘G’ & ‘M’ man as a tyrant who has come on the shop floor to
extract more work from them without a corresponding wage increase.
(d) Cultural barriers : This same symbol will be interpreted differently by people
coming from different cultures. An Indian who finds that his guests have
started “Belching” the dinner, taken, it is a compliment, however, an
Englishman would take it an insult under the same circumstances. White is the
colour of rejoicing in England while it’s the colour of “sorrow” in India.
(e) Semantic barriers : In an organization people from different parts of the
country or even from the world may be placed together. Each one likes his own
language and directs creating many problems of communication. Besides this,
certain individuals find it very humorous to use sentences and complex words
which are difficult to understand by all and sundry. This tendency amongst
human beings further complicated the matter. But hand writing and spelling
mistakes often create misunderstanding of the message conveyed.
14.7 Essentials of Good Communication
How to make your Communication “Effective” ?
Having discussed the barriers to communication, let us discuss some of the essentials
of good and effective communication. The following points may be taken into consideration
for this purpose :
(1) Clarity of thought : The first six qua none of good communication is that the
idea to be transmitted must be clear in the mind of the communicator. Further,
the mental level of the party to which communication is being addressed must
be taken into consideration. Further, one must remember that employees
communication should never be in “Abstract” terms. Concrete terminology
which is easily understood by the workers, is more effective way of
communication with employees.
(2) Brevity : The communication should be as brief as possible. Brevity is the
essence of communication.
(3) Provide a built in “Feed Back”, mechanism in your Communication : The
communication should be so phrased that the reader is forced to
“Communication back.” In other words, he is forced to establish contact with
the communication with the sole objective of providing the necessary feedback
to the superior.
(4) Transmission : The communication must plan carefully what to communicate
to whom, when, why and how to communicate. How can an executive
communicate, with his workers when he himself is not aware of facts, say
about the new wage incentive plan? Further delegation of authority with
responsibility and vice versa breaks down the spirit of communication.
(5) Keep Systematic : The system of communication must be kept alive
throughout the year. It is only by honest attempt that good communication
relations can be developed.
(6) Take Corrective Action : Having installed an effective two way system of
communication, keep your eyes and ears open. Do not simply gather
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information and sit tight. Not to take corrective action in the light of “Feedback”
received is nothing short of a crime.
Channelization of Communication
Unfortunately, the traditional pattern of “going through channels” has made the
communication an easier. Ralph Cordiner feels that communication should never dog down
in channels. The communication must get through, even if the requirements of hierarchy are
at times to be ignored.
1. Name any four barriers to communication.
14.8 SUMMARY
An effective communication system is essential to the successful working of any
origination or any administrative system. Its effectiveness depends upon the design of
communication system and process and which has the least barriers such as noise,
language, manipulations, technical and cultural furriers. While designing a system the
organization designers must take into account the essential requirements of good
communication.
14.9 GLOSSARY
 Renting - Process of selecting a path in a network
 Distortion - Act of twisting the fact/things (disfiguring)
 Grapevine - Circulation of rumours/unofficial information
 Encoding - Converting information into a particular form.
 Decoding - Converting coded message into intelligible language
1. David K. Berlo “The Process in Communication”.
2. Mohit Bhattacharya, Sahib Singh & Swinder Singh, Public Admn. – Theory and
Practice, New Academic, Jalandhar, 2010.
1. Discuss the significance of communication and elaborate the barriers in the
way of effective communication.
2. Write a critical note on communication process.
1. Source, encoding, message, Receiver, decoding
2. Physical barriers, psychological problems, overloading, distortions, complex
organizations.
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157
Lesson-15
SUPERVISION: CONCEPT PROCESS AND BARRIERS
Structure
15.0 Objectives
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Meaning of Supervision
15.3 Phases of Supervision
15.4 Nature & Scope of Supervision
15.5 Methods of Supervision
15.6 Duties for Supervision
15.7 Qualities of Supervision
15.8 Summary
15.9 Glossary
15.10 References
15.0 OBJECTIVES
After Studying this lesson, you should be able to
 explain the meaning and phases of Supervision
 discuss the Nature & Scope of Supervision
 get aware about the Duties & Qualities of Supervisor
15.1 INTRODUCTION
Planning, Communication and supervision are three main steps in the process of
directions. Like every other aspect of organization, supervision is also becoming very
complicated and complex. The task of a supervisor has increased very much and of a good
supervisor it is expected that he should have the qualities of head and heart. There is an old
saying "that, which is not inspected is not done". Hence Inspection. Overseeing and
Supervision, arise in response to needs inherent in the functioning of an organization.
15.2 MEANING OF SUPERVISION :
Supervision is a compound word and its two parts are 'Super and 'vision' which
means overseeing. In a hierarchical organisation no one can claim to work without proper
supervision. Generally, each officer has been delegated certain' powers and responsibilities
and is supposed to be responsible to the officer above him for proper execution of the
decisions and use of delegated powers. Moreover, for proper functioning of an organisation it
is very essential that there should be proper coordination and link among different parts and
organs of an organisation, it is also to be ensured that departments of an organisation do
exactly the same work which is expected of them. In common word by supervision, we mean
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direction accompanied by authority. In a broad sense superintendence and overseeing. M.

Williamson has defined supervision as "a process by which workers are helped by a
designated staff member to learn according to their needs, to make the best use of their
knowledge and skills and improve their abilities so that they do their jobs more effectively and
with increasing satisfaction' to themselves and the agency. "Supervision is selecting the right
person for each job; arousing in each person an' interest in his work and teaching him how to
do it; measuring and rating performance to be sure that reaching has been fully effective,
administering connection where this is found necessary and transferring to more suitable work
or dismissing those for whom this proves ineffective, commending whenever praise is merited
and rewarding for good work and finally fitting each person harmoniously into the working
group, all done fairly, patiently and tactfully so that each person is caused to do his work
skillfully, accurately, negligently and completely."
15.3 PHASES OF SUPERVISION :
Generally, there are three phases of supervision namely:
(a) Substantive aspect
(b) Institutional aspect
(c) Personal aspect
(a) Substantive Aspect : From substantive aspect we understand that the
supervisor should have requisite knowledge of the work which he is required to
do. His main function is to plan, to work, set standards of quantity and quality
of work to be expected and make specific assignments of duties.
(b) Institutional Aspect : From institutional aspect we understand that a
supervisor should properly assign duties distribute work, take care of regularity
and should arrange proper equipment and supplies.
(c) Personal Aspects : This phase of the supervision is now-a-days more
important than other two. No doubt, a supervisor has authority to get the work
done but of a good supervisor, it is expected that he should not depend on
authority. Moreover, these days, a supervisor is supposed to establish human
relationship and develop it in the spirit of fellow feeling and in the sense of
oneness.
15.4 NATURE AND SCOPE OF SUPERVISION:
The nature and scope of supervision varies with the kind of work to be supervised and
also the nature of duties and responsibilities which are assigned to a supervisor. So, it is
very difficult to lay down any hard and fast rules regarding nature and scope of supervision.
The nature of supervision in factories is generally different form that which is generally
prevalent in the office Moreover, we see that the nature of supervision is also different at
different levels of administration.
15.5 METHODS OF SUPERVISION:
According to John D. Millet, there are five techniques of supervision. They are given as
under:
a) Prior Approval
b) Budgetary limitation upon the magnitude of operations to be undertaken by the
supervisor.
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c) Approval of Personnel,
d) Reporting system, and
e) Inspection
a) Prior Approval : By prior approval means that prior approval of the competent
authority must be obtained before the work on a project is started. In this
manner, the supervisor is able to obtain detailed information about the
intentions of the operating agency. Moreover, the supervisor will come to know
about the details of work which his organisation is going to execute. So, if there
is any misunderstanding or if there are any additional points, he wants the
operating unit to understand, then he can correct them in time without any
loss of time, money or resources. This system is generally being followed in
most of our development programmes, more especially in public work such as
River Valley Projects and the Community Development Programme
Administration.
b) Budgetary Limitation : The second method of supervision is budgetary
limitation. By this we mean that the supervisor is supposed to supervise the
work which is generally being carried within the limited budget provisions
which have been allocated for the execution of a particular project. So, for
supervision, this method and technique is being put to more use in every day
administration of the organisation.
c) Approval of the Personnel : Another important means of exercising
supervision over operating agencies is to reserve the right of approval of the
appointment of key personnel in the organisation with the top management
while leaving initiative of selection in the hands of the operating head. By
adopting such a method, the top management ensure central control without
depriving the operating head of his right to select his working team.
d) Reporting System : Supervision is also exercised through good reporting
system. By it we mean that a subordinate is required to submit a report of the
work done by him. In all big organisations which have their branches scattered
all over the country, the head of the organisation controls and supervises
activities through reporting alone. Moreover, reporting can be a very effective
method of improving administrative performance and efficiency, provided the
supervisor takes pains to follow up the reported work and devise methods of
encouraging good performance and punishing bad performance. It is generally
seen that there is a tendency to report only good performance and to conceive
the difficulties and problems involved.
e) Inspection : Inspection is very effective method of supervision. Infect reporting
and inspection are complementary devices of supervision and the latter always
the former. This method is adopted because the supervisory staff can not
entirely rely upon reports written by those who are responsible for the
operations. The wrong reporting and self-praise by the staff may kill the
initiative and hinder the progress of organisation. Since reporting has its own
difficulties, the inspection is generally considered a better course of
supervision. Inspection also helps in establishing contacts between the
supervisory and subordinate staff. Inspection, as a technique of supervision,
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should be so applied as to encourage and help rather than annoy and hinder
the operating heads in the performance of their work.
15.6 DUTIES OF A SUPERVISOR :
H. Nissen has beautifully expressed this aspect of supervision by giving eleven duties
of a supervisor. These are : (i) to understand the duties and responsibilities of his own
position; (ii) to plan the execution of work; (iii) to divide the work among subordinates; (iv) to
improve the work methods and procedures; (v) to improve his own knowledge as a technical
expert, (vi) to train the personnel; (vii) to evaluate the performance of the employees; (viii) to
correct the mistakes and solve employee's problems; (ix) to keep subordinates informed
about policies and changes to be made; (x) to co-operate with colleagues; (xi) to deal with
employees suggestions complaints.
15.7 QUALITIES OF A SUPERVISOR
According to Halsey there are six qualities of a supervisor.
1. Thoroughuess : i.e. the supervisor should collect all the information regarding
the Issue.
2. Fairness : It concludes a sense of justice, consideration an truthfulness.
3. Initiative : i.e. Courage, self-confidence and decisiveness.
4. Test: i.e., ability to win the loyalty and support of others;
5. Enthusiasm : an intense and eager, interest in and devotion to cause and
6. Emotional Control : According to Pfiffner2 a good supervisor should have eight
qualities i.e.
(i) Command of the job content i.e. knowledge 'of the work to be done;
(ii) Personal Qualifications including integrity;
(iii) Teaching ability i.e. ability to communicate his own ideas;
(iv) Courage and fortitude i.e. ability to take decision an assume
responsibilities;
(v) Ethical and moral considerations;
(vi) Administrative Technology i.e. ability to manage;
(vii) Curiosity and intellectual ability and finally
(viii) General outlook i.e., supervisor should have love for his job and be absorbed in it.
Self-Assessment Exercise
1. Give two methods of supervision.
2. Give two qualities of a supervisor.

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15.9 GLOSSARY
Inspection- Careful Examination Enthusing-eagerness, keenness
15.8 SUMMARY
In brief Supervisions are viewed as people in the middle. They are the linking pin
between administrators and the operative personal. Since the top executions cannot
personally oversee the work of all employees in an organization, to each level in the hierarchy
he must provide for the supervision of the work to be done.
15.10 REFERENCES
 Avasthi, Maheshwari, 2005, "Public Administration, Lakshmi Narian garwal;
Agra.
 Chakrabrty Bidyut, Chand Prakash, 2016, Public Administration in a
Globalizing World, Sage Publication, New Delhi.
 Bhattachrya Mohit, 2007, "New Harizans of Public Administrations," Jawahar
Publisher & Distributions: New Delhi.
15. I2 MODEL QUESTIONS
 Explain the nature & Scope of Supervision.
 Discuss the Qualities & Duties of Supervisor.
 Explain the Methods of Supervision.
Suggestive answers to Self-Assessment Questions
1. Prior approval, reporting
2. Self-confidence, Intelligence
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Lesson – 16
COORDINATION: CONCEPT, METHODS AND BARRIERS

Structure
16.0 Objectives
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Coordination Defined
16.3 Need of Coordination
16.4 Methods of Coordination
16.5 Some Essentials of Coordination
16.6 Barriers in the way of Coordination
16.7 Summary
16.8 Glossary
16.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson, you should be able to
 explain the meaning of coordination
 enlist the ways of achieving coordination
 discuss the Barriers in the way of coordination
16.1 INTRODUCTION
The basic functions of coordination in an organisation are the same as that for
orchestra coordinator who direct the activities of the archestra party in such a manner that it
produces harmony in real means.
Infect, every Organisation is characterized by 'specialization and division of work'.
Different duties are performed by different persons in an organization. The purpose of an
Organization cannot be achieved if the employees do not have team spirit in performing their
functions. Thus, there is a need to avoid overlapping and duplication of functions and to
achieve maximum team work among the various personnel of the organization Division of
work and specialization is not an end itself. It is resorted to achieve maximum results. The
result can be achieved if individual activities do not interfere in the work of other members of
the organization; and on the other side all the individual accomplishments help to achieve
the common purpose for which an organization is created. This can be achieved by a proper
arrangement of 'Coordination'.
16.2 COORDINATION DEFINED
Coordination means to get co-operation and ensure team work among the employees
working in an organization. In other words, it is the lessening of conflicts to the minimum
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working at cross purposes and removal of overlapping efforts from administration.

Coordination is one of the principles of organization and includes all other principles which
are subordinates to it. In physiology Coordination is the combined action of a number of
muscles in a complex movement. In public administration, the meaning of the term is not
much different. Co-ordination is the harmonious combined action of agents or functions
towards a given objective. Above-mentioned to definitions have one thing in common that is
'combined action in a complex situation'. Newman says—Coordination is the "orderly
synchronization of efforts to provide the proper amount, timing and direction of execution
resulting in harmonious and unified actions to a stated object”. So, the very purpose of
coordination is to synchronize action, for example, if a batsman only thinks of his bat and its
angle, he may neglect to watch the trajectory of ball and in this case even his power-packed
shot at the ball may not get very far. Similarly, a good fielder will drop a simple catch if he
does not put his hands under the ball at proper time with full anticipation and then checking
his speed and the speeds of the falling ball. These simple analogies show, to concentrate one
factor or agent to the neglect of others produces disappointing results, no matter how much
energy is put in. Thus, Terry has rightly remarked that coordination "is the adjustment of the
parts to each other and of the movement and operation of parts in time so that each can
make its maximum contribution to the product of the whole."
The term Co-ordination is sometimes confused with the term used Co-operation, but
not mean the same thing. According to Terry, Co-operation is the collective action of one
person with another or others towards a common goal, Coordination is much more than
collective action and means synchronisation of efforts. However, Cooperation provides the
foundation for effective Coordination and leads to a consideration of that function, but, is by
no means the whole of the matter.
16.3 NEED OF COORDINATION
Coordination is essential because members of big organization in the absence of Co-
ordination have a tendency to drift away in opposite directions (it is both true in political and
administrative organization5) giving rise to conflicts. For example, the members of Janta
Party starting drifting away in opposite directions from the day they came in power because
they lacked Coordination and the result was the unceremonious end. The reason of the
conflict may b;, which are common in all types of organisations (a) Ignorance of one another's
activities, (b) duplication of work (c) personality cult (d) attaching importance to one's own
work (e) Unmindful of the needs and problems of other members (f) blindness to see their
particular charge as the part of a larger whole to which it must be duly subordinated (g)
greed for power and importance as it has happened in India in getting premiership of a
biggest democracy of the world.
Coordination is an active agent of administration and it has a bearing on other
important areas of public administration, which are indicated below :
(i) Structural arrangements in the organisation provide arteries along which
Coordination flows. No organisation is self-co-ordinations.
(ii) Planning tells the objectives and the steps in achieving these objectives, but no
plan can be implemented without proper Co-ordination.
(iii) Leadership and the direction of work by all means effects the achievement of
goals but, leadership and direction of work can only work if there is proper Co-
ordination.
164
(iv) Control and Co-ordination are rated as single function, but control is less than
Co-ordination. Control stands for evaluation of progress or efforts on time
schedule in terms of the programmes whereas Co-ordination is Synchronization
efforts made in achieving the progress.
(v) Co-operation, as mentioned earlier is a basic component of Co-ordination.
(vi) Organisational tends to emphasize more on specialisation which leads to
division of work, increase the importance of Co-ordination.
Categorization
Broadly speaking Co-ordination can be categorised (i) Internal (ii) External
Internal or functional Co-ordination exists when the activities of individual working in
an organization are to be co-ordinated. External or Structural Co-ordination is concerned
with activities of different organisational units. Both these types of Co-ordination can be
'upward' and 'horizontal'. Upward Co-ordination moves along the hierarchy in and
organization whereas horizontal Co-ordination establishes relation between one individual
and other, one section and another.
16.4 METHODS OF ACHIEVING COORDINATION
There are two methods to achieve co-ordination viz : (i) Automatically and (ii)
Deliberately.
(i) Automatically: — The method of co-ordination by automatic means requires
that individual highest in authority is made responsible for knowing all the
activities and happenings in the organisation and for relating them into
coherent whole. This may be possible in small organisation, but may not be
possible in large scale organisation due to limit in span of attention and control.
(ii) Deliberate Co-ordination: — In large organisations co-ordination has to be
deliberately planned and acheived. It can be achieved through two ways: —
(a) Compulsory co-ordination: — It is achieved through the mechanism of
the organisational hierachy, supervising common head can get the co-
ordination through discussion of matters of common interest in meetings
and later enforcing the agreed decision through a circular latter as an
order.
(b) Voluntary co-ordination: — The co-ordination in any organisation can
be secured voluntarily by mutual agreement and adjusted through
various techniques. Following are the ways achieving the voluntary Co-
ordination.
1. Consultation:— This is done by making reference, consultation and understanding
with all concerned so that no conflict or duplication may arise. Every proposal or
policy which is likely to affect other department (s) is circulated to them for obtaining
their agreement being sent to higher ups for decisions. Questions or finance are
cleared with the Finance department. This 'through proper channel' action is
necessary. It may involve delay, but, is necessary for securing unity of action. This
delay can be greatly reduced (not altogether eliminated) by circulation of numerous
copies of the letter in place of moving one file from office to office.
2. Conferences:— Inter-department or intra departmental including non-official
conferences are essential when co-operation of many agencies is to be achieved. The
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agenda of such conferences should be carefully planned so that through discussion is

followed by agreed solution/actions. Freedom of discussion is essential when higher
officers and their subordinates meet around a table.
3. Organisational Devices:— Co-ordination may be secured by appointing inter
departmental/Intra-departmental committees, coordinators, planning commission and
Boards. These bodies are outside the organisational hierarchy though are attached to
it. They secure co-ordination not through reference to a common superior, but,
through consultation and exchange of ideas and thus represent the technique of
consultative rather than authoritarian coordination. Organisational devices are better
where the need for. consultation and discussion among many agencies is of a standing
and continuous nature. An inter-departmental committee is useful if two or more
departments have overlapping spheres of activity. Single coordination is better for
coordination of various field activities in a region.
4. Through set methods and procedures:— If set methods and procedures exist in any
administration these will facilitate comparison and measurement of results.
Administration is saved of confusion and wastefulness as every action has to pass
through certain prescribed methods and procedures consequently coordination is
achieved.
5. Through Delegation:— Delegation of authority is another means to achieve
Coordination. Delegation means passing of authority of doing something to someone
and keeping the responsibility with oneself. Delegation brings in more cohesion.
6. Co-ordination by means of Ideas and Leadership:— Where the central purpose of
the organisation is known, understood and considered to be worth by the workers, it
binds them together as a coherent group and unifies their separate efforts into a
common endeavour realise the goal. Stimulating leadership can create enthusiasm
among the workers for the common cause and spur them to overcome difficulties.
Informal methods of Co-ordination:— Ideally, co-ordination should be achieved
through voluntary co-operation of the members of an enterprise. Each member should be
ready and willing to adopt his work to secure unified action. According to Newman, Co-
ordination can be secured by—
(i) instilling dominant objective among the members of the group.
(ii) developing generally accepted customs and terms making it easy for people to
work with one another.
(iii) encouraging informal contacts to supplement formal communication.
(iv) providing liaison contacts to supplement formal communication.
(v) providing liaison officers to maintain close contact with various departments or
to work between the headquarters offices and branches; and
(vi) using committees for direct personal contact and informal exchange of ideas
and views.
16.5 ESSENTIALS OF CO-ORDINATION
For achieving real coordination, it is essential to have a nicely laid out organizational
set up with clear channels of communication, rules and procedures and clear objectives and
roles. These are elaborated further :
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(1) Communication:— Initial task in coordinating is that of establishing clear

channels of communication among various agencies. No co-ordination can be
thought of if there are no channels of communication in an organization. It is
through communication that direction is given and objectives are made clear to
the employee and while achieving those goals they develop co-ordination.
(2) Authority and Responsibility:— Co-ordination like delegation follows the
general rule that there should be substantial balance in authority and
responsibility. If an administrator is entrusted with a particular job, he must
have necessary powers to achieve that. It has been observed that degree of
authority granted is generally less than the responsibility delegated.
(3) Sufficient flexibility:— Co-ordination is achieved viewing the situation. Since
future is unpredictable so all the planning done to achieve certain objectives
need some adjustments at the time of implementation. It clearly indicates that
the administrator responsible for co-ordination must be sufficiently flexible.
(4) Leadership:— Leadership is another factor which helps in bringing
coordination. If leadership is positive and takes initiative then it can produce
harmony in the working which goes long way to achieve the goals in time.
(5) Staff Meetings:— Another essential device is the staff meeting, which is widely
used in Public Administration, but, often with lean results. The main object of
staff meeting is (a) to give members a sense of unity (b) to learn from the Chief
Executive about the new problems (c) to solicit and enlist the thought and co-
operation of the staff members in solving the problems and to provide a forum
in which points of differences or areas of inadequate co-ordinate are brought
out in the open.
(6) Role System:— The second aspect is the need for making the role system, i.e.,
work allocation clear. The rights and duties assigned to any agency occupying a
certain position in the organizational system should be clearly defined. Co-
ordination is facilitated when the role of one agency is made clear and
understood by various other agencies. This is fundamental factor in co-
ordinating different patterns of agency behaviour.
(7) Objective of related Programmes:— Various Community Development
Programmes have been started in several countries as a means of channelizing
the work of various technical agencies or departments in the unified way for
rural development, Success in keeping the programme's momentum can be
achieved through an integrated team approach with field staff, including
technical officers and community development workers working in harmony
with local leadership and organisation.
(8) Clear Objectives to all Related Agencies:— The specific duties to be
performed should be made known and well understood by various devices, so
that they will be in a better position to help and support each other. This will
strengthen communication and help to avoided some of the problems involved
due to lack of co-ordination.
(9) Orientation of Personnel:— Since the agency for various Community
Development Programmes must obviously carry the major responsibilities of the
programme and coordination, it should make sure that agencies and
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departments on whom it must depend are oriented as to its importance,

objectives and programmes. Co-ordination should not be conceived as a matter
of theory, but, of reality. Depending upon the specific circumstances and
situation orientation may be achieved through seminars, workshops,
conferences and so on.
16.6 BARRIERS IN THE WAY OF CO-ORDINATION
Effective co-ordination in actual practice is very difficult to achieve. According to
Gullick some of these difficulties arise from :
(a) the uncertainly of the future as to the behaviour of individuals and the people.
(b) the lack of knowledge, experience, wisdom and character among bodies and
their confused and conflicting ideas and objectives.
(c) the lack of administrative skill and technique.
(d) the vast number of variables involve and the incompleteness of human
knowledge particularly with regard to man and life; and
(e) The lack of orderly methods of developing considering perfecting and adopting
new ideas and programmes.
To these Seckler-Hudson adds four more, namely size and complexity, personalities
and political factor, the lack of leaders with wisdom and knowledge pertaining to public
administration and the expansion of public administration dimensions—
Whatever the difficulties, it is clear that they must be removed in the overall interest of
the effective working of an organisation.
1. Any three methods of coordination.
2. Any three essentials of coordination.
3. Three major barriers in the way of coordination.
16.7 SUMMARY
In Sum up we can say coordination is often regard as the perfect sample autosense of
the entire range of entminiteral functions and not just one of the functions. Such of the
administered functions-planning organizing, sampling, direction and control is an exercise in
coordination. In other words, all the administerial (Managerial) functions are instruments
functions to aid the supreme administrative task.
16.8 GLOSSARY
 Synchronization- Process of coordinating two or more activities.
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 Avasthi and Avasthi, 1996, Administrative Theory, Agra. Lakshmi Narain
 Gladden. EN. 1964. An Introduction to Public Administration. Staples Press.
London.
1. Explain the meaning and ways of achieving coordinations.
2. Discuss the method of effective coordination and barriers in the way.
Suggestive answers to Self-Assessment Questions
1. Automatic, meetings and conferences, delegation of work a control.
2. Effective communication, Effective Leadership, Role clerity.
3. Lack of Knowledge, Lack of Administrative skills
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Lesson - 17
ACCOUNTABILITY OF ADMINISTRATION
LEGISLATIVE, EXECUTIVE AND JUDICIAL
Structure
17.0 Objectives
17.1 Introduction
17.2 Meaning of Accountability of Administration
17.3 System of Control and Accountability
17.4 Executive Control (Internal Accountability)
17.5 Legislative Accountability of Administration
17.5.1 General Control Over Policies and Actions
17.5.2 Control over Finances
17.5.3 Control Through Parliamentary Committees
17.5.4 Effectiveness of Parliamentary Control
17.6 Judicial Accountability of Administration
17.6.1 Grounds and Judicial Review
17.6.2 Judicial Remedies
17.7 Summary
17.8 Glossary
17.0 OBJECTIVES
After this lesson, you should be able to :
 explain the meaning of Accountability of Administration.
 describe the system of Control viz, Executive, Legislative and Judicial Control.
 state effectiveness of Parliamentary Control.
 explain the Judicial review of administrative action.
17.1 INTRODUCTION
A striking development since the second world war has been the tremendous increase
in the number and varieties of government activities all around the world. The governmental
administration today is called upon to manage the entire affairs of the socio-economic life of
the people. The enormous expansion of public services has led to the ‘expansion of
bureaucracy or bureaucratization’. This has also resulted in the multiplication of the
administrative processes whereby administrative power and discretion are vested at different
levels of the executive. In fact, bureaucracy may well be said to have become the most
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powerful organ of the government. And where there are power and discretion there is always
possibility of their abuse. Nigro and Nigro and Robert Miewald have pointed out certain;
specific bureaucratic sins : the arrogance of high office, political involvement; corruption;
dishonesty; unethical behavior, disregard of the law favoritism; unfair treatment of
employees; gross inefficiency; covering up mistakes; failure to respect legislative intent;
ignoring procedures; manipulation of information; and failure to show initiative. What
therefore, necessary, is to devise adequate methods of control over the exercise of
administrative discretion so that the chances of maladministration and corruption arising
out of its misuse are considerably reduced. In this lesson we shall discuss, meaning of
accountability, system of Control and Accountability i.e. Executive, Legislative and judicial
Control over Administration. Similarly, effectiveness of various types of control will be
examined.
17.2 MEANING OF ACCOUNTABILITY OF ADMINISTRATION
To stress the need for ensuring subservience of the public official, various expressions
like ‘control; responsibility and accountability are used. Dictionary meaning of the term
accountable’ is ‘liable to be called on to render an account’ or liable to be called to account,
responsible (to, for) ‘This definition distinguishes it from the term ‘control.’ Strictly speaking,’
control’ is contemporaneous with an action or event whereas accountability is post factor in
nature; It is only after an act has been accomplished that one is called upon to render an
account of it. According to L.D. White,” Administrative responsibility” is the sum total of the
constitutional; statutory, administrative and judicial rules and precedents and the
established practices by means of which public officials may be held “accountable for their
official action. But Pfiffner makes a distinction between responsibility and accountability. To
him accountability, refers to the formal and specific location of responsibility, while
responsibility has a highly personal moral quality and is not necessarily related to formal
status of power. Responsibility refers to the public servant’s responsiveness to public will,
while accountability denotes the specific methods and procedure to enforce the public
servants’ responsibility. The former is subjective and works from within while the letter is
subjective and works from without. As regards the original the word accountability’, it seems
to have come to usage in the English language for the first time in the year 1583, and the
context was financial. Even today, financial accountability is an important part of it, so much
so, that many public servants show their concern only for it and in the process either forget
or conveniently ignore other equally vital components of accountability.
It is thus, quite obvious that administrative accountability is an organizational
imperative because first and foremost, it purports to evaluate its performance in terms of its
goals. In other words, it seeks to ensure optimization the available resources and at the same
time to realise the organizational objectives. Also, it is a feature which distinguishes public
administration in a democratic set up as against that in an autocratic set up. An autocrat is
accountable to none whereas in a democracy, the public administrative authorities are, in
the ultimate analysis, accountable to the people.
17.3 SYSTEM OF CONTROL AND ACCOUNTABILITY
The system of control or accountability may probably be divided into two categories,
viz. (1) internal and (2) external. Internal or executive controls are those which are fitted into
the administrative machinery and work automatically and spontaneously with the movement
of the machinery. External controls are those which are fitted outside the administrative
machinery and work within the constitutional machinery Judicial and ombudsman type.
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17.4 EXECUTIVE CONTROL (INTERNAL ACCOUNTABILITY)

Primarily, the control over public administration is of administrative nature. Executive
holds the administrators in department and public agencies accountable for how they carry
out their responsibilities. This is possible through the internal control workable in every
section, branch and department of public administration which are adjusted into
administrative hierarchy as brakes in an automobile. Executive control may be discussed
under the followed heads;
(I) Political Direction : The administrative machinery in any country is controlled
by the chief-executive from the top which, in the parliamentary form of government, is the
cabinet and performs both political as well as administrative functions. It exercises supreme
control over the executive in accordance with the intent of parliament. It is also an important
function of the cabinet to achieve continuous co-ordination and delimitation of the function
of the several departments of the State. A particular minister has full authority to manage
and direct his department and all the civil servants working in that department are
accountable to him. He lays down policy and issues directives for its smooth implementation.
However, it may be noted that in actual practice civil servants are not always directed to by
the ministers, rather, they may allow lead and dictate. Being experts, and permanent, the
civil servant, may exercise substantial influence on the minister, the policy formulation and
its implementation.
(II) Administrative Direction : The administrative headship is vested in the
secretary, who being a permanent civil servant, is able to exercise more effective control over
the departmental machinery. Besides, hierarchy, in itself is an accountability control,
exercise. Without adequate control and supervision over the actions of the lower levels,
accountability can hardly be enforced. In the hierarchical structure each official controls and
supervises the work of the other and thus none is outside the chain of command. There is
always a fear of reprimand, of loss of superior’s favour, of the loss of increment, and of
demotion and dismissal. It is an accepted principle of secretariat procedure that each paper
must pass through the proper authorized channel both in its outward and inward journey.
Thus, there is a regular flow of communication throughout the hierarchy of a department
and which also includes the communication between headquarter and field offices, there are
well accepted devices of control. These devices may be grouped under two categories; control
before action is taken and control after action has been taken. Under the first category fall
the device like prior approval of individual projects before initiating action by an operating
unit, promulgation of service standards; budgetary limitation; and approval of the
appointment of key subordinate personnel. Control after action takes the form of reporting,
audit, inspection an investigation.
(III) Financial Control : The financial control by the executive could be exercised
when estimates are prepared and expenditure is incurred. The heads of subordinate agencies
scrutinize expenditure proposals emanating from within terms of their need and sending
capacity, this process moves upward to the needs of departments who are expected to
moderate the estimates in the light of accepted policies of the government and needs of
programmes. Under the cabinet system, the central financial agency is entrusted with the
responsibility of consolidating the estimates of the various departments. While discharging
this function, the central budget may be able to modify departmental estimates through
scrutiny and advice in terms of national policies. And priorities, norms of expenditure and
constraints of resources. The powers and influence of the central budget agency may vary
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from country. In India, the central budget agency is the ministry of finance, while in Britain,
it is the Treasury.
The control exercised by the finance ministry of India may be divided into three stages;
approval of policies and programmes in principle, acceptance of provisions in the budget
estimates, and prior sanction to incurring of expenditure subject to such powers as have
been delegated to the administrative ministries. It is the control in the third stage that
generally impinges on the day to day working of the administrative agencies. This control is
exercised through three instrumentalities namely, rules of business, a system of internal
financial advisers and internal audit. The existing rules of business provide that with the
exception of specific orders issued by the ministry, no department can without the previous
concurrence of the ministry, issue any orders involving; (a) any abandonment of revenue or
incurring of any expenditure for which no provision has been made in the Appropriation Act;
(b) any grant of land or assignment of revenue of concession, grant, lease or license of
mineral or forests, right to water, power or an essential or privilege respecting such
concession; (c) the number of grades of posts or the strength of a service or the pay or
allowances of government servants or to any other conditions of their service having financial
implications; and (d) any other financial aspect. In addition, the financial code provides the
no public servant can spend a single ‘paisa’ out of the public funds unless the expenditure
has been sanctioned by the competent authority and the expenditure to the incurred is
within the limit of the appropriations granted by parliament for the current year. Besides, the
finance ministry sends its own finance officers to each ministry (except railway and defense),
who exercise control over expenditure through scrutiny and examination of the legality,
accuracy and propriety of expenditure. They also advise the departmental heads upon the
financial implications of their schemes and plans and furnish to the finance ministry reports
on the financial administration of the ministry to which they are attached.
The departmental control of expenditure takes place through an elaborate system or
returns and reports frequently submitted by officers at various levels to their superior
officers and ultimately to the head of the department. The accounts are to be maintained in a
prescribed manner. Vouchers are to be certified according to rules, Payments are to be made
in accordance with the prescribed procedure. The disbursing officers, maintain the records of
all accounts and which are examined by the controlling officer. The controlling officer
prepares a statement and sends it to the head of the department. On the basis of the return
received by him, the head of the department prepares an account showing the complete
expenditure out of the grant at his disposal up to the end of the preceding months and
submits the same to the office of the Accountant-General.
(IV) Personnel Management : The personnel management provides another set of
tools of internal control over administration. The growing significance of personnel
management results from the increase in the knowledge required to handle successfully the
staffing needs and human problems of large organizations. Similar to the central finance
agency, a central personnel agency exercises centralized control over the personnel
functions. In India the Department of personnel was set up in 1970 as a service agency or as
an instrument of control. It provides control in the least three ways; (a) interpreting to the
managers what is indeed by the directives and rules emanating from the chief executive and
central personnel establishment of overall jurisdiction; (b) to formulate and propose to the
agency executive internal policies and procedures on personnel matters required within the
agency; and (c) it is ordinarily used by the executive to apply these policies and to see that
they are enforced through the organization. It also provides standardization of establishment
norms. That number of personnel required in each department, their grades and salaries,
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their recruitment and promotion, their retirement and dismissal, their training and transfer
and other conditions of service are laid down by the central agency. The Department of
Personnel and Administrative Reforms, which is now separate from home ministry, enjoys
considerable powers in regard to all India Services, formulation of personnel now policies and
review of their implementation, training and career management for various services, welfare
of the staff and research in personnel administration with a view to improve efficiency and
streamline administration. Apart from the above department. Union public Service
Commission also helps in exercising control over personnel. It is an independent agency and
imposes impartial tests in accordance with rules and regulations laid down by the
government. There are sections dealing with disciplinary matters, quasi not to be in
seniority, service schemes and classification of posts. At the highest level, however the
executive has the free hand, Ministers of cabinet are free to select their secretary, Joint
secretaries and other senior officials. In this way the ministers exercise control over
administration of their respective departments through their appointees. Another central
agency, the finance ministry, is also responsible for personnel matters having financial
implications. The ministry has to be consulted when departures from prescribed rules are
envisaged. Some of the matters with which this ministry is particularly concerned are:
proposals relating to central and all India services, dearness, compensatory, house rent and
other allowances, quasi-permanency rules, fixation of pay and pay scales, grant of special
pay, dismissal suspension, etc. leave rules provident fund and so on. The Staff inspection
Unit of the ministry conducts periodical reviews for fixation of staff standards, work norms
and staff strength.
(V) Efficiency Survey : As stated earlier the five departments carry on their day to
day work within the policies laid down by the political executive. The work is reviewed from
time to time by the minister with the help of secretary or other agencies. It is through such
services that field administration is held accountable to the ministry. Also through annual
confidential reports (ACRs) the work of public servants is assessed. ACRs do effect the
further career of civil servants and licence are an important instrument of holding them
accountable. Inspection has always been of great importance in the control of public
business particularly in a widespread organization. The officers from the headquarters go on
inspection to ensure that reasonable levels of efficiency are being achieved by the field
establishments. If scientific and objective standard of efficiency measurements are employed
the system of efficiency survey becomes extremely useful. In USA, the efficiency rating is a
regular part of personnel management. In India, there are O & M units in all the
departments and bigger offices of the Union and state governments and even in some larger
local authorities.
Beside the regular surveys, whenever serious administrative lapses take place,
enquiries are held to enforce accountability on those responsible for the lapses. However,
such enquiries often show that it is difficult to pinpoint responsibility. Decisions are taken in
such a manner that responsibility cannot be fixed. Files pass through several stages, and
meetings are held which spread the range of accountability so wide that no individual could
be held responsible for any lapse. Sometimes actions are taken on the basis of oral
instructions and this adds to the difficulties in fixing accountability.
(VI) Administrative Ethics : Administrative ethics is one of the most significant
aspects of public administration but the least codified. While administrative rules and
procedures have been codified in various public documents and manuals, there is no manual
for the ethics of public servants. These can be said to be the informal checks and may prove
to be more effective as they work upon the conscience of the official. It is of utmost
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importance that the public administration should be efficient, but is more important that it
should be ethical. In India though there is no ethical for public administrators there are what
are called, the Government Servant Conduct Rules. These rules lay down what constitutes
misconduct for the public servant. It is apparently implied that such misconduct which is
not permitted is also unethical conduct. For indulging in any kind of misconduct, the
government servant exposes himself to punishment. There are major and minor penalties;
the major ones being dismissal, removal or reduction in rank and the minor ones being
censure, fine or withholding of increment.
(VII) Executive Law Making : The executive exercises power of Legislation which is
termed as delegated Legislation. The legislature frames the outline of law and in most of the
cases empower executive to fill in the details The rules framed by the executive have the force
of law. These administrative rules determine the authority of the different official in the
department. It India, the executive has also the power of passing ordinances to meet an
emergency that requires immediate action.
17.5 LEGISLATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY OF ADMINISTRATION
Legislature is the most effective and real instrument of control, defining the broad
objectives of administration and providing the funds necessary to achieve them. Routine
activities of bureaucracy are also open to legislative scrutiny through various methods. The
notice of legislative control has been subject to two different interpretations, It may mean
general political control or a detailed examination of governmental activities. The general
political control implies that the legislature has a right to express its agreement or
disagreement with the way the government intends to orient or has oriented its activities. In
this model, parliament exercises control through the cabinet. The second interpretation
involves the detailed examination of government activities which may cover both preliminary
interventions, i.e., before a policy is adopted, and ex-post facto scrutiny i.e. before a policy
has been implemented. It is the second type of control which is worth consideration and true
or effective control. Some of the important means of parliamentary control are given below.
These means may be discussed under three main headings : (a) General control over policies
and actions of executive, (b) financial control and, (c) control exercised by parliamentary
committees.
17.5.1 General Control Over Policies and Actions
The general control of legislature over the executive is exercised at the floor of
parliament and is initiated by the members of parliament.
Parliament Question : One of the most important devices in parliamentary procedure
is to put question to the ministers. In India this device was introduced under the India
Councils Act, 1893. Scores of questions are put to ministers concerning the day to day
working of their departments. The first hour of every sitting of Lok Sabha is allowed for the
asking and answering of questions for information. It is known as Question-Hour and has
come to occupy a valuable part of the daily proceedings of the House. The questions throw a
searchlight on the whole administration, Grievances can be ventilated through questions.
They keep civil servants alert. They offer an opportunity to bring to immediate public
attention any phase of administrative policy or activity. The Ministries are divided into
groups by the speaker so that a group of ministries is allotted particular day in a week for
answering questions relating to them. A member has to give at least ten days’ notice of a
question; and its admission depends on acceptance by the speaker. Other members may be
permitted by the speaker to ask supplementary questions. Although a question is asked to
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seek information but behind it may be the suggestion that things have gone wrong or there
has been delay or the administrative action has not been consistent with the approved policy.
Ministers come prepared with the answers, still, they may be put to a grueling test by means
of supplementary questions. A part from this there is a provision of short notice questions.
On a matter of urgent public importance, a member can ask for an oral answer with a notice
shorter than ten days. The answers to all the questions get into the official’ record and are
also available to the press. Every member considers this a valuable tight and this is one of
the surest and quickest way of bringing administration to book for any lapse on their part.
Half an Hour Discussion : If the speaker considers it proper a discussion can be
raised on a matter of sufficient public importance, which has been the subject of a recent
question and the answer to which needs elucidation on a matter of fact. This discussion is
strictly limited to half an hour. Notice for such discussion has to be given within three days
of the answering of question.
Adjournment Motion : A member may, with the consent of the speaker, make a
motion for adjournment of the business of the Lok Sabha for discussing a matter of urgent
public importance. The matter must be definite of sufficient public importance of recent
occurrence, must attract the central responsibility. Involve failure of government and the
facts must be agreed to by government and above all it must have the support of fifty
members of the House. The main purpose of an adjournment motion is to draw the attention
of the government to a matter of urgent public importance with a view to influence its
decision with respect thereto and for which a motion or resolution with due notice is thought
to become too late. But due to too many restrictions a motion rarely passes all the tests. For
instance, in the third Lok Sabha only 7 adjournment motions out of 776 were admitted and
debated. During the Span of Fourth Lok-Sabha, out of 1078 Adjournment Motion notices 89
were brought before the House and of these only 12 were admitted and discussed.
Calling Attention Notices: With the permission of the Chair, a member may call the
attention of a minister to a matter of urgent public importance and request the minister to
make a statement thereon. It is purely an Indian innovation. It combines the asking of a
question for answer with supplementries and short comments in which all points of view are
expressed precisely and the government has sufficient opportunity to state its case.
Sometimes it gives an opportunity to members to criticize the government and to bring to the
surface its failure, or inadequacies or an important matter.
Motions for Discussion on Matters of General Urgent Public Importance : The
rules of procedure provide for separate motion for raising discussions, on matters of general
or urgent public importance. These are the convenient means of expressing the view by the
people’s representative on matters of public importance. The notice is to be given in writing
specifying clearly the matter which is brought be raised. It is to be accompanied by an
explanatory note giving the reasons for raising discussion thereon. The discussion is
arranged if the presiding officer is satisfied about its necessity.
No-Confidence Motion : The most important constitutional right in the hands of a
member is to move a vote of no-confidence against the council of minister. The only self-
imposed restriction is that fifty members should support the motion. Members are not to give
any reasons for moving the motion; there is no time limit for giving such a notice, no
permission of anybody to move it is required. Once such motion is admitted government has
to find time early enough to have it debated. During the debate on the motion of no-
confidence, members are at liberty to question any policy or act of government. They may list
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the faults of government. However, it is primarily the government which has to struggle for
its survival and the administrative apparatus is not directly affected.
Legislation : Notwithstanding the limitations on the legislative authority of
parliament, it is the supreme authority for legislation on matters of Union administration.
The extent of its jurisdiction is wide and its ultimate authority is so pervasive that it has
been described as a “sovereign body which controls the functioning of government.” It makes
the laws which determine the organization, functions and procedures of public
administration. A new department may be created to give effect to a particular law enacted
by the parliament. However, the legislature’s control through law making process is very
general, it is difficult for the legislature of attempt to lay down in detail the administrative
procedures to be followed.
Debates and Discussions : Through these parliament examines administrative
activities of various government agencies and their operational efficiency. Debates take place
even when a new law is being framed or an old one is being amended or repealed. Budget
debates are very important, through which parliament examines and reviews the Working of
various departments.” Such an occasion may be a true testing time of departmental
performance and competence”.
17.5.2 Control Over Finance
Parliament gets Innumerable opportunities to examine and review the public
administration through the institution of parliamentary debates and questions, but it does
not get a chance of close and continuous examination of the detailed functioning of the
executive government. However, administration comes under close scrutiny of parliament
when the budget is under discussion. This is reality a critical time for the government.
During the general discussion and voting on demand for grants, the members of parliament
get an opportunity to discuss and criticize the working of each ministry, department or other
agencies of government. There is no matter which cannot be raised during the debate.
Questions of policy, economy, grievances, complaints, adequacy or inadequacy of projects,
schemes and outlays can always be raised and the minister has to give satisfactory reply be
let off.
Audit Reports : As the examination of intricate government accounts and scrutiny of
the technical soundness of the financial transactions is a specialized task, in the first
instance this job is commonly entrusted to an independent organization whose reports are
placed before the legislature for consideration. This organization is the Audit Department,”
Audit, like the judiciary, the executive and the legislature, is one of the important ingredients
of democracy”. Its primary purpose is to ensure that in the process of expending government
funds all cannons of official propriety have been observed, that the rules and regulations
which govern expenditure are adhered to, that the expenditure has been incurred by the
authority which is empowered to incur it, and that it has been incurred for the purpose for
which it has been appropriated by the parliament. The Comptroller and Auditor General
annually reports about these aspects of government transactions to the legislature. The audit
is, thus, one of the most important instruments of parliamentary control over administration.
Parliamentary control over financial matters is also exercised through some of the
parliamentary committees.
17.5.3 Control Through Parliamentary Committees
Effective parliamentary control over the administration of the country involves
scrutiny into details of accounts and operations but the parliament itself may not be a
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suitable organization to probe into such minute points of detail, for it generally lacks the
time as well as facilities for such detailed examination. The parliament in India, in order to
exercise effective control over the general and financial administration of the country, have
set up a number of committees of the House.
The Pubic Accounts Committee, constituted of members from both the Houses of
parliament, is without doubt, a powerful organ to complete the accountability of the
executive government in a matter of finance. While scrutinizing the Appropriation Accounts
and the Audit Report thereon by the C and AG, the Committee has to satisfy itself that public
money has been spent by the executive government as the parliament intended to be spent :
that due economy, has been exercised in the financial transactions of the executive
government and, that high standards of public morality have been observed in all matters of
finance.
Parliamentary control over financial administration is further strengthened by the
Estimates Committee. Although the parliament discusses the estimates for a fairly adequate
period it has neither the time nor the flexibility to probe into the details and technical
aspects of the estimates. Therefore, before the estimates are presented to the parliament,
they are subjected to scrutiny by this independent financial committee.
Since 1964 the Committee on public Undertakings has taken the work relating to
autonomous public Enterprises form the two financial committees. The Committee’s major
functions include: the examination of reports and accounts of public undertakings :
examination of reports, if any, of the C & AG on the public Undertakings; to examine in the
context of autonomy and efficiency, if the public undertakings are being managed in
accordance with sound business principles and prudent commercial practices; and to
discharge other functions assigned to it by the speaker from time to time. The committee
undertakings its studies of individual public undertakings by rotation.
The Committee on Government Assurances performs the useful and essential task of
watching the follow up action with regard to the assurances, undertakings and promises
given by the Ministers on the floor of the House. The government departments have to be
mindful. The committee goes through, every assurance and undertakes detailed examination
so that the departments cannot easily ignore the proceedings in Parliament. The Committee
scrutinizes them from time to time and reports on the extent to which they have been
implemented.
Under the delegated legislation, each regulation, rule, sub-rule, bye law, etc., is
required to be laid before the House and published in the Gazette immediately after it is
promulgated. After each such order is laid before the House, the Committee “ on Subordinate
Legislation considers whether it is in accord with the general objects of the constitution to
the parent Act; whether it contains matter which in the opinion of The Committee should
more properly be dealt with in an Act of Parliament; whether it contains imposition of any
tax; whether it directly or indirectly bars the jurisdiction of courts; whether it involves
expenditure from the consolidated fund of India or the public revenues; and so no. The
committee submits its report to parliament. It can express its opinion that any “Order” may
be annulled wholly or in part, or may be amended in any respect.
A unique committee of Indian parliament, the Committee on Petitions serves as a link
between the aggrieved citizen, administration and Parliament. Any citizen, who feels that he
has a grievance against the administration which has not been redressed through the
channels, can approach the Parliament directly. If his grievance or suggestion affects a
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matter of public importance his petition is received by parliament and sent to the Committee
for examination and report. The committee may call upon the concerned department of
government to furnish the facts about the case which has to give proper consideration to the
matter.
Apart from the above committees there are a number of consultative committees, for
each of the important Department to inquest into their administration. They are formed by
the Ministry of Parliamentary affairs after consultation with the parties. These committees
can usefully examine how the departments have shown their performance within the
resources available to them.
17.5.4 Effectiveness of Parliamentary Control
The system of parliamentary control as provided in India for control over
administration is quite elaborate and seems impressive. If the institutions are effective
misuse of power by bureaucracy is much less possible. But an institutional arrangement,
however rational and elaborate it may be; does not itself achieve the purposes of taming and
toning up the bureaucracy. The effectiveness of parliamentary control depends upon at least
three important conditions. Firstly, as a matter of principle legislatures can be effective for its
control over the executive only in proportion to the strength of the opposition, which by
virtue of its strength and appeal to the electorate, expects that someday it would have a
chance to form the government. Second condition is the strength and equality of public
opinion. Representative Legislatures backed by a strong public opinion can effectively
contain executive and administrative actions. Thirdly, the effectiveness of legislative control
over the executive depends upon the device and procedures instituted by the legislature in
carrying out its functions to meet the changing needs of modern society. However, legislative
procedures are only a means to an end, the end being responsible and democratic discussion
of public issues in Parliament and the protection of the right of democratic and uninhibited
debate. A lot depends upon the leadership provided by the cabinet and the Prime Minister,
and their effectiveness, in, turn, depends on the party system operating in the country. If
Government are unstable, and if the parties in Parliament are busy in man occurring and
manipulating the rise or fall of cabinets bureaucracy is left free to accomplish whatever it
sees fit. At the same time, the lack of strong opposition to the single dominant party in India
has weakened the effectiveness of parliamentary control as the ruling party does not see any
challenge to its power by the weak and fragmented opposition political parties.
Apart from the above conditions, studies and experience have indicated certain factors
leading to some what ineffectiveness of the instrumentalities of Parliamentary control. These
are : insufficiency of time at the disposal of Houses, unwillingness of members to sit longer in
the Houses, lack of adequate interest on members’ part in the proceedings of Houses; quality
of members; inadequacy of expert knowledge and specialization on their part; lack of
adequate information about the working of the administration and want of the sense of
independence in the; wastage of time in sensational or politically colorful matters at the cost
of constructive issues; and indifference of the Public
Towards the end it can be suggested that to make the control more effective
specialized knowledge, information and capacity of members will have to be increased; while
at the same time this point should be taken care of that administration is no enemy of the
people or their representatives and whatever control is exercised should be positive one,
towards promotion of general welfare.
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1. Write any three means of Executive control over administration.
2. Write any three ways of Parliamentary Control.
3. Name any three Parliamentary Committees.
17.6 JUDICIAL ACCOUNTABILITY OF ADMINISTRATION

The importance of judicial control has immensely increased in today’s state; It has
assumed the role of guardian of ‘citizens’ fundamental rights. It has been rightly pointed out
by Lord Sanky, “Amid the cross current and shifting stands of’ public life, the law is like a
great rock upon which man may be safe, and the inequities of private life are not so
dangerous in a country where every citizen knows that in law courts, at any rate, he can get
justice.” While the legislative and executive control over administration is meant for
controlling the policy and expenditure of the government, the judicial control over
administration ensures that legality of the officials’ act there by protects the essential rights
of the citizens. In fact, the significance of judicial control has increased in the wake of
increasing discretionary powers call for increased “safeguards against their abuses, and as
long as there is the possibility of official error, partiality or excess of zeal, the protection of
private right is as important an object as the effectuation of some fundamental policy.”
India is fortunate enough to have well-developed judicial system and certain
constitutional rights with added guarantee to have recourse to the courts against the state, if
the latter infringes or otherwise violates these rights.
The position of Judicial review of administrative actions in India is different from that
U.K. and U.S.A. In the U.K. the supreme law which the courts enforce is in the last analysis,
the law of parliament whereas in India the Supreme law is the Constitution: The courts in
England cannot strike down any law passed by the parliament; and the Judicial Review of
administrative adjudication is limited to questions of statutory and common law
constructions. In U.S.A. Judicial supremacy is securely established by the V and XIV
amendments of the U.S. constitution which ensure immunity to every person of his life and
property. The U.S. Supreme Court has been empowered to decide not only what the law
actually is but also what it should be in a given circumstance. In India we have tried a
balance between these two different ideals. Here the administrative adjudication is required
to conform to the statute as well as the constitution. The Indian Supreme Court has only the
power to tell what the law actually is. It cannot direct what it should be.
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The judicial control is subjected to two limiting factors : Firstly, the court cannot
interfere in the administrative activities of their own accord. They can intervene only when
they are invited to do so by any person, who feels that his rights have been infringed or are
likely to be infringed as a result of some action of the public officials secondly the courts
cannot interfere in each and every administrative act.
17.6.1 Grounds of Judicial Review
There are certain classes of cases where the courts can intervene in administrative
activities :
1. Lack of Jurisdiction or Incompetence of the Agent : An administrative
decision is liable to be quashed if a power lawfully vested in a public servant
but exercised by other agent, even of the same rank’ but having such powers in
respect of other area, or by an officer inferior or superior in administrative
hierarchy to the proper agent. A power granted to the Minister of Agriculture
and exercised by the Minister of rural Development is void. Lack of jurisdiction
may also arise due to the nature of the subject matter. A commissioner award,
under Workmen’s Compensation Act, to pay compensation for the death of
three employees was held void as the injuries that caused their death were war
injuries within the meaning of the War injuries Ordinance, 1941 (Nalini V.
Ananda. AIR 1952 Cal).
2. Error of Procedure : Mere legal competency of the administrative agency is not
sufficient for the validity of an administrative decision. If a legally competent
administration ignores conditions upon which the power was granted or fails to
observe due norms or procedure in reserving at the decision, it will fall for vide
de for me.
3. Violation of Legal Rules : Even an administrative act, performed by legally
competent public servant following the appropriate procedure may be declared
void if in reaching its decisions it violated a legal rule. A public servant may
misinterpret the law and may impose upon the citizens duties and obligations
which are not required by law. A citizen who has suffered on account of this
has the right to approach the court for damages.
4. Violation of Rules of Natural Justice : Rules of natural justice are neither
fixed nor formally prescribed in any code. The requirement of natural justice
depends on the circumstances of the case, the nature of the enquiry the rules
under which the action is taken, the subject matter that is being dealt with and
so forth. Where the accused is unaware of the nature of accusation made or
where he gets no opportunity to state his case or where the administrative
adjudicator has not acted in good faith, the rules of natural justice are violated.
5. Violation of the Spirit of the Law : This ground relates with something other
than the formal or external legality of the act. An administrative, authority
rendering decision within its jurisdiction, observing the proper procedure and
respecting the provisions of the governing statutes might be charged with it if it
can be shown that it used its authority for an illicit purpose a purpose other
than that which the legislature must have intended (Income Tax Act, 196l, Sec.-
I328).
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6. Error of Fact Finding : There may be cases in which the official has erred, in
discovering, facts. He way wrongly interprets facts or ignore; them and thus
may act on wrong presumptions. This may affect a citizen adversely and here
may be ground for bringing a case in a court of law.
What Constitutes Abuse of Power ?
(i) It can be inferred where a decision is rendered by a public servant motivated
not by public interest but by some personal interest or acting out of personal
enmity to take vengeance, or taking action with the desire to favor the interest
of third persons at the expense of the petitioner.
(ii) An administrative decision though taken in public, interest but not conforming
to the particular, purpose; for which it was intended.
(iii) Use of regulatory: power to promote, financial interest of the agency itself e.g.,
closing of match factories on the ground of public security, and sanitation,
while in fact to save the amount of compensation to be paid in lieu of the
acquisition to establish state monopoly in matches.
Apart from above situations, abuse of power can be presumed; When a particular;
administrative decision is made with abnormal haste affecting a person adversely; when
there appears discrimination: in applying the law; failure of the record to show any act of the
petitioner that justified the imposition of a penalty, or the non-existence of the reasons given
by the administration as the ground for its action.
17.6.2 Judicial Remedies (Writs)
Dicey’s thesis was based on the premise that the rule of law must mean subjection of
everyone, whether a private citizen or a public official, to ordinary law and the ordinary
courts. Although so many administrative tribunals exist, the above principle is kept intact by
the legal systems of the common law countries by providing for an ultimate control by the
ordinary courts over the administration authorities. A citizen who is aggrieved by an
administrative action is ultimately able to go to the ordinary courts to seek redress. This is
the significant difference between the administrative law of the common law countries and
that of France.
A citizen can move a court in two ways. He may either go in appeal against the action
of an administrative authority if the relevant statutes provide for appeal or he may file a writ
petition.
The term “writ” has been defined in the dictionary as “a formal order under seal,
issued in the name of a sovereign government, court or other competent authority: enjoying
the officer or other person to whom it is issued or addressed to do or refrain from some
specified act.” The distinguishing feature of a writ is that ‘it protects the liberty of the citizen
by speedy and summary imposition, the writs are a product of English legal history and are
regarded in England as one of the most precious possessions.
According to Article 32 (2) of the Constitution the Supreme Court shall have power to
issue directions or orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus,
mandamus, prohibition, quowarranto and certiorari, which ever, may be appropriate, for the
enforcement of any of the rights conferred by this part (Le. part iii-Fundamental Rights).
Similarly, Art. 226 empowers the High Court’s 10 issue the same within their respective
Jurisdiction.
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(a) Habeas Corpus :- Habeas Corpus literally means “You may have the body”. It is
a court order directing an official who has a person in custody to bring the
prisoner to court and to show cause for his detention and to set him free if
there is no legal justification for his confinement. It is a very important writ in
as much as it safeguards the liberty of the citizens. Governments all over the
world tend to acquire the right to detain citizens on grounds of public interest
and hold them in confinement at times without caring to inform them of the
nature of such crime. This writ has thus proved to be in democratic countries
the bulwark of individual freedom against arbitrary detention. Our constitution,
however, authorized parliament and the state legislatures to legislate providing
for preventive detention of a person.
(b) Mandamus :- Mandamus literally means “We Command it is an order issued by
a superior court to an officer, corporation etc. to compel performance of act that
the office has a clear duty to perform in other words, it is a writ issued to public
official to do a thing which is a part of his duty but which he has so far, failed
to do. The peculiarity of the writ is it cannot be claimed as a matter of right. Its
issue is entirely a matter of discretion of the court.
(c) Prohibition :- Prohibition is a writ issued by a superior court to an inferior
court for the purpose of preventing it from usurping jurisdiction with which it is
not vested. This writ is thus of a negative type that is, it commands the lower
court not to do a thing which it is not an authorized to do. This writ can be
claimed by the aggrieved person as a matter of right. A’ prohibition writ can be
issued only against judicial authorities, including of course, quasi-judicial
tribunal, like the Income Tax Commissioners, Election Commission, etc. and it
is not available against executive acts.
(d) Certiorari :- It is another kind of judicial writ which is used by a superior court
transferring the records of proceedings of a case from an inferior court or quasi-
judicial tribunal or authority to the superior court for the purpose of
determining the legality of its proceeding or for giving fuller or more satisfactory
effect to them than could be done in the inferior court.
(e) Quo Warranto :- It literally means “by what authority”. It is a writ issued by the
courts to enquire into the legality of the claim which a party asserts to an office
or franchise and to stop him from its enjoyment if the claim is not well funded
or to have the same declared forfeited. However, office under ‘dispute’ must be
public and the tenure of the office must be substantive. It is not necessary that
the petitioner should he only the legal claimant. Any person whether he has, a
direct interest in the office or not, can file petition for the issue of the writ.
As we have seen above, the judicial remedies available to the citizens and other means
of judicial control over administration are quite comprehensive in India. Still the system is
subject to, some limitations. These are : (i) All administrative actions do not come within the
preview of judicial control. The constitution itself exempts, certain type of acts. Privileges of
the citizens for instance are not reviewable. (ii) The court cannot by itself, take cognizance of
excesses on the part of officials. Somebody from outside must start the judicial process and
there must exist a case or dispute. (iii) The judicial process is very slow and cumbersome. It
follows a certain pattern of procedure which is usually very lengthy and difficult. An ordinary
layman cannot understand it and hence has to seek the help of professional lawyers. (iv) The
justice in India; the procedure being what it is too costly to be accessible to the poor and
183
needy. (v) The government may deprive the person of the remedy granted, to him by the court
by changing the law or rules thereof. (vi) Sometimes, remedies offered by the law court are
inadequate and ineffective. In many cases, especially relating to business activities, mere
announcement of an administrative action or even a reminder concerning a proposed action
may cause an injury to the individual against whom not even a suit can be filed in the law
court.
1. Name any three grounds of judicial control.
2. Name any four types of writs.
17.7 SUMMARY
The enormous expansion of public services has led to the expansion of bureaucracy.
This has also resulted in the multification of the administrative, processes. Whereby making
the bureaucracy most powerful, organ of Govt. Therefore, it is necessary to devise adequate
method of control over the exercise of administrative discretion so that the chances of
maladministration and corruption are reduced. Thus, it is quite obvious that administrative
accountability, is an organisational imperative. Control over administration is exercised by
Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. The executive exercises control through political
direction, financial control, personnel management, efficiency survey, administrative ethics
and executive law making. The means of Legislative control are through general policies and
action. Finances and Parliamentary committees. While the legislative and executive control
over administration is meant for controlling the policy and expenditure of the government,
whereas Judicial control over administration ensures that the legality of the officials’, act
thereby protects the essential rights of the citizens.
17.8 GLOSSARY
 Ethics - Moral principles governing the behavior
 Writ - A form of command of a court/legal authority
 Delegated Legislation - Power delegated or authorized to make laws.
 Adjournment Motion - A resolution or motion to stop the current work of
parliament to draw attention……
1. Bhattacharya, Mohit-l994 Public Administration, the World Press, Calcutta.
2. Indian Journal of Public Administration, special Number on Administrative
Accountability.
184
3. Sharma, M.P. 1983 Public Administration in Theory and Practice, Kitab Mehal,
Allahabad.
4. Sahib Singh and Surinder Singh, Public Administration Theory and Practice,
5. Jain, R.B. Contemporary issues in Indian Administration.
1. Explain the meaning of Accountability, its significance and types.
2. Analyse the effectiveness of legislative control over Administration.
3. List the Grounds for Judicial Review of administrative action and elaborate the
mechanism of Judicial Control.
I. 1. Directions & Instructions, Personnel Administration, Efficiency Surveys.
2. Question Hour, Calling attention Motion, Adjournment Motion, Committees.
3. Public Accounts Committee, Estimates Committee, Committee on Govt.
Assurances.
II. 1. Error of Law, Error of Jurisdiction, Error of facts.
2. Habeas Corpus, Maudamus, Prohibition, Certiorari, Quo Warrants.
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Lesson - 18
CITIZEN AND ADMINISTRATION INTERFACE; CONCEPT AND

PHILOSOPHY; CITIZEN’S CHARTER
Structure
18.0 Objectives
18.1 Introduction
18.2 Conceptual issues: Citizens and Administration
18.3 Need for Citizen Administration Relationship
18.4 Nature of dis-satisfaction
18.5 Perceptions of Citizen Towards Administration
18.6 Methods for Establishing Relations
18.7 Citizen’s Charter
18.7.1 Basic Principles
18.7.2 Key Elements of Setting of Charter
18.8 Summary
18.9 Glossary
18.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading the lesson, you should be able to :
 explain the Conceptual issues involved in understanding the Citizen
Administration Relationship.
 state the need for Citizen Administration Relationship.
 analyse the perceptions of Citizens Towards Administration.
 describe the methods of Establishing Relations through Citizens Charter.
18.1 INTRODUCTION
Public Administration and Citizens are intimately connected with each other. It has
been rightly said that the best form of government is that which satisfies the citizens. It can
be found in the poetic couplet as for forms of government let fools contest whichever is the
best administered is the best. One of the most important factors for the successful
functioning of the administration is the citizens participation in the governance of the
country. Intact, it has a positive role to play irrespective of any political system, it helps in,
building better rapport with the people. In this lesson will examine all these areas along with
a brief comment on the significance of Citizens Charters.
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18.2 CONCEPTUAL ISSUES: CITIZENS AND ADMINISTRATION

The relationship between the citizens depends on the prevailing political system and
prevailing social values. However, in a democratic system like India, the relationship between
the two raises some conceptual issues. That is why it has been pointed out by the scholars
that the structure of bureaucratic organisations provides a set of guiding norms regarding
the relationship between the organization and clientele. These norms have been identified as,
specificity universalism and affective neutrality. Specificity refers to the strictly limited zone
of interaction between the two as formally defined by the organization. Universalism stands
for equal treatment and affective neutrality stands for exhibition of unbiased attitude
towards the client. All these issues have been examined in the Indian context.
Whether we look at government as a process of securing obedience by ultimate resort
to coercive sanctions or as a freely accepted agency for securing common service for the
people, the ultimate test of resulting efficiency is really to be found in the continued
acceptance by the people and in smooth and harmonious performance by the government. In
any case there should be broad concurrence between what the government does and what
the people expect. If there is any imbalance of friction between governmental performance
and the people’s expectations, it can lead to political instability which is dangerous to Public
Administration. No administration can function well without the goodwill of the citizens.
Administration is of concern of every citizen because the services, he receives, the tax
he pays, and even the personal freedom he ‘enjoys depends largely on what Public
Administration does or fails to do. Administration is never something apart from people and
their needs : rather is the means by which these needs are met and, the’ administrator who
thinks of his organization as something, apart from the community will fail to recognize
significant problems and thereby will court disaster. The largest number of people who come
in contact with administration need a sense of understanding, a sense of sympathetic
urgency which can be made meaningful if administration intended to seek their co-operation.
To quote Brook Adams, “Administration is the capacity co-ordinating many, and often
conflicting social energies in a single organism, so adroitly that they may, operate as a unity.
The most conspicuous and essential quality which the new administrator would require is
the sense of identification with the citizens. It is this identity which has been responsible for
the success of the eminent administrators of the past in winning the confidence and affection
of the people, to whom they had served. Hence, there should be harmonious and intimate
relationship between the Public Administration and the citizens.
The participation of people in the formulation and administration of local and national
plans and programmes that effect their wellbeing is particularly important at a time when
developing countries like India are rapidly widening the scope of public services and adopting
chaological, advances for improving their administration. Both developments could make
public administration increasingly complex and more difficult for the mass of citizens to
understand. Imaginative measures are needed to promote and sustain the interest of citizens
in the administration of Public affairs, to give them a sense of participation in the decisions
of government agencies that immediately affect them and to enable them to contribute to”
better administration. Citizen participation in Public Administration is also an important
safeguard against the abuse of administrative authority. It is a method for tapping human
and material resources for development that might, otherwise remain inert. It is a means for
communication to people the result of government action in field that are of interest to them.
To quote Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, “Administration not only has to be good but also to be felt
good by the people.”
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18.3 NEED FOR CITIZEN ADMINISTRATION RELATIONSHIP

1. Administration has no meaning without the citizens - Administration is
manned by and meant for human beings. Administration does not exist for itself, but for the
citizens, Jawahar Lal Nehru while delivering the inaugural address at the Indian Institute of
Public Administration said, “Administration like most things is in the final analysis, a human
problem to deal with human beings, not with some statistical data there is the danger that
pure administrators at the top (not so much at the bottom, because they come into contact
with human beings) may come to regard human beings as mere abstractions. The
administrator may think in abstract of the people he deals with, come to conclusions which
are justifiable apparently, but which miss the human element. After all whatever department
of government, you deal with, it is ultimately a problem of human beings and the moment we
forget them, we are driven away from reality.
Thus, Public Administration is not to exist in some kind of ivory tower. The true test of
Public Administration is the welfare of the people. A.R.C. has also observed in this very
connection that, “If, in the prosperity of the people, lies the strength of a government, it is in
their contentment that lie security and stability, of democracy. In the words of Sir Harold
Scot, “If a wide general knowledge is useful even more valuable is a knowledge of people. It is
very important that the young administrator should not retire into his calls when he leaves
his office, but should mix with all kinds and conditions of people. From them, he will learn
things that are not in his files.”
2. Co-operation essential to make development tasks successful - The large-
scale programme of development which the government has taken upon itself requires
people’s co-operation and even collaboration in many fields of governmental activity. In a
democratic,” set up like India implementation of a plan for economic development is not the
responsibility of the Government alone, but also of the people as well. Every citizen must
contribute his share for the fulfillment of plan objectives. The Fifth Five Year Plan had also
recognised this need. The plan says, the involvement of the people and their elected
representatives is a pre requisite for effective planning. A plan which does not take into
account their aspirations and preferences can have no operational validity, especially since
its successful implementation can be ensured only if the majority of citizens functioning as
entrepreneurs and decision makers in relation to consumption, savings, investment etc.
endorse the envisaged policies and programmes by that whole hearted participation.”
It therefore, follows that all the citizens have a right to participate in administration at
all levels and they should in the interest of efficient functioning of administration in a
democracy exercise this right. It would be improper to describe this participation as
hindrance, nuisance’ interference or obstacle to efficient administration. Citizen
participation, on the other hand, is an important part of the unfolding democratic process
and not only should it be understood and welcomed but the sooner we all learn to use it, the
better it would be for us all. Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the Late Prime Minister of India repeatedly
underlined the need for citizen-satisfaction and citizen-oriented administration. She said, “In
economic development, as in other fields of national activity, there, is a discerning gap
between intention and action. To bridge this gap, we should boldly adopt whatever far
reaching changes in the administration may be found necessary. We must introduce new
organizational patterns and modern tools and techniques of management and
administration. We shall instill into the governmental machinery greater efficiency and make
it more responsive to the needs of the peoples”.
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3. Strengthening the values of democracy - Democracy is based on the

assumption that government is an affair of the governed and that all problems should be
solved in accordance with public opinion freely formed and freely expressed. This
participation develops in them a sense of common interest in common affairs and of the duty
they owe to the community to see that such affairs are efficiently and honestly administered.
Voting in general election once in five years is not enough. The citizen’s continued interest in
government process can be’ kept up by” giving him opportunities of active participation in
the administration of public affairs.
4. Strengthening Socialistic Pattern of Society - The country adopted the
concept of socialistic pattern of society mainly through evolutionary changes in economic,
social and political structures of society with the ultimate purpose of guaranteeing social and
economic justice to all its citizens. These values have been clearly laid down in the preamble
and the Directive Principles of State Policies in the Constitution of India. But these values
could not materialize effectively and emphasis led to democratic socialism. No doubt these
objectives are quite good but to achieve them is a distant dream. However, in the
achievement of these objectives of evolutionary changes in economic and social-political
structure of society, the relation between Administration and citizen will have to be very
dose. Roosevelt has said, “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the
abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too
little. A.P. Barnabas has raised the issue in his article ‘The Bureaucracy and the poor what is
the reality of concept growth with justice. He says, “Administrative behaviour both within the
system and without has not encouraged greater contest with lower classes. Such contact
could at least make the bureaucratic structure more aware of the culture of poverty The
patronizing attitude of the bureaucrats only reminds the under-privileged of his low
status...... When he does not attempt to get at the administration, he is confounded with a
maze of procedures that discourages him there is need serious consideration being given
to reach the poor. It is not merely in intentions but in action that the administrative systems
must show real concern for the people of the lower strata. Without active and meaningful co-
operation of the citizens, no administration can function smoothly and efficiently to give or
‘confer’ benefits. Just as an administration has an obligation to look after the welfare of the
administered, the later also have an implicit obligation to behave in a way that will help
administration to run effectively and efficiently. ‘.
5. To Avoid Social Unrest and Tensions resulting into violence - If the citizen’s
grievances are allowed to mount up, the dis-satisfaction with the administration may add to
existing social unrest and tension. The phenomenon of growing social discontentment which
erupts into frequent acts of violence find substance in the citizen’s frustration with the
administration. It is therefore, necessary that the citizen’s faith in Government, of which the
administration is the Chief Executive Agency should not be allowed to deteriorate, but
should be reinforced adequately. This is important both for political stability and
preservation of the social fabric. For instance, disturbances in Punjab, Gujarat and Assam
and U.P. one of the reasons for political instability was the lack of faith in the Government.
For instance, in Punjab both Hindus and Sikhs lost faith in the elected government and law
and order administration. According S. Radhakrishanan, “No government can be indifferent
to the complaints which are made by ordinary people who suffer from mal-administration. No
Government can turn a blind eye to them, slowly the reputation of the government itself will
sink and social upheavals will be brought about. These words are very much applicable to
the victims after the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. In Punjab Justice Bains Committee
and citizen’s council Committee headed by Justice Sikri proved that most of the persons
189
arrested during Bluestar Operation and thereafter were the victims of maladministration
especially police administration. Even today false encounters are routine exercises in the
States of Punjab, J & K, Assam, Tripura and Andhra Pradesh.
Thus, it is quite obvious that the citizens and Public Administration are intimately
related to each other as the activities of administration today impinge more and more on the
very life of the citizens.
18.4 NATURE OF DIS-SATISFACTION
The dis-satisfaction of the citizens with the administrative machinery has grown in
recent years. There has been a general agreement that the administration has not been able
to provide efficient and timely service. The various studies conducted in this direction have
pointed out that the anti- bureaucracy attitude of the Indian citizens is persisting. A study
carried out by Eldersveld and others sums up the nature of the citizen-administrator
relationship as follows :
“There appears to be a complex attitudinal and perceptional set of expectations about
the citizen’s relationship with administration. The components of the syndrome are : Lack of
self-confidence on the part of the ordinary citizen in dealing directly with officials, a feeling
that the best way to deal with administrators is by enlisting the support of others,
particularly individuals with the right contacts and” political pull, that administrators do not
and will not treat all people equally and that their administrative actions are, final,
complaints availing very little or being difficult to process.”
In a study carried out by A. P. Barnabas on ‘The Experiences of Citizens in Getting
Water Connections in Delhi’ revealed that majority of the respondents were unaware of the
procedure and the conditions governing the provision of water connections and there was a
general feeling that unless “Speed” (money) was paid, the files would not move. The study
concludes that, “One of the most important things that needs to be done is to develop greater
communication between the Administration and the public with regard to the administrative
procedures. Recently it was admitted by the Lt. Governor of Delhi that there is lot of
corruption in the D.D.A., in ‘connection with the allotment of D.D.A. flats and sites to the
people.
In another study, it was told by the citizens that by offering bribes they could get their
cases expedited and the impression was that nothing ever gets done unless bribes are given
to the corporation staff. The study conducted by Dr. Sahib Singh Bhayana on Consumer’s
Satisfaction in Haryana State Electricity Board proved the above-mentioned notion on
corruption.
18.5 PERCEPTIONS OF CITIZENS TOWARDS ADMINISTRATION
A large number of studies have been conducted to measure and understand the
reaction of the citizens towards administration. We can classify such observations in the
following categories:
1. Delay in provision of Supplies and Services : The delays in the provision of
supplies and services are quite marked and the problems are very much acute in the case of
supply of essential goods.
2. Inconvenience and Harassment : The citizens, particularly villagers, are put
to great inconvenience, hardships and even harassment in trying to secure the fulfillment of
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their legitimate demands on the administration. The villagers are generally treated with great
rudeness and callousness by the officers.
3. Lack of Fair Play : A vast majority of the citizens felt that the decisions of the
administration on citizen’s requests for services and facilities were mostly tempered on
political and parochial considerations. Smooth and healthy citizen administration relations
are at present greatly marred by the growing favouritism and patronage which is being
shown both by civil servants and the elected representatives.
4. Inordinate Delay : Delays are a normal feature of Indian Administration.
Lengthy and complicated procedures are responsible for delays. But the main cause of delay
has been due to laxity of administration, and supervision, lack of interest and sensitiveness
to public interest than due to the complexity of rules and procedures. Delay has been rightly
said to be the mother of corruption.
5. Corruption : The problem of corruption in administration has assumed a great
dimension. The vast majority of the citizens feel that it was not easy to get the work done
without greasing the palm of the officials. Corrupt practices constitute vicious circle, and it is
difficult to say who is corrupt, the officials or the citizens. There prevails among the public a
considerable degree of feeling that there is a deliberate delay, harassment and discourtesy in
many departments. On the contrary the officials feel that public wants to get things done
expeditiously or out of turn and even without completing all the formalities. It is, however
established that corruption is becoming a matter of habit, a way of life.
6. Lack of Identity of Purpose among the Officials : There is a general feeling
among the citizen that they are not being treated in a dignified way by the officials. The idea
that the government machinery exists to serve the citizens who pay for it, has not been fully
understood particularly at the middle and lower levels. It was found in a study carried out by
A.P. Barnabas that the citizens are alienated ‘from the administration. It states, “When
questioned as to what the villagers do if they had a complaint, only about one-fourth said
that they would complain to the higher officials. The major reason mentioned for not doing
anything was that they felt that the officials would do nothing about it or that they were not
easily accessible. It means that the citizens have no faith in the Machinery of Government. It
can be assessed from the answers of many that the existence or absence of administration is
immaterial to them.”
Let us now discuss in brief the findings of the studies carried out by ARC in one
district each, of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. According to U.P. study, there were
nine main grievances mentioned by citizens against the district administration.
(i) Unhelpful attitude on the part of the officials.
(ii) Inordinate delay in transacting Government business.
(iii) Corruption among the officials.
(iv) Non-availability of essential commodities.
(v) Lack of proper attention from Government agencies providing service to the
common man, e.g. Government Hospitals do not attend the patients properly.
(vi) Favouritism and nepotism in dealing with the general public.
(vii) Unsatisfactory progress of the Community Development Programmes.
(viii) Public dissatisfaction with the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
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(ix) The inefficient machinery for redress of public grievances at the district level.
The M. P. study listed the following main grievances :
(a) Delays caused by faulty procedures :
(b) Delays caused by lack of co-ordination – both inter-departmental and
intradepartmental:
(c) Delay caused by excessive workload on the Government officials :
(d) Discourteous and unhelpful attitude on the part of Government officials :
(e) Intentional delays:
(f) Delays for non-material gains e.g. favouritism or graft.
The nature and extent of citizens’ feeling differ from one sector of administration to
another. Citizens are very critical about some services while less critical about other services.
Let us examine the reactions of the citizens to Police Services. Most of the studies carried,
out point out utter’ dissatisfaction of the people towards police administration. Police in any
society represents a precondition for the establishment and maintenance of social order.
Politicians, civilians, criminals and citizens all need Police, Democracy, Development and
welfare are understood by the people in terms of their perceptions of the police rule and
cognitions and experiences of police behaviour vis-a-vis political situations in a country. But
the people in India had a very bad image of police. In a seminar held at Osmania University,
it was observed
“Thus the police are widely believed to be : (a) mentally ill-equipped;’ (b) unhelpful, (c)
rude and overbearing to approach, (d) dishonest and in league with the under-world, and (e)
addicted to third degree methods and framing of false cases. In short, a policeman is an
embodiment of all that is to be abhorred.
Mr. G.C. Singhvi has classified’ the nature of grievances which the people nurse
against the police as :
(i) Corruption - Demand an acceptance of bribery in cash or kind for doing or not
doing things.
(ii) Favouritism - Doing or not doing for obliging people: in power or people who
matter.
(iii) Use of Third-degree Methods - Beating, torture, wrongful confinement, or
harassment of suspects and/or witnesses.
(iv) Discourtesy - Use of abusive language or other type of misbehavior.
(v) Neglect of Duty - Not doing things which the law requires the police to do.
(vi) Ignoring the Complaints - Ignoring the poor and the uninfluential citizens’
genuine complaints.
18.6 METHODS FOR ESTABLISHING RELATIONS
The citizen is also similarly critical of other services but to a lesser extent. It is
admitted that the relationship between the citizens and administration is not cordial. Let us
now discuss some of the methods by which we can establish harmonious relationship
between the citizen and administration.
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1. Enlightened Citizenship - For the success of democracy and for the

administration of function effectively and efficiently the citizen has also to be equipped for
being a good citizen. Citizen should be well enlightened; It has been rightly said by the poet
that it is not gold but only men of right quality who can make a nation great and strong. “The
citizen” fails to have confidence in himself - a confidence that comes out of being important
and useful to society. Confidence in oneself is necessary for being self-reliant, disciplined and
work oriented a condition that is a basic necessity for the success of a democracy. In order to
improve the relationship between citizens and administration, Prof. B.S. Khanna has
suggested that the programmes of human and socio-economic development are necessary to
bring about structural and behavioural changes on the following lines :
(a) Lessening substantially the rigidities of social stratification and achieving
increasing egalitarianism (Social and Economic).
(b) Removing of poverty, social backwardness and injustice.
(c) Stimulating the organization of more and more “groups with socio-political
objectives ‘to aggregate, articulate and safeguard and the interests of the
citizens.
(d) Achieving a suitable equilibrium between consensus and dissent so as to avoid
regimentation as well as social fragmentation.
2. Setting up of Citizens’ Association and other Voluntary Organizations -
There should be a network of citizens’ organisations, citizens’ forums etc. as a constituent
element of the administrative organisation. It has been suggested in Public Administration is
Second United Nations Development Decade that, “This calls for development of systems of
Public information to keep citizens as fully informed as possible of government plans and
policies, and the utilization of voluntary citizen councils, consultative groups, civic groups
and other methods of citizen participation for purposes of consultation, advice and guidance
in decision-making on governmental proposals and their implementation, comparative study
and exchange of experience relating to both employee and citizen participation practices are
recommended. Care is to be taken in this connection that the achievement of good relations
between the government and the public is a matter which does not by any means depends,
solely on the conduct and behaviour of civil service. It also depends equally on the attitude of
citizens of associations of kinds and other unofficial bodies. These bodies must take active
‘interest in the affairs of the public. Such citizens ‘participation will’ impart Indian democracy
the vitality in needs and a quality it could achieve. These associations can perform the
following functions :
(a) Provision of information and advice to the citizens in the making of applications
and complaints.
(b) Educating the citizens in regard to their duties to the State and advising them
about what should not be expected from administration.
(c) Lending support to the citizen’s genuine demand and complaints.
(d) Bringing to bear influence on the government departments and agencies for
improvement of policies, programmes and procedures in the interest of the
citizens’ welfare and satisfaction.
(e) Promotion of high standards of public morality.
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3. Effective Public Relation units in on Administrative Organisation - To

improve understanding between the citizens and administration, public relations are to be
developed. Its aim should be to develop cordial, equitable and therefore mutually profitable
relations between the Government and the citizens it serves. Due care should be taken that
the public relation should not degenerate into a propaganda machinery, “Public relations
activities must be honest truthful, open, authoritative and responsible; they must be fair and
realistic, and they must be conducted in the public interest.” Due safeguards are therefore
necessary to make public relations effective for two-way and authentic communication
nerves of government. This traffic can be best organised by professional public relations men,
but at the lowest levels of administration, the administrative personnel must do their own
public relations. According to F.C. Gera, “It is not enough for mass media to be blaring forth
statements in Government policies and programmes. There must be deliberate and organised
attempts also to assess the needs of the people to listen to their grievances and redress them.
And the people, particularly the uneducated people must be treated with courtesy instead of
being shouted at and compelled to shell out bribes”. All this requires deliberate scientific and
well-conceived public relations work.
4. Administrative Improvements - After Independence, the administrative
machinery of India advanced considerably both in magnitude and direction’. Administrative
efficiency is the most urgent demand of the day. Most of the grievances of the citizens are
because of the apathy of the administration and lack of dynamic administration. An
International group of Public Administration experts has also stressed upon this,
“Disfunctional and inapplicable administrative structures, system and practices must be
replaced. Nothing less than dynamic organisation, resourceful management and streamlined
administrative processes will suffice...... the torturous time-consuming routines, special
privileges, corruption, indolence often encumbering any governmental bureaucracies, civil
services have no place in development administration. This calls for continuous, action to
foster honesty and integrity and to weed out corruption as well as to develop preventive
measures. Pt. Nehru has once said that the basic objective of an administration should be
inscribed in the room and on the walls of the administration i.e. Where we are going to? This
according to him, had to be remembered”. This’ experience may well be considered as the
desirable stipulating the ratio of relationship between administration and the citizen.
5. Effective Machinery for the Redress of Grievances - The administrative
machinery for redress of citizen’s complaints largely consists of (a) traditional hierarchical-
channels of redress (b) Inter-departmental special machinery such as complaint cell,
reception cum enquiry counters and Public Relation Units, (c) Supra-departmental agencies
like the district level complain committee, units or directorate grievances attached to the
Chief Minister’s office in the States and the General Directorates of Grievances in the
Government of India, and (d) Procedures of on the spot redress by the District Collector and
Minister. The Government of India and all the states should be serious and sincere for the
redressal of their grievances. There are also available to the citizens additional channels of
redress : such as the courts,’ administrative tribunals, the legislature and its committees,
citizens’ associations, voluntary organisations and advisory bodies set up by the
Government. Besides, Lokayuktas have been appointed in some of the states.
The existing machinery of the redress of the citizens grievances is inadequate in
several respects, ineffective for the most part and fails to inspire the people’s confidence in
fair play and impartiality of the administration. Besides, the earlier efforts made in this
direction were largely of an ad hoc character. There has been no overall and comprehensive
policy on the subject.
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The Scandinavian office of Ombudsman has been adopted in a number of countries as

a device for protecting the citizen against administrative arbitrariness. Ombudsman is an
officer of the legislature who investigates the complaints received from the citizens about
administrative lapses and malpractices and tries to provide a remedy for them if the
allegations-turn out to be correct. The experience of the working of this institution is fruitful.
So, there is a need of this type of institution in India, popularly known as Lok Pal and Lok
Aayuktas, in addition to democratic apparatus already available. It can perform three
important functions. Firstly; it can provide a mechanism of compensation for the
inadequacies of the administrative system in meeting the citizens’ genuine claims and
demands and provide relief to the citizens in matters of administrative injustice and
mal•administration. Secondly, the redress machinery can be helpful in facilitating the
adaptation of the administrative system to the environmental demands and - challenges.
Thirdly, it can serve as a useful instrument of control over the bureaucracy.
The institutions of Lok Pal deserve fair and cautious trial. It has been suggested that
with adequate protective safeguard and practical precautions in the appointment of such a
‘functionary, the institution may well turn out to be an answer for the increasing
malfunctioning of administrative machinery at least within Central Government of India. The
crucial point in this context is the confidence and faith with which such an institution is
endowed. Presumably, he would have to be a well-known public personality, who commands
respect from the general public, political parties and administrative officials alike. His
continued success would certainly bring legitimacy to the system and institution of
‘Ombudsman’ in this country. Besides the machinery for the redress or citizen, grievances at
the top and middle levels there is an urgent need for these grievances to be looked into at the
lower levels i.e. from where these grievances arise. In this connection, Punjab Administrative
Reforms Commission observed, “Those who have grievances should not be encouraged to
jump levels. The lowest competent authority should be encouraged, permitted and if
necessary compelled to look into a grievance and take action upon it.” Article 97 of the
Chinese constitution would be found interesting in this regard. Citizens of People’s Republic
of China have the right to bring complaints against any person working in organs of State for
transgression of law or neglect of duty by making written or verbal statement to any organ of
State at any level. People, suffering loss by reason of their rights citizens have the right of
Compensation.
6. Reorientation of Attitude of Civil Services - A democratic reorientation of the
attitudes of the officials towards the citizens has become very much necessary for the
prevention of the citizen’s complaints and their prompt redress, Administrators should pay
greater attention to the opinions of the people, Reorientation of the attitudes of the officials
towards the citizens is a very difficult task. It wins require an attack on several fronts such
as’ in service training recruitment from a wider social case, special assignments in rural
areas and he like. The public servant of today should not only possess traditional service
virtues like efficiency, integrity, and loyalty but should also shake off all the feelings of
exclusiveness and superiority. There should be a desire to establish contacts with the
citizens/to understand their problems. Unless the change in the attitudes of Civil servants is
brought about, all other measures to deal with the citizen’s grievances will be of limited use.
7. Simplification of Procedures - Besides the administrative reforms and
improvements, there should be immediate simplification procedures. Most of the complaints
of the citizens are the result of complication procedures. Simplification of the procedures
should take place into matters like :
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(a) Regard for public comfort and convenience.

(b) Speed in disposal of applications.
(c) Minimum inter-departmental/office references.
(d) Reduction in the number of levels required to examine cases.
(e) Reduction in the number of agencies with which the citizens have to deal with.
1. List any four Major shortcomings of Administration.
2. Write any three ways of improving citizen administration relations.
18.7 CITIZENS CHARTER - MEANING, OBJECTIVES AND PRINCIPLES

In Simple words, citizens charter are the declarations made by the government
agencies regarding the services they have to provide to the citizens— based upon citizens’
needs and desires. In other words, in response to the popular demands these charters
include the list of functions and duties to be performed by administration. It places the
citizen at the center of administration instead of making him a passive recipient of services—
rendered indifferently with no concern for quality, timeliness or cost. A citizens’ charter helps
to present a complete manifesto. It projects the needs put forth, instead of the government
saying what services they are delivering. If not satisfied, citizens can go to the consumer
protection court.
Citizen’s charters help in molding the services as per people’s needs and to evaluate
them, with people’s participation. Citizens themselves decide the services which they need,
design and manage the economics of delivering services, and evaluate these. This process
proves successful, if a few services are taken and carried out at a time; with user
participation. Though the charter is not proposed to be made justifiable, it would carry moral
commitment of the government and provide a framework under which public service can be
evaluated. It is expected that enactment and implementation of citizens’ charters will help
public administration in providing public service and help increase accountability,
transparency, popular participation, and get grievances redressal regarding the functioning
of government departments and public administration.
18.7.1 Basic Principles
The concept of citizens’ charter is based on the principles of :
1. wide publicity of standards of performance of public agencies and local bodies;
2. assured quality of service;
3. access to information and courtesy and helpfulness of staff;
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4. choice and consultation with the citizens;

5. simplified and convenient procedure for receipt and acknowledgment of
complaints and time-bound redressal of grievances; and
6. the provision for independent scrutiny of performance with the involvement of
citizen groups.
18.7.2 Key Elements of Setting of Charter
The key elements in the setting of citizens’ charters can be spelled out as under :
1. Standards. Setting, monitoring and publication of explicit standards for the
services that individual users can reasonably expect. Publication of actual performance
against these standards.
2. Information and Openness. Full, accurate information, readily available in
plain language, about how well they perform and who is in charge.
3. Choice and Consultation. The public sector should provide choice wherever
practicable. There should be regular and systematic consultation with those, who use
services. User’s views about services and their priorities are to be taken into account for final
decision on standards.
4. Courtesy and Helpfulness. Courtesy and helpful service from public servants
who will normally wear name badge. Service available equally to all who are entitled to them
and run to suit their convenience.
5. Putting Things Right. If things go wrong, an apology, a full explanation, and a
swift and effective remedy to be offered. Well published and easy to use complaint procedures
with independent reviews, wherever possible, to be introduced and maintained.
6. Value for Money. Efficient and economical delivery of public services within
the resources, the nation can afford. And, independent validation of performance against
standards.
In order to accomplish this task. Government has directed that each Central
Government Department and its public agencies should work out its own Citizens’ Charter
and related actions in terms of the nature of work and, more importantly, the groups of
clients or members of the public, geographical concept, nature of regulatory function and
paid for services. It should also evolve a plan containing both long-term and short-term
moving targets for improved public satisfaction and efficient performance through systems
improvement, technological and information inputs, staff orientation, work place changes,
use of alternative providers, partnership with citizen groups, voluntary agencies and the
corporate sector, etc. An in-built machinery is to be set up in each Ministry Department for
independent system auditing and periodic monitoring of performance with reference to the
Charter principles and to attend to the capacity building and orientation of the staff. It is
envisaged that consumer organisations, citizen groups, experts, retired public servants,
elected representatives and others are involved in this process of formulation and scrutiny of
performance so as to ensure that the commitments made actually meet the needs of the
people. Once the areas of activities sought to be improved are streamlined, adequate
publicity will be given so that the people are made aware of proposed changes. The entire
process will be monitored periodically by a core group under the Cabinet Secretary.
The concept of citizen’s charter was initiated by ‘Common Cause’ in 1994 and has
found wide acceptance in many countries, especially the UK. In Northern Ireland, the
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citizens’ charter covers all public services. Here too, citizens’ charters aim at demanding from
the government and the service organisations the fundamentals of accountability,
transparency, quality and choice of services provided by them to the people. It is believed
that departments/agencies need to be organised to provide better service that can be
translated into action. In order to raise the standard of public services by making them more
responsive to the wishes and needs of the users, then Prime Minister John Major launched
the strategy of the Citizen’s Charter in June, 1991. In U.K., the four main themes to Charter
strategy are quality, choice, standards and value. It is based on the recognition that all
public services are paid for by individual citizens, either directly or through taxes. Therefore,
they are entitled to accept high quality services, responsive to their needs, provided efficiently
at a reasonable cost. Where the State is engaged in regulating, taxing or administering
justice, these functions too must be carried out fairly, effectively and courteously.
1. Any three principles of Citizen Charter.
2. Any three key elements of setting of charters.
18.8 SUMMARY
Public Administration and Citizens are intimately connected with each other. That is
why, it has been opined by scholars that the best form of government is that which satisfies
the citizen. The relationship between the two raises some conceptual issues. The same have
been identified as specificity universalism and affective neutrality. The major facts
underlining the significance and need of interrelationship are: administration has no
meaning without citizens strengthening the value of democracy and strengthening of
socialistic pattern of society ext. Citizen’s Perceptions towards administration pertain to
delay in provision of supplies and services in convenience and harassment corruption and
lack of identity of purpose among the officials. Some of the methods by which we can
establish harmonious relations between citizens and administration are setting up of
citizen’s associations and other voluntary organisations, enlightened citizenship, effective
public relations, units, administrative, improvements effective machinery for the redress of
grievances and simplification of procedures etc. In ultimate analysis we can say that the
government must recognize the need for evolving methods for effective participation. In this
regard citizens charter is a right step which will not only lead to better citizen administration
relations but will also go a long way to improve the administrative delivery system and
effectiveness.
18.9 GLOSSARY
 Effectiveness - Degree to which something in successful to
achieve.
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 Enlightened Citizenry - Population which is educated or guided by

rational thoughts
 Charter - Grant of authority of rights
 Courtesy - Thoughtfulness / Kindness
 Grievances - A statement of complaint / Cause of unfairness.

Bynoe, Ian. (1996). Beyond the Citizens’ Charters - New Directions for Social Rights,
Institute of Public Policy Research: London.
Citizens Charters – A Handbook. (2008). Centre for Good Governance: Bangalore
Citizens Charters – A Handbook Government of India Ministry of Personnel Public
Grievances and Pension Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances,
New Delhi.
Gupta, Dipankar (2017). From ‘People’ to ‘Citizen’: Democracy’s Must Take Road. New
Delhi: Social Science Press.
Madsen, Pirie. (1991). Citizens Charter. Adam Smith Institute: London
Paul, Samuel. (2008). “India's Citizen's Charters: In Search of a Champion”, Economic
And Political Weekly, Vol. 43, No. 7 (February 16 - 22), pp. 67-73.
1. What is the significance of Citizen Administration Relationship ?
2. State the conceptual issues involved in Citizen Administration Relationship.
3. Explain the methods for Establishing Relations.
I. (a) Inefficiency (delays), Corruption, non-professional approach, Lack of
accountability and Poor responsiveness.
(b) Transparency (openness), Training, Effective public relation units; Setting up of
effective grievance redressal mechanism.
II. (a) Wide publicity of standards, Assured Quality, Citizen's Choice time bound
services.
(b) Fixing of standards, offering alternates/ choices, Helpfulness, Value for Money.
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Lesson - 19
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS: CONCEPT AND PHILOSOPHY

Structure
19.0 Objectives
19.1 Introduction
19.2 Meaning, focus and Types
19.3 Major Problems
19.4 Strategic Errors in Reforms
19.5 Prerequisites for successful Reforms
19.6 Administrative Reforms in India
19.7 Administrative Reforms: An Overview
19.8 Summary

19.0 OBJECTIVES
 explain the basic need of administrative reforms.
 list the problems of reforms.
 elaborate the prerequisites of successful reforms.
 describe the reform efforts in India.
19.1 INTRODUCTION
As noted in a number of previous lessons, public administration is under pressure
from various corners to be more effective, responsive, efficient and so on. In fact,
governments of our contemporary world are under heavy demand for change and innovations
both in their policies and in their organization and procedures The increase in the number
and complexity of functions that have to be performed by the modern state has resulted in
an administrative lag. A serious imbalance exists between aspirations and performance,
between the needs to be met and the adequacy of administrative machinery to carry them
out. To meet even a part of its growing responsibilities, the modern welfare state must
develop administrative capability and must mend its procedures did delivery system, and
must become open, receptive, responsive and effective. All this calls for administrative
reforms and innovations as a continuous affair in this lesson we’ll examine the nature and
types of reforms, hurdles, prerequisites for better results and we’ll also examine the Indian
experience.
19.2 MEANING, FOCUS AND TYPES
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Administrative reforms essentially relate to ‘change’ in administration which is carried

out in a deliberate and planned manner. Gerald Caiden defines it as “the artificial
inducement of administration transformation against resistance. Reform movements where
they have been initiated have begun with the intention of removing obstacles to change or of
improving on the results of change where it (change) is being accommodated. It is artificial
because this change is not natural or accidental but deliberate and planned. It is induced,
because it involves persuation, argument and the ultimate threat of sanctions it is not
universally accepted as.
BASIC PREMISES
In the opinion of Gerald E. Caiden, administrative reform is based on certain
premises; rarely articulated by administrative reforms who believe them to be self-evident.
The first is the imperfectability of human institutions. No matter how much mankind
improves itself, it can always to better. Nothing is yet perfect. Perfection is still beyond
mankind’s reach. In truth human institutions are far from perfect. There are glaring
imperfections that cry out for improvement and drastic change. Mankind is still
experimenting with what works and what does not work. Only the exceptionally privileged
can be content with the status quo and even they must fear about the state of world affairs.
It seems that for every two steps forward, mankind slips back a step and more. Progress is
painfully slow and while in recent centuries mankind’s economic prospect has improved, it is
still beset with religious hatred, racial discrimination, social dissent and national rivalries
that threaten at any moment to end civilization altogether and perhaps all human life on the
planet. All administrative systems are capable of improvement, no matter how well they may
be performing.
The second premise behind administrative reform is that large organizations,
particularly large public organizations tend to become conservative, if not complacent.
Success-breeds fixation rather than flexibility. Organizations stick to well proved formula.
They prefer administrative systems that work reasonably well rather than risk all on
unproven innovations or uncertain changes. They do this even through conditions overtake
them and seemingly everyone else can see that they are heading for trouble. Postmortems
consistently reveal how often obvious warnings were ignored and how frequently
disconcerting reality was distorted to comforting preconceptions, unit was too late to head off
the disaster that was bound, sooner or, later, to occur. Public organizations are prone to
greater caution and narrower vision because they are inherently subordinate institutions,
depend on the will (or lack of will) of their political overseers, because they are publicly
responsible and must judge to the best of their ability how the public will react and what is
best in the public interest, because they are so regulated, and cumbrous in operation that
they cannot take high risks (or indeed any risks), and more questionably, because their
administrative systems handicap the unusual, the dynamic, and the change agents. Nobody
wants to see public servants playing fast and loose with national security, public safety,
economic well-being, political compromise and social harmony, even when they are expected
to be right.
A third premise is that, given the highly conservative disposition of most public
organisations, innovation permeates slowly. Even when a better way of doing things has been
found, there is reluctance to try it. Always, somebody else has to demonstrate the
effectiveness of innovation; always the evidence has to be examined and reexamined until
any shadow of doubt is removed. Always, it takes considerable time, effort, energy and
conviction to incorporate innovations. In the meantime, the outmoded and outdated system
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and processes persist and they are perpetuated unless firm and drastic action is taken all
the way down the line to see that things are changed. Likewise; there is a considerable gap
between research and application. Research may prove that administrative processes are
wrong or bad or ineffective and while it may not suggest what should be done, it does point
to what should be stopped. Of course, the better research suggests alternatives that are,
feasible. Yet the result may be suppressed by those who are too wedded to the status quo to
change their ways or they may be discounted by those who are too lazy to question what’
they could do differently. In any event, there is a gap, often a widening gap, between what is
being done and could and should be done.
As these three premises are rarely incorrect, there is a permanent place for
administrative reform in the study and practice of public administration. For this reason,
administrative reform is becoming increasing institutionalized. Every public administrator is
trained and encouraged to be his or her own reformer. Even public organisation is expected
to keep up with he state of the art, to promote innovation and to adopt professionally
accredited research recommendations. Every public profession has established some sort of
governance system that maintains professional standards by penalizing professional
malpractice and insisting on ever rising professional entry standards, and publicizing
advances in professional practice. Every public inspection or audit has taken upon itself the
duty not only of pointing out errors and mistakes but of suggesting ways and means by
which errors and mistakes might be reduced.
TYPES OF REFORMS
For the academic purpose we may first take up the basic types of reforms : Policy and
Procedural reforms.
Policy reforms or innovations may be defined as changes which include government
purpose which embark it upon a new course of action or work more sharply on existing
activities or reversing some present policies.
Procedural innovations, include primary changes in the government’s methods of
carrying out its programmes
Reforms can also be large scale i.e. state wide and covering most of government
activities – policy wise as well as procedural reforms or–the reforms may be partial or
sectorial focusing on selected activities or departments. That in how much and what to be
changed.
Another way of classifying reforms is focusing in the three basic elements of
administrative organizations : Structural, Procedural and Behavioural. As their titles suggest,
structural reform focus mainly on the organizational and functional aspects. Procedural
reforms are generally focused on amending rules, work procedures, simplification,
transparancy, and the generally attempt to reduce red type. Behavioural reform relatively
new concept, may involve focusing on better inter personal relations, receptiveness,
sensitivity and improving overall behavioural train through training and other modes.
19.3 MAJOR PROBLEMS
The worldwide recession has diminished funds available for new investment and
capital maintenance, particularly large-scale public works, local government services and
public utilities. Governments have difficulty in making the ends meet and they have been
reducing the number of people they employ and cutting back on their conditions of
employment. Where governments cannot eliminate or drastically reduce their activities, the
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emphasis is on trying to maintain the current-level and quality of public goods and services
while reducing costs. The aim is greater value from public expenditure and higher,
productivity from public organisations. Administrative reform is disguised in more publicly
appealing slogans as privatisation’, ‘cutback management’, ‘streamlining’, ‘modernisation’,
‘simplication’, and “redeployment”. Under this guise, all kinds of administrative reform plans
and proposals are being revived, revised and implemented. Changes that have long been
needed are now being done such. With a receptive climate, much more radical proposals are
being aired preparing the way to a great deal of house-cleaning and dying up. Administrative
reformers are seizing the opportunity to pose fundamental questions about the nature and
size of the administrative state, the need for so much administrative regulation, the efficiency
of public monopolies the productivity of public services, and the competence of public
servants.
Such fundamental issues have long been raised by administrative, reformers. The
difference now is that they are getting a response, sometimes not to their liking at all,
Extreme anti-statist ideologies have seized upon their criticisms of public maladministration,
exaggerated them and entered battle to do away with public administration altogether. More
moderate ideologies want to retain the warfare state and some of the regulatory state but
abandon the welfare state. Businessmen, also armed with well-founded criticisms of the
public sector, claim that all that has to be done is to run government like a business and to
Convert public organizations into business organisations, overlooking the obvious point that
the aims, structure, activities and responsibilities of government are quite dissimilar to
business and require different operating procedures, as businessmen quickly find out when
they are called upon to run, public organisations. Every conceivable crank, guru, philosopher-
king, and expert is touting his or her nostrums as administrative reform, without caring
about or knowing or understanding the logic of public administration.
Administrative reform need make no apology for its apparent lack of success. Without
it, public administration would be in far worse condition and the world a far worse place to
live in. We must look back from where we have come before we complain how far off, we are
from our goals. Administrative systems take considerable time and patience to assemble into
acceptable working models. Trial and error are the process; gradually we learn what to do
and what to avoid. However, whatever is done will never satisfy reformers for that is the
nature of reformers not to be content with what others accept. Yet to improve those systems
to make them, work better, who requires” time and patience, also involves trial and error,
also means settling for what one can get rather than what one envisions. If administrative
systems where capable of instant transformation, they would not be what they are and, what
people, however grudgingly admire in them - their stability, their reliability, their
dependability, their trustworthiness and their ability to function under normal
circumstances. The process of reform cannot be speeded up unnaturally without damaging
the reform. Nonetheless, it is no excuse for complacency, for not doing everything possible to
end public malpractices and to rid public office of unworthy incumbents. The public certainly
deserves better.
19.4 STRATEGICAL ERRORS IN ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM
It is cause for concern everywhere that administrative reform fallen far short of what
the public deserves and what the public should obtain from the profession of public
management. The tragedy is that the victims of public malpractices are defenseless. In legal
systems, whatever punishment of reform treatment is decided for the perpetrators of crime
the victims of crime cannot be adequately compensated. The damage to them has been done;
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It cannot be undone. Their small victory is that perhaps further damage may be prevented.
As long as criminal exists, the damage continues and the fear of damage makes life
uncomfortable for all. In administrative systems, so long as public malpractices persist, the
direct victims suffer permanent damage and everybody else fears that he or she may become
a victim at any time and without warning. In the case of crime, the damage caused by
murder and theft is obvious. In the case of public malpractices, the damage to countless
victims may not be obvious to them or anyone else. Scarce public resources are mal-
distributed by fraud, diverted by corruption and frittered away by waste with a few gaining at
the cost of the many whose lives are needlessly impoverished thereby. Among the
impoverished are people who die before their time, suffer unnecessary pain and languish in
ignorance and people who are humiliated, abused, terrorized, and never know why it
happened or who was responsible.
None of the drama is caught adequately if at all by the antiseptic phrases used in
administrative reform, such as “incapability of obtaining the required results through
organizations” (United Nations Document ST/TAO/ M/52) and “inability, to implement social
and economic programmes to improve public welfare” (IIAS, 1981, Canberra Round Table) or
bland descriptions of bottlenecks in the delivery of welfare services, lack of coordination
among public agencies which work at cross purposes, incompetent management of public
utilities, bureaucratic rigidity and excessive red-tape in government’ operations and lack of
professionalism in public policy -makers. Somehow the language employed in administrative
reform seems to divorce public maladministration’ from its victims.
Such abstraction not only divorces public administration from the world of their
clients but it also distorts the perspective of administrative reform in seeing the complex
reality of administrative systems as experienced by public administrators. Public
administrators are busy people: they rarely can stand back from the job and see what is
happening around them, because of them and to them. Administrative reformers can stand
back but when they do so they tend to lose the flavour of administration. Instead, they see
frameworks structures, laws, positions, budgets, directives, files-all of them lifeless. So, their
reforms relate to the formal aspects of administration, and are similarly lifeless. Passionate
denunciations of corruption are meaningless unless major culprits are banished from public
office, their ill-gotten gains seized and the opportunities for corruption are diminished by
overhauling administrative procedures, strengthening inspection and audit, and vigorous law
enforcement. Redesigning training courses similarly lacks conviction unless there are
properly qualified trainers to teach the new syllabus and well-selected trainees, who will be
given the opportunity to practice what they have learnt. Too often administrative reformers
stop at recommending reforms in formal structures instead of following through to pinpoint
exactly now and who should implement the reforms and help in the implementation, taking
into account the real-life situation of public administrators and the informal methods they
use to get things done.
This concentration in formal structures leads to other strategic errors. First, as there
is likely to be much similarity among formal structures, administration, reformers tend to
copy or borrow from one another instead of looking at the more important differences in
informal behaviour patterns. Second reforms in the formal structure alone may not have
impact on the informal behaviour patterns at all. Reforms may, therefore, be purely cosmetic,
leaving untouched the real causes of public malpractices. Third, over concentration on the
purely administrative aspects of public organisations neglects their political nature and the
supremacy of political values over managerial goals. It also ignores the real world of
bureaucratic politics and inter-agency conflicts. Fourth, administrative reforms cannot patch
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up faulty public policies or solve social problems or resolve ideological disputes. On, the
contrary, they may serve merely to perpetuate bad policies, out-mode organizations and poor
public services. Fifth, in, assuming an intellectual or professional superiority, administrative
reformers offend the insiders, the public administrators, whose attitudes, actions and
behaviors have to be changed most for reform to work Reform should be conceived not as ‘A’
telling ‘B’ what to do, but as a partnership between ‘A’ and ‘B’: Sixth, both reformers and,
public administrators leave out of the equation the public, the clients and consumers of
public goods and services. Presumably, the public are the target beneficiaries, not the
reformers so the public administrators. It may well be, that from a public perspective, the
clients are being made to serve the administrators and that the ‘reforms are all for the
convenience of the administrators. Finally, administrative reform itself is based on
assumptions about administrative technology administrative infrastructure and
administrative capacity that may not exist or is so deficient that no reform programme,
however well-conceived and suitable, will work. In this case, the priority should be given to
building administrative capacity rather than to a reform programme that may worsen
matters. The law of the situation should, as always, determine strategy and tactics.
19.5 PREREQUISITES FOR SUCCESSFUL REFORMS
The growing literature on administrative reform re-emphasizes certain fundamentals;
Administrative reform will not be effective unless there is strong political and public support
for it, unless the public administrators are willing participants, and unless a capacity for
administrative reform exists. The weakest point in the reform cycle is not diagnosis or’
formulation but implementation. To improve their effectiveness, a reform programme
requires, an institutional base, preferably at the center of government on going persistent,
patient efforts, and constant reappraisal and modification geared to improve public sector
performance, that is, in terms of a country’s ability to define problems, determine policies
and programmes, assign priorities among competing demands, ‘allocate resources, use
science and technology, mobilize talent and provide public goods and services in an effective,
responsible, efficient productive, equitable and economic manner. They also need to be
combined with administrative revitalization, that is more integrally evaluative, self-critically
experimental, and reflectively corrective modes of public administration.
Based on these fundamentals, the following guidelines in administrative reform are
fairly obvious to articulate.
1. Develop sufficient administrative capacity, infrastructure and technology
‘support on-going reform programme.
2. Cultivate continuous political, professional and public interest in improving
public sector performance.
3. Encourage public administrators to be their own innovators, change-agents and
reformers.
4. Institutionalize a reform programme.
5. Insist that reform implementation be a collaborative effort.
6. Treat administrative reform as an interdisciplinary affair.
7. Devise appropriate monitoring and evaluation instruments.
8. Demonstrate the benefits derived, from reforms and improved public sector
performance.
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9. Demand the highest possible standards of public professionalism and public

ethics.
10. Be practical at all times.
Such guidelines, however, do not point to substantive priorities. It is very well known
as to what should be done, but where should one begin and where should effort be directed?
Reformers rarely begin in a vacuum. Public administration and government reach
back to the dawn of civilization. Each generation has confronted’ problems of administrative
management, institutional inertia, and organizational pathologies. Each has devised its own
remedies. It is doubtful whether there is any country, that does not possess a rich
administrative history, replete with unfinished reform agendas. If administrative reformer
rarely started with unfinished reform agendas, they would be fully occupied for many years.
He disappointment of administrative reformers is that only a small portion of their reforms
are implemented. The rest remain proposals recorded, if at all, in discarded reports housed
in archives. It is amazing now generation after generation of reformers repeat themselves,
almost in identical language often without knowing of their predecessor’s proposals, and how
reformers, working independently of one another, reach the same conclusions. Yet, nothing
seemingly is done about them. Just discovering old proposals and codifying them is as good
as started point as any. The next more important step is to discover why nothing was ever
done and identifying the obstacles to implementation. The final step is to modernize the
proposals and persuade public administrators to act on them.
If every generation confronts similar problems in public administration, what seems to
be the problem that this generation in particular considers to claim priority attention? In this
regard, there is both a narrow and a broad perspective. The narrow perspective of
administrative reform concentrates on the internal management of public organisations while
the broad perspective looks at the administrative state as a whole. Five top issues from each
are selected for consideration.
On the top of the public management list is the issue of public accountability and
control. It is recognised that public agencies are not so much instrumental as institutional,
that is, they take on a life of their own. The classical political subordination theory does not
apply as they have independent power and wide social connections and whenever their
interests are threatened, they make coalitions to protect themselves. The danger is that
eventually they come only to serve their own interests. Reformers are concerned how to get
such institutional bureaucracies to consider the public interest and to serve the public as
well as themselves, and how to restore the notion of public responsibility, particularly among
public enterprises.
With sweeping criticisms of the public sector, public organisations are keen to’ prove
that they perform well and that they do add to the Gross National Product. They want to’
show that they are indeed productive. The search is for positive proof that not only are they
productive but their productivity is increasing. Much more emphasis is being given to
productivity measurement and evaluation. Reforms are particularly concerned about
national security and the state of readiness of armed services, public safety and the
efficiency of police forces, taxation systems and revenue disbursement, human services
administration, government regulations, the court system and environment protection. They
are out to pave that government services can be measured and rate high.
Productivity studies are part of a large concern with the effective use of public money.
Whereas traditional theories of public budgeting assumed that public resources were infinite
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and public projects finite, the administrative state demonstrates the opposite, namely, public
resources are finite while public projects are infinite. The former discouraged economy; the
latter requires built-in incentive to save. The search is for budget systems that promote
savings and penalise waste. Among many proposals of budgeting reform are multiyear
budget cycles, carryover items, and bonus schemes.
Parallel to the search for budget saving incentives is the search for incentive schemes
for public servants who perform consistently well. Public personnel systems assume
consistently good performance by all public servants although reality differs. Public servants
do not give of their best, because, often enough, the administrative systems in which they
work do not enable them to work as well as they could and actually discourage meritorious
performance. In such systems, work incentives are badly needed and means to be found or
reorganising consistently good performance and rewarding exceptional performance. At the
same time, public organisations are taking a much strict line towards the inadequate and
poor performers and the whole concept of tenure is being questioned.
The question of individual performance is related to who attracted and retained in the
public service. The worsening perception of the public sector combined with staff reductions,
frozen or reduced conditions of employment and a freeze on promotions has made public
sector employment less attractive. Reformers are concerned that public service retains its fair
portion of society’s talent and that the good people, who do enter stay. So, they are
examining much closely turnover rates and exactly who is leaving public service, why they
leave and where they go afterwards. They are concerned that the public service maintains its
competitiveness and keep the good people it attracts.
Administrative reformers, who are concerned about wider issues than internal public
management problems, place the appropriate role of the administrative state at the top of
their list. To them, the administrative state goes beyond public organisations to include the
whole reach of public policy, public-law and public monies. They are now examining how big
should the administrative state be, what powers should it possess, and what guarantees can
be given to public to protect themselves against the abuse of their offices by those who act in
the name of the administrative state. They now insist on the protection of privacy, the
institution of appeal systems where these are lacking, and the strengthening of grievance
and complaint mechanisms, such as law courts, administrative law courts, and ombudsman
offices.
Consideration of the administrative state naturally leads to the issue of the relations
between public and private sectors, government, and business, and the emergence of a so
called third sector of mixed organisations, which although non-government, provide public
goods and services. Clearly, public and private sectors are no longer mutually exclusive but
joined together in a complicated fashion public administration theory and practice do not
strictly apply. Different rules have to be devised and administrative reformers are trying to
determine what is more suitable and appropriate. They are also searching for ways in which
to get the public sector to act in the public interest and the public sector to act more
businesslike.
In making the public sector act more businesslike, reformers are looking at the neglect
of marketing concepts by public organisations. Whereas private entrepreneurs invest in
marketing and advertising, in finding out what consumers want and in sensitizing
themselves to change in public mood, many public entrepreneurs adopt a “take it or leave it”
attitude. They rarely try to find out what their clients or customers want. They conduct free
marketing surveys. They hardly advertise their products and services. They do not seem to
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care about how they project themselves to the public. They resist seeing themselves from
their clients’ view point. Reformers are currently testing marketing concepts for public goods
and services.
The prospect of large numbers of separate public agencies hawking their wares
actually exist, perhaps not in the market place but certainly within government circles.
Although they all maintain that they are self-contained, they overlap one with another in
what they do and the clients they serve. From a public policy perspective, their insistence on
autonomy complicates matters. The pressing need is for mechanisms that ensure ‘greater
coordination, cooperation and mutual interaction and for considerably more informal
networking at all levels of government.
Finally, administrative reformers are dealing with the persistence of bureau
pathologies, the pathologies that particularly afflict-large public organization excessive
rigidity insensitivity, circumlocution, red tape, deceit, fraud, waste, abuse, corruption inertia
and other forms of public malpractice, Clearly, there are forces at work which belittle all the
efforts of administrative reformers. As they come increasingly to be understood, so reformers
can combat them better. Over the years, the range of reform instruments has been enlarged.
The administrative’ technology already exists, to transform administrative practices in the
public sector. What is needed is the will to employ them for which both administrative
reformers pursuing faulty strategies and public administrators acting unprofessionally are at
fault. Once that will exist, the reforms agenda is endless.
19.6 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS AT THE CENTRAL LEVEL IN INDIA
The basic objective the programme of administrative reforms in India has been to
make available to the government and’ the people of the country an honest; efficient and
result oriented administrative system. In 1947, when the country achieved Independence, it
inherited an administrative set-up which had a single overriding priority - the perpetuation of
the British Empire. The system was structurally inadequate and functionally unprepared to
meet the new challenge of economic development and social change which came to be
accepted by the nation as the new primary concern of the State Policy. It stood in dire need
of reorganisation, reorientation and reform.
Early Efforts at Administrative Reforms
The first attempt, to assess the problem of the administrative system of the post-
Independence India was surprisingly made by the Secretariat Reorganisation Committee
appointed by the Government of India even before the actual transfer of power by the British.
The Committee submitted its report on August 10, 1947. Appleby who studied the system in
1953 and 1955 considered the available administrative setup archaic, feudalistic and
unimaginative. He made a number of suggestions for improving the work procedures and the
capabilities of the organisation. An independent study was earlier undertaken by A.D.
Gorwala. Gorwala made a number of recommendations particularly with regard to
introduction of Organization and Methods procedures in government departments.
The Second Pay Commission (1957-59) was appointed by the Government of India in
1957 to examine the principles which should govern the structure of emoluments and
conditions of service of the Central Government employees. One of the important
recommendations of the Second Pay Commission suggested the classification of government
offices into attached and subordinate offices on a functional basis, and pooling together of
Secretariat and the attached offices into a single headquarters organization. It also
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recommended the establishment of a Whitley type of machinery for negotiation and

settlement of disputes.
The Central Government entrusted the task of looking into the problem of widespread
corruption in services to the Santhanam Committee. The committee submitted its report in
1964. It made far reaching recommendations for streamlining procedures regarding
prevention of corruption. The Central Vigilance Commission, was established on the basis of
the recommendation of the Santhanam Committee.
Administrative Reforms Commission I (1966-70)
An extensive study of the administrative set-up of the Central, Government was
undertaken, by the Administrative Reforms Commission. The Commission came into being
on January 5, 1966 through a Government of India notification of the Ministry of Home
Affairs. Morarji Desai was designated as the Chairman and V. Shankar as the Member
Secretary of the Commission. The Commission was given very wide mandate and was
entrusted with’ the task of giving consideration to the need for ensuring the highest standard
of efficiency and integrity in the public services and for making public administration a fit
instrument for carrying out the social and economic goals of development as also one which
is responsive to the public. The Commission was entrusted with a 41-point charter grouped
into ten specific areas of inquiry. These included a study of the machinery of the Government
of India and its procedures of work, problem of redress of citizens grievances, Centre-State
relationships, financial administration, personnel administration, economic administration,
etc. The Commission undertook an in-depth study of the entire gamut of public
administration and submitted 20 reports to the government. The Commission eventually
ceased to function in June 1970.
The Third Pay Commission was set up by the Government of India in 1970. The
Commission submitted its report in 1973. The terms of reference of the Commission included
consideration of the principles which should govern the structures of emolument and
conditions of service of Central Government employees, and the formulation of measures
which should be taken to change the structure of emoluments and conditions of service. The
Commission’s prerogative also extended to the consideration of the structure of death-cum-
retirement benefits to the all-India services and members of the Armed Forces. The
Commission undertook a study of the functioning of the civil service system and made
specific recommendations regarding hours of work, holidays overtime allowance and other,
welfare measures for the staff. The Commission also introduced the concept of classification
of posts based on an assumed equivalence of the work content of different levels of various
occupational groups. While formulating its views, the Commission took into account a
number of recommendations made by the Administrative Reforms Commission in its report
on Personnel Administration.
Kothari Committee (1976)
The Committee on Recruitment and Selection Methods (Kothari Committee) was
appointed by the Union Public Service Commission in 1976 to examine and report on the
system of recruitment to all India services and Central Group A and B services followed by
the UPSC. The committee finalized its report in 1976 itself. The Central Government
announced its decision on the recommendations of the Committee in November 1978. It was
decided that there would be a single examination for all India services and Central Group A
non-technical services. The examination would consist of two parts, a qualifying preliminary
examination (objective test) and the main examination (written ‘and interview test).
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National Police Commission (1977-81)

The Government of India set up the National Public Commission by a Resolution in
1977 with Dharma Vira as the Chairman. The terms of reference of the Commission included
the examination of role and function of the police with special reference to control of crime
and maintenance of public order, the method of magisterial supervision, the system of
investigation and prosecution and maintenance of crime records. The Commission was also
enquired to look into the question of modernisation of law enforcement and up gradation of
the police communications network. The commission was also called upon to suggest
measures and institutional arrangements for preventing misuse of powers by the police,
ensuring quick and impartial inquiry of public complaints and for the redressal of grievances
of police personnel and periodic objective evaluation of police performance. It was also
envisaged that the Commission would examine the problems that the police would have to
face in the future and would suggest measures necessary for dealing with them. The
Commission submitted 8 reports in all. The last report was presented to the Government on
June 2, 1981. The Commission made well over five hundred recommendations extending
over a wide area of interest regarding police administration.
Economic Reforms Commission (1981-84)
The Economic Reforms Commission was established by the Government of India in
March 1981. The Commission was to be headed by L.K. Jha. Other members of the
Commission included Shri R. Tirumalai and Dr. C.H. Hanumantha Rao. The main functions
assigned to the commission were a study of the important areas of economic administration
with a view to suggesting various reforms to streamline the functioning of the system.
Initially the Commission was to take up for consideration the question of rationalisation and
improvement of tax administration. The Commission was also required to suggest measures
for the raising of savings and for the development of a well-coordinated national approach to
proposals for the establishment of a new economic order. Examination of the Rent Control
Act of various states and preparation of a model rent control, law was also included in the
tasks assigned to the Commission. The Commission submitted a number of reports to the
Government of India. L. K. Jha has since been appointed as Adviser, Administrative Reforms,
to the Prime Minister.
The Commission on Centre-State Relations was set up by the Government of India in
June, 1983 to examine and review the working of the ‘existing arrangements between the
Union and the states in regard to powers, functions and responsibilities in all spheres and
recommend such changes and measures as may be appropriate. The Commission has invited
all interested individuals, organisations and other sources to make available to the
Commission such information and factual data as may be relevant to any aspect in its field
of enquiry including legislature, administrative, fiscal, economic and other spheres. It has
also formulated and circulated a questionnaire on Centre-State relations for inviting views of
all concerned on various issues which have arisen in the working of existing arrangements
between the Union and the states.
Fourth Pay Commission (1983)
The Fourth Pay Commission was set up by the Government of India in July 1983 with
Justice P.N. Singhal as Chairman.
The terms of reference of the Commission included the following :
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1. To examine the present structure of emoluments and conditions of service,

taking into account the total packet of benefits, including death-cum retirement
benefits available to Central Government employees, personnel belonging to all
India services and employees of Union Territories and armed forces personnel
and to suggest changes which may be desirable and feasible.
2. To examine the variety of allowances and benefits in kinds that are presently
available to the employees in addition to pay and to suggest rationalisation,
simplification thereof with a view to providing efficiency in administration.
The Commission was enjoined to take into consideration the prevailing pay structure
under public sector undertakings and state governments etc. the economic condition in the
country, the resources of the Central Government and the demands thereon, while
formulating its recommendations. The terms of reference of this Commission were wider than
these of the earlier Pay Commissions.
1. Name the major types of reforms (Basic focus).
2. Name any four commissions / committees for reform since 1947.
Administrative Reforms Commission – II

The President of India constituted the Commission of Inquiry in 2005 under the
Chairmanship of Shri Veerappa Moly to be called the Second Administrative Reforms
Commission (ARC-II) to prepare the detailed blueprint for revamping the Public
administration system. The Commission submitted 15 reports on the areas listed below :
1. Right to Information : Master key to Good Governance
2. Unlocking Human Capital : Entitlements and Governance
3. Crisis Management
4. Ethics in Governance
5. Public Order
6. Local Governance
7. Capacity Building for Conflict Resolution
8. Combating Terrorism – Protecting by righteousness
9. Social Capital – A shared Destiny
10. Refurbishing of Personnel Administration and Scaling New Hights
11. Promoting e-governance: The Smart way forward
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12. Citizen Centric Administration

13. Organizational Structure of Government of India
14. Strengthening Financial Management Systems
15. State and District Administration.
19.7 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS - AN OVERVIEW
In the context of administrative reforms, the post-Independence era falls into three
distinct periods
1. the period of consolidation,
2. the period of restructuring, and
3. the period of modernisatian.
Though three periods are broadly distinguishable from each other, there is a certain
measure of, inevitable overlap.
Period of Consolidation (1947-66)
The period of consolidation extends from the year 1947 to the year 1966. In 1947,
when the country achieved Independence, it inherited a depicted, disorganised and a
bewildered administrative system. As an aftermath of the partition and the withdrawal of the
British officers from the Indian scene, there was a big shortage of trained manpower. This
shortage had to be removed as fast as possible. The organizational set up of the
governmental machinery also left a lot to be desired. Immediate action was needed to
reorganise the set-up. The Secretarial Reorganisation Committee was formulated in this
context. It suggested measures for optimisation of the use of available manpower, induction
of provincial civil service officers into the central Secretarial posts and also a reorganisation
of the work in the Central Secretariat.
Things became a bit more normalized by the time Gopalaswami Ayyanger the then
Transport Minister, gave the system a second look in 1949. Besides suggesting regrouping of
ministries, the report suggested the establishment of an Organisatian and Methods Division
to keep a continuing watch over the performance of the administrative system and to
improve the standards of efficiency therein.
The backdrop of administrative reforms was substantially changed when the
Constitution of India came into force in January 1950. The Constitution with its elaborate
enunciation of the fundamental rights and the directive principles set new goals and
objectives for the system. The Constitution armed the Supreme Court and the High Courts
with powers to issue writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo
warranto. The Constitution by itself was a fundamental and mandatory instrument of
administrative reforms, it in fact laid the ground rules of the relationship between the
citizens and the state on the civil servants on the other hand. It also enunciated the
parameters within which all future endeavours of reforms of administrative system would,
have to remain confined.
The Gorwala Report (1951), the Appleby Reports of 1953 and 1956 and the Report of
the States Reorganisation Commission all took into account this changed context of public
administration. The Second Pay Commission constituted in 1957 was, however, the first
Commission to undertake an extensive review of the stresses and strains which had
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developed in the system. It was mandated that the Commission should take into account the
historical background, the economic conditions in the country, the implications and
requirements of development planning, the disparities in the standard of remuneration and
conditions of service of the Central Government employees and also keep in view the
requirements of the employees of the state governments, local bodies and aided Institutions.
Even while the recommendations of the Second Pay Commission were being
implemented, a lot of dissatisfaction was being expressed in various quarters about the
performance and accountability of the administrative system. To deal with the menace of
corruption in administration. Government appointed the Santhanam Committee in 1962.
The Committee made far-reaching recommendations which eventually led to the amendment
of the Conduct Rules, Disciplinary Rules, laws and procedures relating to corruption and the
strengthening of the Vigilance Organisation. Department of Administrative Reforms was also
established in 1964 to prepare the ground work for a detailed inquiry into the working of the
administrative set up of the country.
Corruption was but one aspect of the malfunctioning of the administrative system. It
was considered view of the intelligentsia at this point of time that a full-fledged review of the
set-up was overdue. In August 1965, Lal Bahadur Shastri made an announcement regarding
the setting up of a high-powered commission in the Lok Sabha. In his announcement, Lal
Bahadur Shastri made it clear that though few study groups on public administration were
functioning the small efforts made by these groups would not meet the situation A high-
powered Commission was needed. The decision to constitute Administrative Reform
Commission was eventually arrived at in November 1965, though the formal notification was
issued in January 1966. This marked the beginning of the period of restructuring of the
administrative system.
Period of Restructuring (1966-80)
The period of restructuring extends almost over a span of a decade and a half. The
proceedings of the Administrative Reforms Commission, and its reports and
recommendations held the entire field during this period. The Commission with Morarji
Desai as the Chairman was an awe inspiring institution. It wanted to make a thorough job of
its mandate and to go into all the important aspects of the functioning of administrative
systems. A lot of analysis and thought went into the recommendations of this Commission
which, to say the least, introduced an era of extensive restructuring of the administratives
system. While all the twenty reports prepared by the Commission were important in their
own way, some of the reports which can be said to have an abiding influence on public
administration were the Report on the Machinery of Government of India and its Procedures
of Work (1968), Report on Economic Administration (1968), Report on Finance Accounts and
Audit (1968), Report on Delegation of Financial Powers (1968) and Report on Personnel
Administration (1969).
While there has been a general appreciation of the work done by the Commission, the
performance of the commission has also come in for a certain measure of criticism. For
instance, it has been mentioned that the terms of reference of the Commission were so wide
and its recommendations so extensive that several commissions would be needed to process
its reports and view. There is no denying the fact that impact of the deliberations of the ARC
and the scope of its recommendations has been so great that administrative reform has
almost become synonymous with the recommendations or deliberations of the Administrative
Reforms Commission. It has also been mentioned that the Commission was not a
professional group and as such its recommendations were more in the nature of admonitions
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rather than professional advice. While it is a fact that the members of the Commission,
except V. Shanker, were not professional administrators or specialists in the narrower sense
of the terms, they were all men who had a deep knowledge of the aspirations of the people of
the country. The Commission appointed study groups and task forces for looking into the
professional aspects of various issues facing the administration and eventually vetted and
moderated these recommendations keeping in view the dictates of public interest. In any
event, the deliberations and recommendations of the ARC generated a lot of interest about
the performance of the administrative system of the country, and the need for improving the
efficiency and public image of the set-up.
Period of Modernization (1980)
Even while the recommendations of the Administrative Reforms Commission on
various aspects of the structuring and performance of the administrative system were being
processed, the country was gradually becoming aware of the fact that a new type of
revolution, the technological revolution was engulfing the entire world. This revolution, which
had permeated and transformed all aspects of the life and living in the industrially advanced
countries, had also had an impact on the administrative systems of these countries. Steps to
modernize and improve the capabilities of the decision making and programme implementing
organs of the state were being taken to meet the requirements of the new technological
revolution. New tool and techniques which had originally been developed in the context of the
functioning of the industrial organisations were being gradually inducted into the operations
of the administrative system also. Change, it was felt, was round the corner and step had to
be taken to usher in the new era. This marked the beginning of the period of modernisation.
Emerging Perspectives of Administrative Reforms
Administrative Reforms have been defined by M.M. Khan as effort which calls for or
leads to major changes in the bureaucratic system of a country intended to transform the
existing and established practices, behaviours and structures within it. According to Khan it
is construed as an artificial inducement of administrative transformation against resistance.
He also identifies three inter-related properties of administrative reforms as moral purpose,
artificial transformation and administrative resistance. D. Dror in Khan’s view visualises
administrative reforms as a direct change of the main features of an administrative system,
while as for Lee, it involves new values and modes of behaviour to accommodate new ideas
within an organisational context. In the context of a rapidly changing socio-economic
backdrop, administrative reforms stand for the reorientation and modernisation of the
administrative system to enable it to keep pace with demands generated by the impact of the
change and also to enable it to become an effective instrument for the absorption and in its
turn the propagation of the essence of the change.
The software and hardware of decision-making and processing of matters of public
interest are undergoing a rapid transformation at the present moment. The information
revolution ‘the communications revolution and the data processing storage and retrieval
revolution which are, currently storming the world are making available new fast, accurate
and effective tools and techniques for processing, analyzing and appreciation of the problems
and issues which public administration is required to handle. There is an unlimited scope for
the induction of electronic data processing equipment to help speed up decision making. The
administrative system as can be appreciated, has been slow to make use of the new
administrative technology. There is a lurking fear that induction of office equipment may
generate redundancies, reduce employment opportunities and reduce the importance of the
white-collar worker in general. A way will have to be found to resolve this basic conflict of
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interests if the challenges of modernization have to be met. Modernization will have to

brought about by a process of evolution rather than revolution.
The installation of present-day office equipment and data processing aids is not by
itself a panacea of all evils or shortcomings of the administrative system. An equipment is as
useful as the user of the equipment wants it to be. Side by side with the induction of office
technology, a concerted effort will have to be made to motivate the civil servants at all level to
improve their skills as well as efficiency. Training, both in sectorial skills as well as office
management skills will be needed in ample-measures. While the system is offered a new
challenge of imbibing the new technology, it has also to be provided better incentives and
better rewards for excellence in performance. Large amounts of resources will be required to
modernize offices. Funds will also have to be provided to improve the quality of life of the
members of the administrative system. Efficiency, cost effectiveness and accountability are
the three areas which dominate current political and public interest in so far as public
administration is concerned administrative system is generally visualized and demotivated
sluggish and inefficient set•up by the common man. Lack of adequate training, lack of
motivation and the fear of accountability are the three basic factors which have a direct
bearing on the performance and efficiency of the civil servants both individually and
collectively. The scope of activities undertaken by the administrative system in India is
expanding day by day. In pre-independence days, the maintenance of law and order and
collection of state revenues was the main concern of administration. Today administration is
concerned with the common man in many more ways than one. The magnitude and
complexity of the economic activity undertaken by various sections of the community has
increased manifold. The scope of welfare activities of the state in general and that of the
poverty amelioration programme in particular has also undergone a quantum change. The
common man is coming more and more in contact with the administrative mechanism which
has also become the delivery system for a number of programmes meant for the uplift of the
weaker section of the community. Attention has therefore, to be paid to the efficiency of
operation of the system not only at the secretariat or departmental levels but also at the grass-
root or so-called cutting-edge levels.
Programmes have been launched from time, to time in the past to improve the
performance and efficiency of the functionaries at the grass-root levels. One such experiment
undertaken, in this behalf is the Ahmednagar Experiment. This experiment takes into
account the fact that government organisation is continuously called upon to undertake new
and diverse activities sometimes with inadequate staff and sometimes without any additional
staff whatsoever. Ahmednagar Experiments primarly concerned with the improvement of
efficiency of the office of the District Collector. A number of such experiments in other offices
which have extensive public dealings will have to be undertaken to improve the efficiency
and the public image of the system.
Closely associated with the problem of efficiency is the problem of cost effectiveness.
The costs of maintenance and servicing of the administrative system have increased
substantially and are going to increase day by day. An obvious remedy is to simplify rules
and procedures and reduce the intensity and spread of contact between the administrative
system and the public at large. This approach however, cannot be accepted as the only
solution to the problem of cost effectiveness. It will have to be ensured that the money that is
being spent for the purpose for which it is meant is spent optimally and without waste. Cost
centres will have to be identified for this purpose and cost effectiveness studies undertaken
to eliminate duplication, redundancies and waste.
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Accountability is the heaviest of responsibilities which the administrative system is

required to discharge. An administrative system ‘in order to establish a measure of credibility
has to be in a position to fully explain its actions, activities, conduct and performance. There
is a lurking fear in the minds of some people that the system which yields enormous power is
used to arbitrary action and inequitable behaviour. Steps are required to be taken to allay
this fear. Public should have the right to call into question the action of public servants and
to point out the shortcomings even of an individual member of the system. Institutional
arrangement will also have to be made and existing set-up revamped to provide for a redress
of grievances of people.
Traditionally structured administrative systems of yesterday, have, to say the least,
outlived their utility by now. These systems are not in a position to meet the challenge of
tomorrow. A need therefore exists of revamping, restructuring and redesigning of these
systems. India is on the threshold of a new revolution. New tools, techniques, system and
procedures are being inducted into the realm of public administration all over the world.
Those responsible for the design and implementation of administrative reforms in India will
have to take a real hard look at the existing state of affairs as also the global development in
this field and design the future package of reforms in a manner which will ensure that, when
the need arises, the administrative system of the country is in a position to rise to the
occasion and meet new challenge of destiny and opportunity.
19.8 SUMMARY
Administrative reforms are a continuous process, but with the pressure of LPG and
the new pardirue of good governance and NPM there is how more pressure of governments to
cover the gap of people’s aspirations and administrative deliverance. Modern states are now
facing the challenges of improving administrative capability, efficiency and effectiveness. This
is not possible merely through patchwork or window dressing.
What actually needed is the wide spread reforms touching both in procedural and
behavioural aspects. Moreover, the reforms are not to be merely in files but must be carried
out in letter and spirit. Indian government has appointed a large number of reforms
committees since independence and the latest on in the second ARC. It has really studied all
the important aspects of Indian administration and has made vital recommendations. It is
not the political and bureaucratic will which may or may not actually go for such an urgent
series of reforms.
1. Name the basic hurdles in the way of reforms.
2. How many reports were submitted by ARC-II.
3. Name any Four Reports submitted by ARC-II.

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1. S.R. Maheshwari, The administrative Reforms Commission, Agra, 1972.
2. Panel H. Appleby, Public Administration in India. Report of a Survey, Delhi
1973.
3. A.D. Gorwala, Report on Public Admn. New Delhi, 1951.
4. M.M. Khan, Administrative Reform, NPA Vol. XXIV, 1978.
5. Special number of IJPA on Administrative Reform, IIPA, New Delhi
6. Geral Caiden, Administrative Reform.
1. Define Administrative reforms, discuss its types and problems.
2. Critically analyses Indian’s efforts for reforms.
I. 1. Structural Reforms, Procedural, Behavioural
2. ARC – I, ARC – II, Commission in Economical Reforms, Appleby Commission,
Pay Commission, National Police Commission.
II. 1. Poor implementation, Human Problems, Lack of Training
2. 15
3. RTI, Public Order, Crisis Management, Local Governance, Promoting e-
governance, Citizen Centric Administration.
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Lesson - 20
GOOD-GOVERNANCE: CONCEPT, APPLICATION AND
RATIONALE
Structure
20.0 Objectives
20.1 Introduction
20.2 Governance and Good-governance
20.3 Emergence and Rationale
20.4 Good Governance-Major Components
20.5 E-Governance – As a Tool of Good Governance
20.6 Applications of good governance
20.7 Summary
20.8 Glossary
20.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson you’ll be able to :
 appreciate the concept of good governance.
 describe the advantage of e-governance.
 list the major experiences of e-governance worldwide.
20.1 INTRODUCTION
As noted in the previous lesson, where is a worldwide emphasis on administrative
reforms and which are generally taken as governance reforms. Gone are the days when state
was to act as a silent spectator in the activities of society public administration, now a days
is not just to be efficient economical and responsive but it is seen as an important
instrument of good governance. It has to be more citizen friendly and accessible. One of the
instrument or strategy in this regard is the introduction of e-governance at each step. In this
lesson we’ll be examining the significance and modes of e-governance after briefly examining
the concepts of governance and of good governance.
20.2 CONCEPTS OF GOVERNANCE AND GOOD GOVERNANCE
The concept of ‘governance’ and ‘good governance’ are being viewed as the new
paradigm in Public Administration. In the words of Mohit Bhattacharya, “Governance, in
spite of being one of the most widely used concepts in contemporary Public Administration,
has been one which has been either simply decoded or misunderstood and abused. In fact,
‘governance’ is not always synonymous with government, the latter being endowed with
formal authority. The outputs of governance are not, therefore, different from those of
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government. Governance can thus be defined as the “manner in which power is exercised in
the management of a country’s social and economic resources for development.” Thus
governance while encapsulating government, goes beyond it and encompasses the non-
governmental mechanism to meet the needs and aspirations of citizens.
What emerges out of the series of World Bank or OECD definitions of “governance” is
that entitlement to aid would depend on the degree to which a recipient country would be
part of a pluralist society and a democratic political order.
However, two other meanings of the world ‘governance’ can be noted from recent
writings on the subject. The first commutation is in terms of widening the scope of public
administration to encompass informal, non-governmental mechanisms, community or
voluntary organizations which work for public needs or for solving community problems.
Secondly the concept of governance frees public administration from its traditional emphasis
on formal legal structures as the base of authority.
Non-governmental organizations working in the developmental sector have opened up
the possibility of governance without government of decision-making procedures and
programmatic activities that serve the public and help in the development sector; without the
formal structure and authority of government. To administer with formally constituted
governments is not, therefore, the only way available for collective problem solving of the
community.
The last meaning of governance currently in use is to include it as an ongoing global
movement towards democratization, highlighting the rule of law, human rights participatory
development and efforts towards open and transparent administration. This links up
governance to the older ethical normative issues of “good government” in political thought.
Governance then embraces not only good public management but the governing process
should move towards democratic, participatory and equitable models of development with
alert and enlightened citizens at the center stage Governance then becomes a means to serve
the larger end, i.e. empowerment and equitable development of the masses.
20.3 EMERGENCE AND RATIONALE
Historically there were several reasons for the emergence of the concept of
‘governance’ in the lexicon of public administration. The collapse of the USSR- and the
Eastern Bloc in the eighties had erased viable alternatives to social transformation.
Liberalization and globalization became the key words of the post-cold war era. The New
Public Management theorist surged ahead with their management and market orientation
advocating a ‘science of administration’ based on a new politics/management dichotomy.
Development administration imposed by the West which was historically associated with
bureaucracy led development unfortunately had also failed. Planned change imposed from
above by overseas aid, foreign experts and local bureaucracy had failed to bring in systematic
growth and social equity. Poverty inequality, illiteracy, ill-health and social disorganization
staled developing societies. By the late eighties, most third world countries were in the grip of
severe economic crises. Search was on for means to stabilize their budgets and balance of
payments. It was around this period that the World Bank came out with its own prescription
for a short-term stabilization program and a long-term structural reform of the economy that
would reform these countries towards sustainable levels of growth. The argument given was
that excessive governmental intervention in the society and economy had led to misallocation
of planned resources, distortion of priorities, rampant corruption and abuse of power by
public agencies. The World Bank solution lay in deregulation and privatization, allowing the
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market to engineer growth and development. Batley has identified three specific post
adjustment roles in specific areas. .
(a) Core administration and direct service delivery : in every state, the government
will be called upon to perform certain key administrative functions and provide
some categories of public goods and services to the people.
(b) Regulation and enablement of service delivery by other actors - the state may
allow the private and voluntary sectors to supply community services but it has
to regulate the terms and conditions for their operation in the public arena.
(c) Policy analysis and strategic decision : in the post adjustment phase the
government has to take key policy decisions of macro-management of the
economy and by analyzing the market situation, review the extent of state
intervention from time to time.
20.4 GOOD GOVERNANCE – MAJOR COMPONENTS
The Harare Commonwealth Declaration of 1991 set a course of action for the
promotion of democracy, good government, respect for human rights and rule of law. This
vision has been reaffirmed at subsequent meetings and provides the backdrop for much of
the current activity on governance in the Commonwealth. Commonwealth countries are still
committed to work with vigour on the following areas :
 The protection and promotion of political values;
 Equality for women;
 Universal access to education;
 The promotion of sustainable development and the alleviation of poverty;
 Extending the benefits of development within the framework of respect for
human right;
 The protection of the environment;
 Action to combat drug trafficking and abuse and communicable disease; and
 Help for small Commonwealth states in their particular economic and security
problems.
According to World Bank Good Governance is epitomized by predictable, open and
enlightened policy making a bureaucracy imbued with a professional ethos, an executive
‘arm of government accountable for its actions; and a strong civil society participating in
public affairs; and all behaving under the rule of law.”
In more simple words the term has been defined by UN DP that good governance is
shade away from the orthodox governance of the early times. “Good governance-according to
UNDP is among other things participatory, transparent and accountable. It is also effective
and equitable and promotes rule of law.
Components: On the basis of the above discussion and the definitions, we can focus on
some of the important charactertics / elements of Good Governance. Following are some of
the important features of Good governance :
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I. Efficiency and Effectiveness : Good governance reflects that all its activities are
performed quickly without wasting much of time and these actions be effective in serving the
cause of society by utilizing available resources.
II. Equity and Inclusiveness : Good governance must give and feel to the society that
all are equal and all the sections of the society are included in all the programmes and
schemes irrespective of caste, class, religion and sex, policies and programmes under the
good governance cover each and every one.
III. Transparency : Another very important element of good governance is
transparency what ever the good governance is doing or has done should be known to all.
The methods and procedures followed while delivering be transparent. The governments have
initiated and implemented Right to information to ensure transparency in Govt. actions.
IV. Rule of law : Yet another important feature of good governance relates to Rule of
law which means law is uniform and for all respective of positions and status. No one is
above law and there exist mechanism for fair justice and speedy justice.
V. Participation : Participation in the governance is another characteristic which
makes the governance good participation refers to the involvement of citizens in the
development process. Beneficiaries and groups effected by the projects/programmes need to
participate in their governance.
VI. Responsive : The good governance should be responsive to the needs of the society
and people. With the times there are changes around, environment keeps changing so there
is need to change accordingly meaning thereby that good governance must be responsive.
Good governance is, therefore, a wide subject area that includes :
 Economic liberalism which constitutes private ownership, investment and
greater equality;
 Political pluralism, which refers to the democratic participation of people in the
development process and decentralization of authority from the centre;
 Social development which includes human rights, rule of law; an independent
judiciary and a free press;
 Administrative accountability which refers to transparency; less corruption,
economy; efficiency and effectiveness; and
 Public sector reforms, strategic planning and management of change.
In brief Good governance implies :
i) Sound management of national resources.
ii) Sound economic polices
iii) A respect for economic agents - management and labour
iv) Providing congenial environment for private-sector activities through the
efficient provision of vital government services.
v) A withdrawal of the government from economic activities
20.5 E-GOVERNANCE – AS A TOOL OF GOOD GOVERNANCE
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E-Governance is a form of e-business in governance comprising of processes and

structures involved in deliverance of services to the public, viz. citizen by using electronic
means. (It also involves collaboration with business partners of the government by
conducting electronic transactions with them. Besides, it entails enabling the general public
to interact with the government, through electronic means for getting the desired services. In
other words, e-governance means application of electronic means in the interaction between :
1. government (G) and citizens (C), both ways (i.e. G2C and C2G),
2. government or businesses (B), both ways (i.e. G2B and B2G), and
3. internal government operation (G2G).
The aim, ultimately, is to simplify and improve governance and enable people’s
participation in governance through mail, and Internet.
The World Bank refers to e-governance as the case of information technologies (such
as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) by the government agencies. In
other words, e-governance may be defined as the delivery of government services and
information to the public by using electronic means. These technologies enable the
government to transform its relations with its other wings, citizens, businesses. Such an
exercise leads to better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with
business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information and a more
efficient government management. The resulting benefits can be lesser corruption, increased
transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions. Traditionally,
the interaction between a citizen or business and a government agency takes place in a
government office. With emerging information and communication technologies it is possible
to locate service centers closer to the public
E-governance is much more than just preparing some websites. It ranges from the use
of Internet for the dissemination of plain web-based information at its simplest level to
services and online transactions on the one hand and utilizing it in the democratic process
itself, i.e. election on the other.
E-governance implies e-democracy (Backers, 2001), where in all forms of interaction
between the electorate (i.e. general public) and the elected (i.e. the government) are
performed electronically). E-government, as distinguished from e-governance, comprises a
pragmatic application and usage of the most innovative technologies in computer and
communication technologies, including internet technology, for delivering efficient and cost-
effective services, and information and knowledge to the citizens being governed, thereby
realizing the vast potential of the government to serve the citizens.
Various manifestations of e-governance initiative will be in terms of the government
delivering services to citizens of transacting business, offering general information, or
conducting interactions with the general public and business using such IT tools as:
 E-mail.
 Internet web sites publishing (including online interactive transaction)
 WAP application and publishing.
 SMS connectivity
 Intranet development and usage;
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 Promotion of citizen access

The advent of these other components and of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) as a highly leveraged enabling tool for delivery of services in the public and
private sector has now been universally recognized. This has resulted in a redefinition of the
fundamental concept of governance and also in recognizing its potential to change both
institutions and delivery mechanisms of services for betterment of people. Basic advantages
are :
 Cut costs and improve administrative efficiency.
 Meet citizen expectations and improve citizen relationship.
 Create transparency in administration.
 Informing the citizen.
 Encouraging the citizens to participate.
 Facilitate economic development.
 Taking the govt. to the door step rather inside.
 Simplify the process / procedures.
The strategic objective of e-governance is to support and simplify governance for all
parties such as government, citizens and business. The use of internet can help to connect
these “threes parties. The objectives of e-governance can be classified in two categories
external and internal.
The external objective of e-governance is to fulfill the public needs and expectations by
simplifying the interaction with various online, services. The use of internet in government
operation facilitates speedy, transparent, accountable, efficient and effective interaction with
the public, and other agencies.
The internal objective of e-governance in government operations is to facilitate a
speedy, transparent, accountable, efficient and effective process for performing governmental
administrative activities. There can be significant cost saving (per transaction) in government
operations.
The fundamental motivation for the campaign of e-governance in India and elsewhere
is a slogan - to provide SMART government - “SMART” being an acronym for Simple, Moral,
Accountable. Responsive and Transparent Government, a laudable Ideal, though difficult it
may be to achieve in reality. Thus, we may conceive a Smart Village or Smart Municipality or
a Smart State, all very difficult, but ideal models. Notwithstanding the difficulties involved in
achieving this, a clear objective of e-governance can be cutting the cost of governance and
also minimizing the complexities of procedures by possible business process reengineering.
The concomitant benefit is empowerment of people rough what is called ‘disintermediation’,
in other words, eliminating the middleman or tout between the government and the people.
For example, by doing so, property tax assessment and collection system can reduce the
element of corruption in the system apart from increasing consumer convenience. The online
system based on internet will reduce contact with mediating officials, thereby reducing the
possibility of malpractice. This does not however mean that the primary objective of e-
governance is tackling corruption, ‘even though it may be a fallout (though not necessarily).
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Evidently, the objectives of achieving such e-governance go far beyond mere simple
computerization of stand-alone back-office operations in government offices- It should mean
a drastic change in the way the government operates, and this means a new and redefined
set of responsibilities for the executive, legislative and the judiciary. This requires bringing
about a social catharsis, which needs to be done in a comprehensive, concerted and planned
manner.
Historically, it was in Chile that a real e-governance initiative was taken up as early as
in 1972, when the IT applications were unheard of in government and were limited even in
business. They used techniques of IT not to just make government paperless or less of paper
(as is presently being done) but to perform government work efficiently. They realized that
transparency is the ability to regulate the conditions, not the transactions. Prof. Stafford
Beer implemented for President Allende of Chile, the first e-governance software that would
help the government to survive a severe crisis. The question that was asked to and answered
by the software was whether the government would survive by getting adequate grip and
control over the situation in time of a severe inflationary crisis due to economic blockade
resulting from stopping of copper exports (which was accounting for 80% of the foreign
exchange earnings of Chile). The software which was developed did help in restoring prices
back to normal, thus making the government survive. Chile thus became the first country to
have successfully implemented e-governance.
Even though the Chile experiment of the real e-governance early in 1972 was a
success story, the subsequent efforts in implementing e-governance in various countries,
including the developed ones, were not aimed at such profound or sweeping purposes of
critical nature. Generally, the e-governance applications have been more mundane, simple
and straightforward. As the winds of e-governance and e-government blow widely through
public organizations across the world, more and more governments in different countries
have been harnessing the Internet and the powers of IT to provide services of varied nature
as follows :-
• G-to-G (Govt. to Govt. - within and across the Govt.)
• Q-to-C (-Services by the Govt. to Citizens)
• C-to-G (Interaction of Citizens with the Govt.)
• G-to-B (Services of the Govt. - to Business)
• B-to-G (Business interaction with the Govt.)
1. Write any Four elements of Good Governance.
2. Any three advantages of good governance.
3. Any three Advantages of e-governance.

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20.6 APPLICATIONS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

The basic parameters of good governance are always beneficial to apply in any
administrative, managerial or academic sphere. These are applicable in various kinds of
settings-whether developed or developing countries. With some variations these parameters
can be adopted for a variety of socio-economic and political conditions in different societies,
and even in smaller areas or in a single institution. There we can take the example of one
such institution-Good Governance in technical education in India.
1. NECESSARY ATTRIBUTIES OF GOVERNING BODY MEMBERS
1.1 Absolute integrity, objectivity and impartiality
1.2 The ability to work effectively at Board level, including knowing when and how
to challenge and when and how to support and what the limits of the governor
role should be
1.3 Being prepared to devote sufficient time to governance duties, including
attending all of the relevant Board and Committee meetings and contributing
further as required.
1.4 Being committed to improving the student experience and to ensuring that
there is effective feedback to the Board about the quality of teaching and
learning.
1.5 Being committed to openness, transparency and personal accountability.
1.6 Being committed to improving your own performance as a governor, including
seeking feedback and learning from it.
2. THE DESIRABLE BLEND OF GOVERNOR EXPERIENCE
Governors will come from a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds.
The Board as a whole should be able to call on experience across a wide range of
areas:
2.1 Governance at Board level in both the corporate world and the public sector,
including some members with personal international experience.
2.2 Management at senior level, so that members can call on personal experience in
supporting the institution's own development.
2.3 The application of modern management techniques and systems, including
strategic planning and effective project management.
2.4 Benchmarking performance against comparable organizations, nationally and
internationally.
2.5 Overseeing modern IT-based management and management information
systems.
2.6 A track record of creative and innovative problem-solving.
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1. BENEFITS OF TRANSPARENCY AND OPENNESS

1.1 Governing bodies can demonstrate that they are promoting high ethical
standards in their own work.
1.2 Decision-making is improved it staff, students and others with an interest are
able to contribute to the process of drawing up proposals for action
1.3 Staff, students and other stakeholders need to know what has been decided
and what is expected of them as a result. The maximum possible transparency
and openness are powerful aids to effective communication within the
institution and beyond.
1.4 Transparency is a powerful weapon against malpractice of all types.
2. DELIVERING TRANSPARENCY AND OPENNESS
2.1 All institutions should make BOG papers-agendas, papers considered and
minutes of meetings – generally available to staff and students. Papers should
be kept confidential tartly, and only where this is strictly necessary.
2.2 BOG meeting minutes should be published on the institution's website. It is
good practice to publish agendas and papers too
2.3 Institutions should publish Annual Reports and audited financial statements
and make them widely available, for example on their websites.
2.4 In publishing Annual Reports and financial information, it is good practice to
set out a statement of the governing body's own responsibilities in relation to
corporate governance and internal control.
2.5 Governing bodies should consider opening their meetings to senior staff so that
the decisions reached can be communicated even more effectively.
2.6 Students can make a valuable contribution to governance discussions, and
they should be encouraged to participate.
2.7 In addition to formal publication of governance papers and conclusions,
institutions should use all of the means at their disposal to involve the staff and
students in governance activity.
20.7 SUMMARY
The terms 'governance' and 'good governance' are now being increasingly used in the
area of politics, administration and development. The basic elements of good governance
such as accountability, transparency, responsiveness, equity etc. are now being focused in a
much better way than earlier. Along with these, e-governance has resulted in a better and
efficient administration much to the satisfaction of citizens. However, it is not free from
problems. The biggest hurdle in the developing countries like India is the shortage of trained
manpower, bureaucratic and political hurdles, cyber-crimes, psychological barriers, and
technological breakdowns. But despite the hurdles there is growing a fast acceptance of e-
governance modes and it has definitely come to stay now.
20.8 GLOSSARY
 Smart Governance - Using technology for efficient administration /good
governance
226
 Responsiveness - Feature of reacting quickly and positively

 Retrieval - Process of getting it back
 Multimedia - Using more than one medium of communication
1. The World Bank, Governance Development, Washington DL, 1992.
2. Tajinder Sharma, E-Governance: Process Reengineeing Approval, India on
Journal of Public Admn. Oct. 2002.
3. Jan Kooiman (ed.), Modern Governance: New Government – Society Interaction,
Sage, New Delhi, 1993
4. Sahib Singh, Surinder Singh, Public Administration, Theory and Practice, New
Academic Publishing Jalandhar, 2000.
5. Dharendra K. Vajpeyi & Renu Khatur, Globalization, Governance and
Technology, Deep & Deep, New Delhi, 2008.
1. Define Governance and Good-Governance and Discuss the need and
components of Good-Governance and analyse its impact.
2. Discuss the relationship between Governance and E-Governance. Highlight the
major advantages and impact of Good Governance.
Suggested Answer to Self Assessment Questions
1. Efficiency and Effectiveness, Transparency, Accountability Responsiveness,
Rule of law.
2. Better Services, Openness, Efficiency, Citizen Satisfaction.
3. Speed, Better Record Management, Transparency, Check on corruption.

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Chairperson : Prof.

M.A. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SEMESTER – I

• Introductory letter (i - ii)

1. Meaning, Nature and Scope of Public Dr. Sahib Singh and 1

2. Evolution and Development of Public Prof. Swinder Singh 11

3. Public Administration in Developed and Prof. Swinder Singh 19

4. New Public Administration Prof. Swinder Singh 29

5. New Public Management Prof. Swinder Singh 37

6. Principal Agent Theory Prof. Swinder Singh 45

7. New Public Service, Postmodernism and Prof. Swinder Singh 54

8. Organizations: Meaning and Types Prof. Swinder Singh 65

10. Centralization and Decentralization Prof. Swinder Singh 94

11. The Chief Executive Prof. Swinder Singh 113

12. Line and Staff Agencies Prof. Swinder Singh 128

13. Headquarter Field Relationship Prof. Swinder Singh 137

14. Communication: Concept, Process and Prof. Swinder Singh 146

Vetter: Dr. Anil Kumar

E-Mail of Department - coordpubadm@pu.ac.in

We accord you a hearty welcome on your joining, M.A. Semester-I Public

MEANING, NATURE AND SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

administration as a self-conscious study were (a) change from a predominantly rural to

those persons who are engaged in the performance of managerial functions in an

Theoretical Aspect Subject Matter Human Element Ecology Aspect

2. Name the authors who advocated Managerial View.

1.5 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ADMINISTRATION

9. Efficiency : Some of the thinkers opine that private administration is efficient

2. On what basis Simon distinguishes Public and Private Administration.

 Appropriateness - Aptness, Fairness

Suggested Answers to Self-Assessment Questions

EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF

Since the beginning of 20 th century, a systematic study of Public Administration had

2. Name the major contribution to the 'Principles' of Administration?

2.6 DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION AND COMPARATIVE PUBLIC

2.7 PUBLIC POLICY APPROACH

mainly due to self-aggrandizing bureaucracies and self-seeking, vote gathering politicians.

2. Who called the principles of Administration as proverb.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN DEVELOPED

administration in the developed world. These countries have a well-developed administrative

In some of the “non department” bodies, characteristic of “department” may be

2. The American Federal and State Services.

— There is generally a discrepancy in ‘form’ and ‘reality’ in administration of developing

2. Write three points of role of Public Administration in a developing society.

3.5 ROLE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN ADVANCED COUNTRIES

4. Administration of manpower resources and effective use of these to the utmost

1. Among political elites, there is widely shared commitment to “development”. The

slimmer and smarter administration, more emphasis on economy, efficiency and

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Administration. They call for a greater decentralization and citizen participation in

2. Write four features of NPA.

4.5 CRITICAL EVALUATION

2. Explain the term Client Oriented Administration, Phenomenology and Social

In the literature of Public Administration, the term ‘Public Management’ is relatively a

– flexibility to explore alternatives to direct public provision which might provide

– devolution from the Centre to operating departments, including the setting up

2. Write four basic features of NPM.

5.5.4 The ‘People’ Dimension

PRINCIPAL - AGENT THEORY

2. Who is regarded as the main exponent of Public-Choice theory ?

6.3 CRITICAL EVALUATION

NEW PUBLIC SERVICE, POSTMODERNISM AND

Source : Adapted from Denhardt and Denhardt (2000, p. 554)

2. Distinguish NPM and NPS.

Postmodernism may be regarded as a massive thought shaking or a radical vision