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Public Administration MODULE
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Introduction to Public Administration Distance Learning Material Module
CHAPTER ONE
THE NATURE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Chapter objectives
Dear distance learner, this is the first chapter for the course introduction to public administration. Thus
it will acquaint you with basic concepts in the subject matter. In this chapter issues like the meaning,
nature and scope of public administration, the difference between public administration and private
administration as well as the environment of public administration will be discussed.
At the end of this Unit, you should be able to:
 Explain the term “Administration.”
 Define the term “Public Administration.”
 State the Scope of Public Administration
 Define public and private administration.
 State the differences between public and private administration.
 State the similarities between the public and private administration.
1.1. INTRODUCTION
Every system of public administration is the product of many influences. Its form and content reflect its
historical origin; existing patterns are a composite of practices and procedures of both ancient and
contemporary. As White (1955:13) noted, no administrative system can be well understood without
some knowledge of what it has been, and how it came to be what it is now. Therefore, when we
study public administration, it would be indispensable to look at it from a historical perspective.
The study of Public Administration is strictly related with the very existence and changing functions
of the government. Therefore, public administration must always be seen in the context (framework,
situations, perspective) of the problems confronting the government. Such problems, inter alia, may
include:
By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

1
 The conflict between sovereignty and responsibility, or the reconciliation of liberty with the
duty to govern. The government must be strong enough to command obedience and ensure
compliance to its rules as well as to administer effectively, whilst at the same time being
controlled in order to establish responsibility to certain standards.
 The need to balance achievement of the common good and with the demands of vested
interests.
 The need to balance present necessities with future desirability
 The need to balance traditional attitudes with scientific curiosity.
These being some of the challenging problems of the government, its role has developed far beyond the
basic and conventional activities of external defense, internal law and order, and tax collection, to an
interventionist and active planning role. The government's traditional and changing (modern) roles
could be contrasted as having the nature of "prohibition and permission", or "dos and don'ts"
respectively.
The original role can be seen as "negative" in that it was primarily concerned with stopping other
people from doing something wrong, things that were inconvenient to the society. In contrast, the
modern role is more positive in that it focuses in providing for the society large scale and variety of
goods and services. The consequence of the changed role of the state is the growth of large
hierarchical professional bureaucracies, which is the major area of concern of public administration.
What were the fundamental causes or factors behind the changes in the functions of the government?
A complex of combination of factors led to the expansion of the role of the state, and thus of public
administration, namely;
(a) Industrialization: the development of industry and the associated growth of towns
(urbanization) led to various socioeconomic problems such as those related to housing, health,
unemployment and so on. These problems were not satisfactorily resolved through the market
system, and thus political demands eventually led to state action.
(b) Social cost: as the scale of commercialization increased, it became apparent that the activities
of one organization or individual could impose extra costs upon the society in general; for

2
example environmental damage from pollution. Thus, pressure upon the state both to
regulate and to take certain responsibilities upon itself became necessary.
(c) Market inadequacies: certain basic facilities that would bring successful economic growth
were not being effectively provided by the private sector. Hence, the state, for example, took
an interest in communications: roads, posts, etc quite on early stage.
(d) Political demands: as a result of many factors like those mentioned above, various groups
organized themselves in order to present their views politically. Those groups requested an
integral and active intervention of the state in their interest and affairs.
In general, public administration showed tremendous growth, both as a profession and as a field of
study, alongside (together with, along with, at the side of, in conjunction with) the expansion of
government functions and changing trends in its essential roles. This has been manifested through the
growth of the institutional machinery and hierarchy of professional bureaucracy as well as
through the growing concerns of scholars in the subject.
Another point worth mentioning at this stage is, therefore, to note how public administration has
evolved both as a profession and as an academic discipline. Public administration (PA) as an academic
discipline (as a branch of learning or as a field of study) is only a century old, while public
administration as an activity can be referred to the earliest periods of human history, the beginning of
social organizations.
What several writers have agreed upon is that public administration as an activity is as old as
civilization, but as an academic discipline it counted only hundred years. In other words, public
administration as an activity has existed long before systematic study of the subject began. Official
academic status to the discipline didn't come until World War I, until when public administration was
recognized as an independent field of study and subject textbooks were published.
This, however, doesn't mean that thinkers in earlier times had never said anything significant about
public administration. Functioning of the government machinery has attracted the attention of scholars
and administrators in scattered ways since the earliest periods. The point is that, such scattered
thoughts didn't constitute a discipline, a systematic study of the subject.

3
Although we acknowledge the age-old practice of administration, governmental administration of the

earlier times (ancient and medieval) differed considerably in its structure and goals from the modern
era. Administration of the state in the ancient and medieval periods:
 Was authoritarian, patriarchal and elitist (or discriminatory) in character, informal and fluid
structure,
 Maintenance of law and order, collection of revenue, …etc were compulsory functions whereas
welfare activities were purely incidental or optionally undertaken,
 The so-called administrators were few in number, selected entirely at the discretion (upon the
will) of the monarch and their official status was no better than the personal servants of the
king,
 Administrative (state) functions were limited in scope,
In contrast, state administration of the modern era that gave rise in the 19th Century to replace the old
patriarchal, hereditary state administrative system has, among others, the following features:
 Takes the form of public bureaucracy, and administrators were recruited on the basis of public
law, became more formal,
 More formal structure performing largely within a legal framework,
 Performs multiple of functions, much beyond revenue collection, maintenance of law and order,
as well as security functions.
 Tasks becoming by-and-large welfare concern and public oriented,
The present era is that of the modern administrative state. The question is that how does modern
administration came to exist and operate? All mass movements since the 18th Century have
contributed to the increasing volume, variety and scope of public administration. Increasing
population, urbanization, public communications, and mobility diversified governmental activities.
Public administration is indispensably (essentially) present in all forms of states, capitalist, socialist,
developed or developing in nature.

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Modern public administration has assumed more and more functions within its scope and operates a
vast array of public laws and provides public services. The scope and importance of public
administration increases with an increasing social complexity, specialization and differentiation.
In the present age, there is hardly any aspect of a citizen's life, which doesn't involve public
administration. Public administration is increasingly loaded with additional works and responsibilities
like promoting efficiency, egalitarianism (social equality), and rapid socio-economic development.
Gerald Caiden (1971) has listed the following crucial roles as assumed by public administration in
contemporary societies:
(i) Preservation of the polity
(ii) Maintenance of stability and order
(iii) Institutionalization of socio-economic changes (not haphazardly)
(iv) Management of large-scale commercial services
(v) Ensuring growth and economic development
(vi) Protection of the weaker section of the society
(vii) Formation of public opinion (working towards public interest)
(viii) Influencing public policies and political trends
The fact that people need public administration to operate well with the aforementioned and more other
functions enables it to become a key power constituent (element) both in developed and developing
societies alike.
1.2.MEANING AND SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Public administration is the management of governmental affairs or issues at all levels or tiers,
national, regional (state), and local. It is the branch of the wider field of administration. There are
slight differences between "administration" and "public administration".
Different writers defined the term "administration" in various ways.

 For Marx (1964:4), "Administration is a determined action taken in pursuit of a conscious
purpose. It is a systematic ordering of affairs and the calculated use of resources aimed at
making those things happen which one wants to happen".

5
 Pfiffner (1960:3) also defined administration as "…the organization and direction of human
and material resources to achieve desired ends…getting the work of government done by
coordinating the efforts of the people so that they can work together to accomplish their set
(predetermined) tasks".
 L. D. White (1955:1) explained, "Administration is a process common to all group effort,
public or private, civil or military, large-scale or small scale..."
The important elements of administration, according to these definitions, are cooperative effort,
systematic application, and purposefulness.
Public Administration on the other hand can be understood as any kind of administration in the public
interest. This simply means governmental administration. Therefore, the difference between
"administration" and "public administration" are essentially revealed in their scope, the former being
much broader than the later.
There are also differing views regarding the scope and range of activities to be included in public
administration. Some thinkers view it broadly to include all governmental activities, while others see
it narrowly to consider only those activities concerned with the executive branch of the government.
The definitions given by different thinkers show the emphasis they lay on different aspects of public
administration. Some of the definitions include:
 "Public administration consists of all those operations with the purpose of the fulfillment or
enforcement of policy", L.D White (1955).
 "Public administration is detailed and systematic application of law", Wilson.
 "Public administration is the fulfillment or enforcement of policy as declared by the
competent authorities…it is law in action, it is the executive side of the government",
Dimock (1937).
Nigro (1965) defined public administration in a more comprehensive way to include, besides the
above-mentioned aspects, the relationship between public administration and the political and social
systems as well. For him public administration:

6
1. Is cooperative effort in a public setting

2. Covers all the three branches of the government; i.e. executive, legislative, and judiciary and
their interrelationships
3. Has an important role in the formulation of public policy and is thus part of the political process
4. Is more important than, and also differs significantly from private administration
5. Has been much influenced in recent years by the "human relations approach" both as a field of
study and practice
6. Is closely associated with numerous private groups and individuals in providing services to the
community
There have been also attempt to define public administration with respect to its internal and external
dimensions:
 Internal administration is defined to mean the management of an organization or agency that
involves systems, processes and methods through which needed resources of personnel,
material and technology are used to perform certain prescribed functions.
 External administration on the other hand refers to activities and processes of administration,
which are needed to establish and to activate relationships with agencies and groups outside
the administrative control of an organization to achieve its objectives.
A system of public administration is the composite of all the laws, regulations, practices,
relationships, codes, and customs that prevail at any time in any jurisdiction for the fulfillment or
execution of public policy. Functionally speaking also, the art of administration is the direction,
coordination, and control of many persons and other resources to achieve some purpose or objective. It
is a dynamic art, taking the human and physical resources to the achievement of some required goals.
Generally, public administration is the non-political bureaucratic machinery of the government, but
operating within the political context, for implementing its laws and policies in action such as the
collection of revenues, maintenance of law and order, maintaining an army, providing/running social
and economic services. Public administration is a means by which the policy decisions made by the
political decision-makers are carried out.

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The following is an all-encompassing definition that consists a list of functions of public

administration.
"Public administration is decision-making, planning the work to be done, formulating

objectives and goals, working with the legislative and citizen organizations to gain public
support for government programs, establishing and revisiting organizations, directing
and supervising employees, providing leadership, providing and receiving
communications, determining work methods and procedures, appraising performance,
exercising controls and other functions performed by government executives and
supervisors. It is the action part of the government, the means by which the purposes and
goals of government are realized" (Michael P. Barber, 1983:1; Rumki Basu, 1994:)
This comprehensive definition and all points raised under this sub-topic could enable us to
understand not only the meaning of public administration, but also its major concerns,
aspects, purposes and scope. It is to mean that public administration is concerned with action in
particular or concrete situation, but in accordance with long-range objectives.
The immediate objective of the art of public administration is the most efficient and effective
utilization of resources at the disposal of officials and employees. The aspects of public
administration are innumerable and its scope is generally wide. The scope of public administration has
been broadening from time to time with the growing expectations of people. In other words, what
public administration is supposed to do varies with people's expectations of what they should get
from the government.
As White said (1955:3), two centuries ago people expected little from government but oppression. A
century ago they expected primarily to be let alone, let them free from intervening in their affairs. Now,
they expect a wide range of services and protection from the government. Accordingly, government
becomes the common agency to explore and preserve mutual interests, and to adjust competing
interests through its machinery; i.e. Public administration. .

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Public administration is, therefore, the means by which these policy adjustments are made effective. In
broad context, the ends of public administration are the ultimate objectives of the state itself-the
attainment of the good life.
1.3.THE ART AND SCIENCE EXPOSITIONS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Public Administration holds two meanings; firstly it stands for the activity of administering
governmental affairs, secondly it is also an academic discipline. The first is definitely an art. What
needs analytical explanation is the science aspect of public administration; i.e. is it, as a subject of
study of governmental affairs, a science?
There have been many people writing or arguing public administration as possessing an element of
science since the 1880s. Woodrow Wilson, who was known as the pioneer of public administration as a
subject of study, called it the "science of public administration" as early as 1887.
Willoughby (1927), who was one of the early writers of the field, also declared that the subject matter
possessed uniformities analogous to the laws of physical sciences. He wrote that there are certain
fundamental principles of general application in public administration analogous to those
characterizing any science.
Collections of papers were also presented in 1937 on the subject under the title of "Papers on the
Science of Administration". Writers of those papers reflected their positions in that for any discipline
to claim the title and status of science, there should exist a body of principles embodied in it. The
essential characteristics of science are absence of normative (or ethical) values, predictability of
behavior, and universal application.
Hence, public administration can obviously be rated as a science if it proves that it has developed a set
of principles and acquires all the above three features. The question again is that does public
administration have a set of such principles and features?

9
Many writers agree in that counter arguments in public administration to deserve a science position are
feeble (weak, meager) and insufficient. Rather, the last hundred years have seen remarkable
development of the science of public administration. Evidences of which are:
 The transformation of the laissez-faire (liberal, nonjudgmental) state into the modern
welfare state has enlarged its sphere, added to the functions of government and aroused
interest in the problems of efficiency in government, which remained to be an art for long
proceeding by way of trial and error.
 The works of industrial engineers, like Taylor, pioneered the scientific methods with
emphasis on experimentation, observation, collection of data, classification and analysis, and
the formulation of laws and principles.
 The development of other administration components such as organizing, planning,
personnel administration, and budgetary control as a result of the progress of the scientific
method.
 The veritable (genuine) contributions of writers from different disciplines (backgrounds) to
administration and management such as Fayol, Peter Drucker, and others show that it is
derived from a body of cross-cultural studies.
All these arguments are aimed to strengthen discussions in understanding and accepting public
administration to be called as science.
In this regard, we find commentators arguing against the clarity of public administration to be entitled
the status of science. Rumki Basu (1994:5), for example, said that all the three features are yet
imperfectly present in public administration.
In other words, the debate is that public administration cannot be called a science until the following
three conditions are fulfilled.
 The place of normative values in public administration should be clearly identified and made
clear,
 Greater understanding should be gained of human nature in the field of public administration.
 The principles of administration could be derived from a body of cross-cultural studies,
thereby making them relatively free from cultural bias.

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Generally, as Leonard White (1955:8) said, whether or not administration is, or ever can be, reduced to
a validated universal laws remains a topic of lively argument.
On the one hand it is stated that every administrative situation is unique, both in its human agents
and in its external influences, and the factors that enter into any administrative act are so numerous and
complex. Thus, it is impossible either to define all of them or to assign their relative importance as a
science. In the stream of administration, only unique events could occur, not repetitive units whose
dimensions and relations are subject either to measurement or to controlled experimentation.
On the other hand, studies of individuals' behavior in their work environment asserted that uniformities
of individual and group conduct do appear. These uniformities based on human nature may be
described in the form of propositions that could be tested by observation and experiment.
1.4.PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION vs. PRIVATE ADMINISTRATION
Generally speaking, although the administration of public and private affairs differ at many points and
vary in form and purposes, there are underling similarities in their processes. Among a number of
distinguishing factors between public administration and private business administration, the following
could be considered as the major ones.
(a) The Political environment: public administration is concerned with the implementation of
decisions made within the political system. In a democratic system, the policies of the
government duly approved by the legislature should represent the political will of the
people, or at least the resultant of the activities of the various competing political interests
in the society. In consequence:
(i) The government creates individual rights and imposes constraints on individual and
group behavior
(ii) The administrator is in frequent contact with his clients and his major concern is
with equity and impartiality

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(iii) Administrative procedures are built around strict compliance with the law. On the
other hand, private industry is essentially guided by the principles of profit
maximization and doesn't act as an arbiter between conflicting social interests.
(b) Social costs: public administration decision-making varies from that of private business in
that where private business is primarily concerned with questions of financial cost and
benefit, public administration is intimately concerned with the concepts of social costs and
benefits in addition to those of a mere financial nature.
(c) Public interest: Public administration is often evaluated by the ability to operate in a
manner so as to maximize and integrate the public interest, whereas private business is
evaluated on the basis of profit maximization. In other words, although efficiency is
axiom number one in the value scale of both public and private administration, in private
business it has to do with the minimization of cost and maximization of profits, while in
the context of public administrative system the aims are more complex to include other
concepts like public service, public accountability, and social responsibility. Therefore,
the differing aims require efficiency to be redefined in connection to public administration.
In practice it is much more difficult quantify in financial terms the substantial investment
of resources undertaken by the public sector.
(d) Instability: As a result of operating in a political environment, public administrators are

faced with a much greater turnover of political leadership and consequent changes in policy
than is encountered in private business.
(e) Allocation of responsibilities: the method of allocation of functions in the public sector is
often based more on political considerations than pure test of efficiency, as it would be
done in the private sector.
(f) Functions: Public administration is faced with a much wider variety of functions than
those operating in private business, and also deals with matters, which are the exclusive
jurisdictions of central administration such as defense, and law and order.

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(g) Decision criteria: Decision-making in public administration is unlike that of a private

organization whose customers are free to take or leave the organization's products or
services. Public administration decision-making is often not based on commercial forces.
Rather, the public, who are in a sense the "customers" of its services, indicate their interests
and views via their political representatives. All decisions of public administration take
place against the background of public criticism.
Besides to the above-mentioned differences, public and private administrations could also vary in many
respects. For example, as the nature of the basic administrative problems in public and private sectors
varies substantially, decision-making inevitably varies accordingly. Whilst the business (private) sector
is strongly oriented to market innovation, public administration can be said to be concerned more
with market compression.
The extent and magnitude of the vise versa influences of the two administrative systems are quite
different. Private administration is highly affected by the decisions, laws, and procedures of public
administration. From the outset, private sector is supposed to fulfill certain requirements imposed by
the government (public sector) before it starts to operate, and to respect and adhere to public laws. On
the contrary, public administration is less likely to be affected by private administration in the same
manner.
1.5.THE ENVIRONMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Environment in the context of this topic refers to actors and forces that affect or determine public
administration. The environment under which public administration operates, that would have major
implications on its success or failure as well as in shaping its basic features, can generally be classified
as internal and external.
Internal environment refers to those conditions, which are in most cases within the control of the
administration, yet having their own challenges and/or advantages. This may include the organization

13
itself and groups and individuals within the organization, the material, financial, and other
resources available for the organization and so on.
The organizational structure and the pattern of authority in the formal hierarchy, the purpose and
tradition of the organization, historical legacies or traditional practices of the administrative systems,
the internal network and working procedures, etc have influences on the administrative efficiency and
effectiveness of a given organization or country. The behavior and structure of formal and informal
groups like peer groups, labor unions, and advisory council have also strong influence on the style of
administration. The type and sufficiency of materials, skill, knowledge, and finance are considered as
environmental factors internal to the organization that highly determine the administrative style and the
accompanying success or failure of administration.
External environment on the other hand is that, which is outside the control of the administration but
having major impact in shaping the features and determining the success or failures of the overall
objectives that public administration wants to achieve. The external environment can be generalized as
political, economic/ecological, social, and technological (PEST) each of which reflected in many
ways. For example we can consider:
 Politically, the type of government and the resultant constitution, policies, laws and directives;
national and international political trends and changes; bilateral and multilateral agreements
and policies;
 Economically, national economic trends and level of growth and development; the global
market and economic situation as well as the extent of mutual economic assistance and
cooperation;
 Socially, population/demographic trends and changes; societal beliefs, values, attitudes,
cultures, and lifestyles; public expectations and demands;
 Technologically, ability or access to use the type of technology being used elsewhere in the
world, such as in communication and production;
All these have their own effects on the administrative system of a given country or organization. Thus,
public administration has always to keep on with close scrutiny and be aware of what is going on or
what exists in both the internal and external environment.

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As the internal and external environments do have influences on the features, structures and goals of
public administration, there are apparent differences in developed and developing countries in these
regards.
1.5.1. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN DEVELOPED (INDUSTRIAL)

COUNTRIES
In the context of this note, the term "developed" or "industrial" societies refer to those countries of
Western Europe and USA where industrialization has brought about major changes in economic
structure and growth accompanied by political and administrative modernization.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that administrative modernization is not a typical or exclusive feature
of developed countries. Because some developed countries might not have modern administrative
system, while we could find a developing country that employs modern administration.
Despite individual differences, the following are some of the important features of administrative
systems of developed countries as a group that differentiate them from the developing ones:
1. Government organization is highly distinguished and functionally specific and the roles are
based on achievement criteria than on attribute or assumed power. The bureaucracy is marked
by a high degree of specialization. Recruitment of personnel is generally based on merits.
2. Laws and political decisions are largely rational. Public policy making is effectively made by
professional public administrators.
3. Administration has become to take all-encompassing functions that affect major spheres of the
lives of citizens.
4. There is high correlation (association) between political power and legitimacy (legality) and
there is an extensive popular interest and involvement in public affairs.
5. Incumbents of political or governmental offices are generally considered as lawful or
reasonable holders of those positions, and transfer of power and positions tend to occur in
accordance with prescribed rules and procedures.

15
In summary, we can generally say that the nature of public administration of these industrialized
countries can be differentiated from those of the developing ones in structure and function.
Structurally and functionally they tend to resemble to the Weberian model of bureaucracy.
The fact that bureaucracy in these countries exhibits (demonstrate) high degree of professionalism in
turn is the result of various factors like educational background, career orientation and standards
of competence applied in recruitment to the public service. Due to a relative stability of political
systems in these societies, bureaucracy is fully developed with fairly clear roles and practical
acceptance as an autonomous institution. In terms of function, bureaucracy is primarily involved in
rule application, but performing secondary functions of rule making.
Public administration in these countries is more responsive and responsible to the public; provides
efficient and effective public services; performs both routine and welfare tasks. For such and many
other reasons, citizens of the industrial societies often view public administration as an impartial and
expert body of professionals intellectually equipped to cope with their administrative needs.
In theory, the tasks of public administration in industrial societies do not differ from the
developing ones where the primary task of public administration is to implement public laws and
policies. However, empirical studies proved that features of an administrative system highly relates to
the environment they exist. Therefore, the roles and challenges of public administration in developed
countries have to be viewed in their particular socio-economic and cultural context.
For example, public administration in developed societies is extremely affected by the development of
modern science and technology, and communication networks. Relative autonomy of institutions in
developed countries has also its own (special) administrative problems, reflected in terms of lack of
coherence among numerous service and regulatory organizations or agencies.
Generally, according to Rumki Basu (1994:43), developed countries (especially in Europe) are typical
examples of what is known as the "administrative state"; and the bureaucracy in these states mainly
perform three types of functions:

16
1. Regulatory and preventive functions, enforcing laws, collecting revenue, and protecting the
state against external aggression.
2. Service functions, providing services like education, health, culture and recreation, social
insurance, unemployment relief, housing, transportation, and communication.
3. Entrepreneurial (commercial) functions, operating industrial enterprises, loaning funds and so
forth in order to maintain or increase economic growth and development of their respective
societies.
1.5.2. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Many of the developing countries have got their independence from colonialists immediately after the
Second World War. Despite a wide range of differences in terms of the location, resources, history,
culture, political systems, and development patterns of these countries, they as a group can be called
(characterized) as "developing".
Most of these new self-governing states have been in the process of transitions, facing serious problems
of social turmoil and disturbances, economic depression (downturn) and administrative chaos
(confusions). Yet, a great degree of reliance has been made on the staggering state and bureaucracy for
achieving developmental goals and solving all sorts of social dilemmas and problems.
These realities have been seriously challenging public administration of developing countries. The
following points are indicative of general administrative patterns currently found in developing (third
world) countries.
1. The basic pattern of public administration is imitative (copied) rather than indigenous
(original). All developing (third world) counties, including those that were not colonized have
deliberately tried to introduce some version or style of the bureaucratic model of administration
from developed countries, most notably from colonial masters. Hence, it would be predictable
for ex-colonies to resemble in terms of their administrative pattern.

17
2. The bureaucracies are deficient (lacking) in the requisite skills necessary for development
programs. In spite of abundance (plenty) of labor (employable manpower) in relation to other
resources in most of the developing countries, trained administrators with management
capacity, developmental skills, and technical proficiency are extremely in shortfall.
3. Emphasis to non-productive orientations is another tendency (trend) of the bureaucracies of

these countries. Much bureaucratic activity is channeled towards the realization of non-
developmental goals. According to Riggs, bureaucrats prefer to personal expediency or
convenience as against principled public interest. This in turn may include practices like:
 Non-merit considerations influence greatly assignments, promotions, dismissals, and
other personnel practices,
 Widespread corruptions,
 Using the public service as a substitute for a social security program, or to relieve the
problem of unemployment. Thus, there is always a surplus of employees in the public
services,
4. Extensive (huge) discrepancy or disagreement between form and reality, which Riggs has
called it "formalism", is another distinguishing characteristic of administrative trends of
developing countries. In other words, bureaucrats pretend as if they make things they ought to
be done while the reality tells different from what they say. They try to fill partially the gap
between expectation and reality by:
 Enacting laws that cannot be enforced,
 Adopting personnel regulations that are peacefully by-passed,
 Announcing programs for delegation of administrative authority while keeping tight
control over decision-making at the center,
 Reporting as if production targets are met, which in fact remain only partially fulfilled,
5. The bureaucracy in developing countries is likely to have high degree of operational

autonomy as a result of several operating forces in newly independent states. These operating
forces could be factions created by colonialists within a given country, national and

18
international organizations etc. Political role of the bureaucracy in these countries vary
significantly.
Regardless of the aforementioned limitations of the current administrative patterns of developing

countries, the immensity of the developmental problems and the urgency to look for solutions have
thrust upon (or forced) the state to bear or shoulder the principal responsibility of achieving
developmental goals.
In other words, despite sever handicaps like shortage of capital, skilled manpower, and lack of
developmental infrastructure that they inherited from colonialists, the Third World governments are
confronted with rising expectations of the people they have to administer. Besides, Third World
governments have been expected to deal with curtailing social dislocations such as mass rural-urban
migration, sever unemployment, riots (social unrest) and community clashes.
With such challenges and confrontations, public administration still becomes the main agency of socio-
economic changes; changes not only in terms of formulating and implementing long-term plans, but
also in the context of establishing modern institutions or organizations equipped with the necessary
skills.
CHAPTER QUESTIONS
1. Define Public Administration and discuss its scope.

2. What is Public Administration? Examine its role in the modern state.
3. Make a distinction between private and public administration.

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CHAPTER TWO
EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: ADMINISTRATIVE THOUGHTS
AND APPROACHES
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this Unit, a student should be able to:

 Trace the historical development of Public Administration
 State the significant contribution of different management school of thoughts to the
development of Public Administration
2.1. INTRODUCTION
Though Public Administration changed greatly in the 1950s and 1960s, the nature of such
changes and its significance can only be understood in terms of past doctrines. Up to the 19th
century, the predominant concerns of the study of government affairs were political philosophy,
constitutional arrangement and law making. However, the complexity in economic and social life
was forcing a change of emphasis. European countries had begun taking very seriously the
training of civil servants and the scientific study of administration.
2.2. THE STUDY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
As White (1955:13) puts it, no administrative system can be well understood without some knowledge
of what it has been, and how it came to be what it is. Once we said that the age of public
administration as an activity is traceable to human civilization itself while as an academic discipline is
relatively younger, we then need to see its phylogeny, how it evolved and passed through several
stages, how it became important to study public administration as an independent academic discipline.
Although the art of administration has been practiced for centuries, it has not been widely written about
until recent years. In other words, in spit of the fact that the system of administration continued to

20
expand and adapt itself to changing conditions, professional attention to the field was almost entirely
lacking until the end of the 19th century.
Professional publication on public administration dates from the famous essay of Woodrow Wilson
(1887) in title "the study of public administration". Consequently, the study of public administration
became systematic after 1900. The study of public administration began in the United States and got
acceptance as a complete discipline. Hence, the evolution of the subject has been largely associated or
seen in the context of the US.
There have been many ways adopted to study public administration. The first systematic approach
notably used in America was through law and was devoted to the legal organization of public
authorities, their legal forms of action, and the limits of their power. Subsequently came systematic
writing primarily concerned with the nature of administrative institutions, an approach related to the
scientific management movement.
More recently, attention has been given to historical and biographical materials that reveal the
evolution of administrative systems and trends in thinking about administration. Sociologists have also
explored the nature of public administration as one among many significant social structures. All of
these approaches were relevant to establish wisdom and understanding about the subject. Hence, the
study of public administration has advanced to an extraordinary degree particularly since 1920.
Modern public administration was first taught as part of a training course of public officials. The
subject was largely compiled and taught by generalists, or known as "cameralists", in a descriptive
manner. Initially, civil service recruits had to study law, and gradually public service training schools
started offering courses on administrative law in America and all over Europe. The study of public
administration has now become a staple curriculum in many colleges and universities.
However, in English-speaking countries emphasis was on generalist administrators and circumstances

were unfavorable for the emergence of a discipline of public administration at the initial stage. In these
countries, administration was considered more of an experimental art rather than a subject to be taught

21
theoretically. Later on, with the expansion of governmental functions, training of practitioners in the art
of public administration was deemed paramount.
The expansion of governmental functions gave raise for public administration as an activity to become
highly diversified, complex and specialized. Therefore, there was a growing need for better
management of public affairs through scientific investigations, for specialized training of public
servants in the USA.
Many factors have contributed towards the growth of the study of public administration in the USA and
gradually all over the world as a separate discipline. To mention the major ones;
(i) The development of modern science and technology made an impact on the lives of the
people and the functioning of the government. This is to mean that rapid technological
development created large-scale social dislocations that made state intervention imperative
and desirable. Hence, scholars came to pay increasing time and attention to the problems.
(ii) The scientific management movement founded by F.W. Taylor, which began in the USA
towards the end of the 19th century, gave great impetus to the study of public administration
throughout the world. The message of his thesis was that all work processes are separable into
units; the efficiency of each unit can be tested and improved; the techniques can be extended
upwards in every organization, making efficient and rational.
(iii) The gradual evolution of the concept of welfare state, which decisively shifted the
philosophy of state functions everywhere from the traditional laissez-faire to that of social
welfare. The welfare movement has tremendously enlarged the scope of governmental
functions and administration since public administration has become the chief instrument of
social welfare.
(iv) The movement of government and administrative reform which took place in the early
years of the 19th century in USA to look for remedies of the then problems envisaged or

22
encountering the civil service. The impact of the reform movement in the US government
permeated American Universities to popularize the study of public administration.
2.3. ADMINISTRATIVE THOUGHTS (ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES)
Organization theory has developed rapidly since 1920s, which have much relevance to public
administration. The primary purpose of organization theory as an academic study is to understand and
explain:
(a) Organizational problems as they relate to the structure of public departments, their
interrelationships, coordination, and internal functioning.
(b) How people in organizations behave and how organizations function.
The relevance is particularly apparent to those public sector organizations that are concerned with the
provision of goods and services. However, two important points should be noted in considering these
theories:
(1) Organization theory doesn't exist as a coherent and universally accepted set of concepts.
(2) Organization theory is not traditionally concerned with public administration. It is thus
necessary when applying such theory for public administration to bear in mind that whilst
organizational features may be similar, public administration operates in a much different
institutional setting.
Three broad schools of thoughts to organization or administrative theory may be discerned namely,
"classical" or equally known as "scientific administration", "human relations" or "behavioral", and
"systems" theories. Each of these broad thoughts, which will be discussed as follows also consist
different sub-theories.
2.3.1. THE CLASSICAL THEORY

23
The classical theory of organization is also known as the structural theory or the scientific
administration theory and its foremost proponents were Frederick W. Taylor, Henry Fayol, Luther
Gulick, James Mooney, to mention a few. The most important concern of the classical theory is the
formation of certain universal principles of organization. It deals with formal organizational structure,
the study of activities that have to be undertaken to achieve objectives, and the grouping of such
activities to achieve efficient specialization and coordination.
In some books, we may find scientific management (administration) theory as an independent school
of thought or theory treated separately from the classical theory. However, in the most acceptable
presentation, scientific management theory could be fairly seen under the general category of the
classical approach or school. The study of scientific administration began with the advent of scientific
management founded by Frederick W. Taylor, who lived from 1856-1915 and has been called the
“father of scientific management”.
The following are brief statements of the main features of the classical school or approach to
organization.
Determining objectives: the basic purpose of determining organizational objectives is seen as being
to:
 Establish management priorities
 Indicate key departments and activities
 Provide consistency of human and materials organization with the objectives
Specialization and groupings: the classical theory treats specialization as the basis of efficiency, and
consequently places emphasis on the most effective management groupings of specialist functions.
Grouping: the approach identifies four relevant factors in grouping:

 Span of control: the classicists consider that one manager is only capable of controlling a limited
number of subordinates.
 Economies of scale: grouping should be made to produce or achieve economies of scale both
from the technical and resources aspects, and from the management aspects.

24
 Coordination: grouping may be justified and should be operated to achieve coordination or

integration of individual effort
 Unity: key activities that have long-term nature may be grouped under higher management for
direct supervision, to place highly interdependent units under a unified head.
Delegation: the approach believes that delegation defined as "the institutionalized right to make
decisions or give orders on behalf of an organization" should be to the point closest to that of operation
or job to be done and identifies factors relevant to delegation:
 It makes possible the achievement of economies of scale and specialization
 It diffuses the authority to make decisions to lower levels of the organization thus enhancing
initiatives and job satisfaction as well as identification with the goals of the organization
Divisionalisation and decentralization: divisionalisation refers to dividing the organization into units
based on such factors as product type, geographical operation, etc while decentralization is the
systematic delegation of authority to all organizational units.
Specifying responsibility: responsibility is a corollary of authority, the natural consequence of

exercising power. The classical approach thus emphasized the need for clear specification of
responsibility for the following reasons:
 To avoid vague assignments that would result in confusion and jurisdictional conflict
 To make accountable those who are assigned with certain jobs and given responsibility
 To limit interference by supervisors
Line and staff relations: the classical theory emphasized the need for the establishment of line and
staff relationships, as well as relationships between superiors and subordinates for the following
reasons:
 It establishes official lines of communication throughout the organization
 It establishes to who each subordinate is accountable
 It establishes responsibility for coordination of the functions of subordinates.

25
Line functions are conceived of as vertical relationships and staff services as horizontal supporting
activities, the former being direct contributors and the later indirect contributors to the fulfillment of
the overall organizational objectives. .
All these being the major assumptions of the school towards organization, it tries to apply the scientific
method to obtain desired results in the workplace. Briefly, the scientific method uses the following
steps to achieve an objective:
1. Identify the proposition (objective)
2. Acquire information about the proposition through observation
3. Formulate a hypothesis about the proposition
4. Investigate the proposition thoroughly by controlled experiments
5. Set priorities and clarify the data obtained
6. State tentative answer to the proposition
7. Adjust and implement the answer to the proposition
The school, most notably Frederick W. Taylor, also believed that management, not labor, was the
causes of and potential solution to problems in industry. Taylor called for a mental revolution to
combine the interest of labor and management into a mutually rewarding whole. He emphasized the
importance of mutual understanding and building better management and labor relations.
Henry Fayol is a French contemporary of Taylor who came up with a concept or theory under the
general category of the classical school or approach known as "Administrative Management theory".
He made valuable contributions to administrative thoughts and development. Fayol focused on the
enterprise as a whole, not as a single segment of it, and he emphasized rationalism and logical
consistency.
Fayol's Administrative Management theory was often considered as the first complete theory of
management, the focus of which was on the job of the chief executive and on the principle of unity of
command. He divided all activities in an organization under six groups; technical, commercial,
financial, security, accounting and administrative.

26
He further propounded (advocated) the following fourteen principles of organization; namely, (1)
Division of work, (2) Authority, (3) Discipline, (4) Unity of command, (5) Unity of direction, (6)
Subordination of individual interest to general interest, (7) Remuneration of personnel, (8)
Centralization, (9) Scalar chain, (10) order, (11) Equity, (12) Stability of tenure of personnel, (13)
Initiative, and (14) Esprit de corps. The last one, Esprit de corps, is a French term that denotes feelings
of pride, care and support for each other etc, that are shared by members of a group.
Mooney and Reiley, in their famous work known as "the principles of organization", have also argued
that all organization structures are based on a system of superior-subordinate relationships arranged in
a hierarchical order termed as "scalar principle". According to this principle, in every organization
there is a grading of duties in varying degrees of authority and corresponding responsibility. The
"scalar principle" has its own principle, process and effect termed as leadership, delegation and
functional definition.
Luther Gulick who has been considered as another notable thinker of the classical school, defined
major managerial techniques by an acronym known as "BOSDCORB", each letter standing for
planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, and budgeting.
In general, the classical or scientific management school has contributed tremendous administrative
knowledge to us. Its essence is the development of an inquiring mind, searching for more knowledge,
more facts, and more relationships. Historically, it is associated with economic considerations such as
cost, time use, and efficiency supported by research methods of other disciplines.
Advocates of this school firmly believe that better management is possible by using scientific method,
and best management is never permanently attained because continuous new knowledge paves the way
for constant improvement. Moreover, the school tried to replace rule-of-thumb methods by scientific
methods. It sought to analyze existing practices; study works for standardization and improvement. On
the human side, the school suggested the highest degree of individual development and reward through
fatigue reduction, scientific selection to match individual’s abilities to their jobs, and wage incentives.

27
In general, the major theme of scientific management was that work could be studied scientifically,
work processes are separable into units, the efficiency of each work unit could be tested and improved
through careful scientific analysis, and the techniques could be applied universally.
There are, however, certain criticisms made by different commentators as the classical theory has its
own defects. These include:
 Underlying assumptions: the basic classical assumptions have been challenged in that they
oversimplify, and fail to take account of the development of small informal groups and sub-
groups, which may be at odds with the overall organizational goals.
 Problem definition: the classical approach presumes both the importance and the ease of
defining objectives and fails to recognize that in public administration the definition of such
objectives is interwoven with broad political process. In other words, there are problems in
defining and quantifying objectives in public administration particularly where social criteria
are involved.
 Means, not ends: the approach concentrates on the means whereby objectives may be
achieved, but gives little or no guide to the relevant elements of establishing ends.
Consequently, the approach is unrelated to the social and political problems faced by public
administration.
2.3.2. THE HUMAN RELATIONS (BEHAVIORAL) THEORY
This theory involves the study of motives and behavior and the development of criteria to help design
an organization that stimulates members to cooperate in achieving organizational aims. The behavioral
approach generally belongs to the neo-classical school of thought, focusing on the behavioral,
humanistic or human relation aspects of administration for which Elton Mayo is known as the major
contributor of the thought.
It is primarily concerned with the analysis of the behavior of groups and individuals within the
organizational context. Much of their work is experimentally based and concludes that social
classification must be taken into account when explaining behavior.

28
According to behavioral thinking, it is important that organizations should devise objectives taking into
account the needs of their staff as well as those of the organization as a whole. For example, positive
measures to stimulate cooperation and to avoid conflict should be made. In practice, the neo-classical
(behavioral) approach is concerned with the following:
(a) Needs and wants: the approach involves the study of an individual's wants and needs,
stimulating factors that help to satisfy needs and achieve organizational goals. Needs have to
be classified as physical, safety, social, egoistic, and self-actualization. Thus, an organization
should offer incentives to satisfy such needs as well as effectively subjugate (suppress)
personal values of individuals to those of the organization.
Incentives may be defined as "the appeals an organization makes to the personal values of
employees to induce them to accept organizational values". Incentives can generally be
classified as:
(i) Material inducement,
(ii) Opportunities for distinction, honor and recognition,
(iii) Good physical working conditions,
(iv) Personal confidence and satisfaction in social relationships within the organization,
(v) Conformity with habitual practices, and
(vi) Feeling of participation and belongingness,
(b) Work groups: the approach recognizes the influence of a group on the individual's attitude
and behavior. It points out that an individual doesn't operate in isolation, and in particular:
 He/she tends to conform to group pressure.
 His/her attitudes and morale are influenced by group associations.
 Problem solving and leadership are often group functions.
(c) Supervisory behavior: this is treated as a vital factor in influencing work group behavior, as
the supervisor represents the link between the group and the formal organization.
Writers like Barber (1983:37-41), underscore the importance of behavioral studies in organization and
expose the failures of public administration to consider behavior as an influential factor. According to

29
this author, public administration studies tend to concentrate on the machinery of administration, to the
exclusion of those factors influencing behavior in organizations and consequently that of organizational
effectiveness. However, any public administration system depends for its effectiveness on both
organizational factors and behavior within the structure of that organization.
Generally, the approach is concerned with inter-group behavior and study of relations between groups
rather than between individuals and emphasizes the power of groups in decision-making. However,
group participation in this regard is criticized for the following reasons:
(a) It increases group domination of its members
(b) Responsibilities become blurred
(c) Group and expert judgments may conflict
(d) The cost of reorienting supervisory functions may exceed the benefits of group participation
(e) The process is not automatically effective and depends greatly on supervisory and
management attitudes
The behavioral (neo-classical) criticism of the classical school shows that scientific administration is
ignores the impact of staff satisfaction and psychology on the performance of the organization as a
whole. The classical concentration on specialization, span of control, etc, is rejected as being
inconsistent with needs and wants.
In conclusion, the classical (scientific administration) and neo-classical (human relations or behavioral)
approaches vary in the following important aspects:
(a) Whereas the human relations school is concerned with the organization evolving effectively
from inter-personal behavior, the classical school predetermines the organization within
which individuals are required to function
(b) The human relations approach results in a comparatively flat organizational structure,
whereas the classical approach results in a pyramidal structure
(c) Authority is regarded by the human relations approach as a social factor, but as
organizational factor by the classical approach

30
(d) Interdependence is a key factor in the human relations approach, which considers that the
classical definition of responsibility creates competition.
2.3.3. THE SYSTEMS THEORY
In some literatures, we may find systems theory as being one of the theories that are within the
category of the "Modernization School of Thought" along the Contingency Theory and Management
Process Theory, while in some others systems theory is recognized as an independent school of
thought. This approach concentrates on decisions that need to be made to achieve objectives, and the
organization is thus designed to facilitate decision-making.
The systems approach treats organization as an example of a "system", i.e. a set of interdependent parts
forming a whole with the objective of fulfilling some definable function. An organization is essentially
regarded as a decision-making system and treated as being built up from the analysis of information
requirements and communications networks. It, thus, treats the process of decision-making as basic to
the determination of objectives and policies. The methodology of the systems approach consists of the
following steps:
(a) Specifying objectives

(b) Establishing subsystems (main decision areas)
(c) Analyzing these decision areas and their information needs
(d) Designing the communication channels to facilitate information flow within the
organization
(e) Grouping decision areas to minimize communication problems. In practice, the approach
illustrates the importance of organization of information, the advantages of projects rather
than functional divisions and the need to concentrate centrally the information network
Within the systems theory, the contemporary approach to the theory of organization is to abandon the
idea of treating organizations as the mere passive instruments operating in response to external
pressures. Rather, organizations are regarded as semiautonomous systems, which develop their own
internal goals; having their own performance and conservation (survival) objectives.

31
All schools of thoughts on organization have developed mainly to explain aspects of performance and
behavior that can be observed. From the point of view of the practicing administrators, each school is
likely to offer useful perspectives and be helpful in revealing past weaknesses and enabling the
establishment of better structure.
2.3.4. THE BUREAUCRACY THEORY
The term "bureaucracy" is a combination of two words; i.e. "bureau" and "cracy". "Bureau" means an
office or organization established to perform certain activities, or it may mean a government
department, while "cracy" denotes a form of governmental rule. In this consideration, bureaucracy
simply means a form of rule or activity exercised/practiced by governmental offices.
In its literal meaning, "bureaucracy is a system of official rules and ways of doing things that a
government or an organization has, which are complex in nature; or a system of government in which
there are a large number of state officials who are not elected".
Bureaucracy was first used in France as "bureaucratic" in the eighteenth century to refer to "the
government in operation". Classical writings on bureaucracy can be traced to several sources, notable
contributors of which were Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Robert Michels.
Prior to the tremendous contribution of Max Weber, Karl Marx attempted to explain bureaucracy in a
scientific manner. He tried to conceptualize the role of bureaucracy in his works on state organizations,
while developing a critique of the political economy of capitalism that existed in Europe in the 19 th
century.
Different from Weber's understanding of bureaucracy as an ideal type that can exist only in abstraction,
Marx examined it as a set of relationships that arise in a specific socioeconomic context. Marx said,
"Bureaucracy considers itself the ultimate finite purpose of the state".

32
Marx also mentioned about the spirit (typical feature) of bureaucracy. According to him, the universal
spirit of bureaucracy is the secretiveness, the mystery (strangeness) sustained within it by hierarchy and
maintained as a closed corporation. He further believed that authority is the principle (source) of
knowledge, and the desiccation (preservation) of authority is its sentiment by maintaining obedience to
fixed normal activity, fixed principles and loyalty.
For individual bureaucrats, the state's purpose becomes their private purpose of hunting for higher
position and making a career for themselves. According to Marx, the bureaucrat cannot be a rational
actor in terms of competence. Its hierarchy of structure means a hierarchy of knowledge, thus
comprehensive knowledge is impossible in a situation where knowledge is deliberately split up into
practical reality and bureaucratic reality. Generally, Marx as quoted in Rumki Basu (1994:79),
described bureaucracy as follows:
The bureaucracy is a circle from which no one can escape. Its hierarchy is a hierarchy of
knowledge. The top entrusts the understanding of detail to the lower levels, whilst lower
levels credit the top with understanding of the general and so all are mutually deceived".
From his explanations, we can understand that he has overemphasized the malicious (evil) side of
bureaucracy, and his view is in clear contrast to the conception of his countryman, to the Weberian
conception of bureaucracy as "rationalization of organization". Nevertheless, whatever arguments he
has made and explanations he provided about bureaucracy, public administration as a discipline didn't
care much for his views since it was not his purpose to develop a theory of public administration. He
simply wrote a critique on bureaucracy alongside his famous critique of the political economy of
capitalism.
Robert Michels, who is equally known in the theory of bureaucracy, on the other hand concentrated his
analysis on the internal politics of large organizations and to the phenomenon of elite domination in
organizations. His observation was based on the internal structure of the German Socialist Party, which
was supposed to be organized along democratic principles yet the reality was quite different, and he
discovered that the system was oligarchic. He concluded that all big organizations tended (had a
propensity) to develop a bureaucratic structure that ruled out the possibility of internal democracy.

33
The various meanings, which have been given to the term, include the following:
(a) Institutional meaning: the term "bureaucracy" may refer to government by appointed or
recruited officials as opposed to government by elected representatives. Alternatively, it may
be used to indicate that, although representative government exists, the dominant role is held
by officials. These definitions, however, tend to be inadequate in that they fail to distinguish
those common situations where government consists of a combination of elected and non-
elected members and officials.
(b) Activity of officials: in contrast, a definition may be attempted from the aspect of what
officials do or how they behave. In this regard the following interpretations exist;
(i) Derogatory: the synonymous use of "bureaucracy" and "red tape", resulting from the
real and supposed difficulties of dealing with the official environment. This is
however an extremely offensive yet subjective meaning of bureaucracy.
(ii) Regulated system: a regulated administrative system operating through complex
interrelated organs,
(iii) Methodological: a study of methods based on either the first (i) or the second (ii)
points above,
The definition based on the activity of officials, as a regulated system (item b-ii above), is used in most
instances due to its objective and analytical nature. The other definitions are associated with subjective
or disparaging connotations. Bureaucracy is thus conceived as a form of organization. Etzioni, as
quoted in Michael P. Barber (1983:87), considered that organizations are characterized by the
following:
 Division of labor, power, and communication responsibility deliberately planned to achieve
certain goals,
 The presence of power centers, which control the concentrated effort of the organization and
continuously review its performance and re-pattern its structure to increase efficiency,
 The classification of personnel,
Etzioni's view is based on Weber's classical view of bureaucracy, which will be discussed
subsequently.

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2.3.5. THE WEBERIAN MODEL OF BUREAUCRACY
Bureaucracy as an organizational model was first developed systematically by Max Weber, a

distinguished German sociologist in the 19Th century. According to him, every organization can be
defined as "a structure of activities (means) directed towards the achievement of certain objectives
(ends)". Every organization develops a system of specialization (division of tasks) and a set of
systematic rules and procedures to maximize efficiency.
Weber stressed that the bureaucratic form of organization is capable of attaining the highest degree of
efficiency since the means used to achieve goals are rationally and objectively chosen towards the
desired ends. In this sense, it is the most rational means of carrying out functions effectively in any
organization, superior to every other form in precision, stability, discipline, and reliability. Weber tried
to identified the various factors and conditions that have contributed to the growth of bureaucracy in
modern times. Namely:
(a) The development of modern large-scale organizations and corporations has led to the
development and considerable spread of bureaucracy. Whatever may be the evils of
bureaucracy, it is indispensable for the running of complex administrative structures.
(b) The role of expanding technical knowledge, and the development of modern technology is
another important factor responsible for the superiority of bureaucratic organizations. A
considerable degree of bureaucratic specialization is required to attain high level of efficiency
regardless of the economic system to be either capitalistic or socialistic.
(c) The capitalist system itself has been also considered as the main contributive factor. Weber
repeatedly stressed the fact that the capitalist system has undeniably played a vital role in the
development of modern bureaucracy. The proper functioning of the capitalist system
necessitates a stable state and a well-organized administration, which is the bureaucracy.
Max Weber principally developed the organizational definition of bureaucracy and conceived of the
concept in two aspects, namely:
(a) The social mechanism that maximizes efficiency in administration

35
(b) A form of social organization with specific characteristics. Social organization is described
as "institutionalized strategies for the achievement of administrative objectives by the
concrete efforts of many officials".
Weber specified the following structural and behavioral characteristics or conditions that an
organization must possess before properly being called or distinguished as a bureaucracy:
(1) Division of labor: This involves a specified sphere of competence, which has been marked
off as part of a systematic division of labor in the organization, and job placement is based
qualifications and/or special training. The regular activities required for the purpose of the
structure are distributed in fixed ways as official duties,
(2) Hierarchy: It is the feature of any bureaucratic form of organization. The organization of
offices follows the principles of hierarchy, with a clear separation between superior and
subordinate offices; i.e. each lower office is under the control and supervision of a higher
one. Being a bureaucratic official constitutes a career, and there is a system of promotion
and career advancement on the basis of seniority or merit, or both,
(3) Rules: Bureaucracy operates in accordance with a consistent system of abstract rules laid
down regarding the performance of official jobs. There is consistency in the application of
the rules to specific cases to avoid personal favoritism, arbitrariness, or nepotism that would
otherwise hinder the function of an organization,
(4) Rationality: Weber's ideas on efficiency and rationality are closely related to his ideal
(typical) model of bureaucracy. For Weber, bureaucracy is the most rational known means
of achieving imperative control over human beings. For example, candidates are selected on
the basis of technical qualifications, which will be tested, in the most rational cases, by
examinations, or guaranteed by diplomas certifying technical competence, etc.
Personal whims of the leaders are no longer effective in such a system; there is a clear
demarcation between personal and official affairs. Rationality is also reflected by the
relatively easier means of calculability of results in the organization,
(5) Impersonality: the bureaucratic form has no place for personal whims, fancies, or irrational
sentiments. Officials are subject to authority only with respect to their impersonal official
obligations,

36
(6) Rule orientation: rationality and impersonality are mainly achieved through the formulation
of rules and procedures that clearly define official spheres of authority and conduct, which
the employees are supposed to maintain in discharging their duties. This is to mean that the
official is subject to strict and systematic discipline and control in the conduct of his/her
office,
(7) Neutrality: Bureaucracy is supposed to be apolitical and neutral in its orientation. It is also
value-neutral committed only to the work it is meant to perform.
While the first three points are structural characteristics of bureaucracy, the rest four points are
behavioral characteristics. Further elaborations of those points mentioned above as structural and
behavioral characteristics of bureaucracy would help to understand their basic essences in the views of
Weber.
Weber concluded that a fully developed bureaucracy has those advantages of speed, precision, non-
ambiguity, continuity, discretion, unity, strict subordination, and reduction of friction and of material
and personal costs. He considered that its specific nature develops more perfectly the more it is
dehumanized, i.e. "the more completely it succeeds in eliminating from official business all purely
personal, irrational, and emotional elements that escape calculation". The organization conceived by
Weber is therefore designed to achieve rational orientation towards tasks, which are conducive to
effective administration.
Max Weber has also talked about bureaucratic procedures as having the nature of dictating the course
of action governed by a prescribed set of rules, in order to achieve uniformity. Such rules are abstract
in order to guide the different courses of action necessary for the accomplishment of organizational
objectives in diverse conditions. The rules become more detailed at the lower points in the
organization's hierarchy.
Weber stated that bureaucratic officials would approach the public "in a sprit of formalistic
impersonality without hatred or passion, and hence without affection or enthusiasm". He considered
this requirement as intended to assure equitable treatment of clients, and rational rather than
emotionally dominated administration.

37
In spit of the seemingly, or apparently for that matter, logical presentations of Weber about the
advantages of bureaucracy, there are critics along several lines or cases against it that stem from its
supposed mechanistic nature, i.e. its regimentation (strict discipline and formalism) and predictability.
The following are among the critics that turned against the advantages of bureaucracy:
(a) People in bureaucracy fulfill merely segmental roles over which they have no control
(b) In consequence, they have little or no opportunity to exercise individual judgment, with the
result that employees feel separated from their work
(c) In order to be effective, bureaucratic personnel must behave consistently and follow
regulations strictly. This automatically limits a bureaucrat's capacity to adapt to changing
circumstances not envisaged by those who drew up the rules
(d) The general rules, which may make for overall efficiency could produce inefficiency and
injustice in individual cases
(e) The impersonal treatment of clients envisaged by Weber is not always operable in practice as
many researches disprove such principles of impartiality.
(f) Weber's view that bureaucrats should not become closely involved in personal relations with
colleagues has undesirable practical effects
(g) The key limit on the efficiency of bureaucratic administration lies on the difficulty of coping
with uncertainty and change, thus bureaucracy rests upon tasks being convertible into routine.
Chester Barnand has also criticized Weber for not recognizing the role of informal organizations and
better human relations in increasing efficiency. Weber is also criticized for not paying adequate
attention in his theory to human behavior, relations, morale and motivational factors. His theory has
been called a "machine-theory" and a closed system model overemphasizing the formal rational aspects
of bureaucracy while ignoring the whole range of socio-cultural environment and behavioral
characteristics of large formal organizations.
Weber has failed also to analyze and compare the correspondence of behavior in organizations with
organizational blueprints. In particular he failed to account for the fact that in the course of operations
new elements arise in the structure that would effectively influence subsequent operations.

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More other critics indicate that since bureaucracy is characterized by passion for routine in
administration, the sacrifice of flexibility to rule or overemphasis on rules and regulations rather than
on goals and objectives, delay in making decisions, lack of public relations and class consciousness on
the part of bureaucrats, and refusal to embark upon experiments, it cannot be considered as the best
means of achieving efficiency or as having no limitations.
The Weberian model of bureaucracy is a product of an alien or unfamiliar culture, which is fairly
inadequate for imposition in the developing societies where rapid change is required to bring about
socioeconomic transformation. Hence, the Weberian model of bureaucracy can best function in a stable
environment with routine and repetitive tasks since its capacity in adaptation to change is limited.
The concept of bureaucracy has been also criticized by writers of the modern time like Riggs as being
"the product of a specific historical and political milieu (setting)". To overcome these shortcomings of
the bureaucratic model, Riggs developed his ecological model of public administration relevant to
developing societies.
There are however many commentators who do not fully agree with such critics. Rather, the critics and
the realities with regard to the relationship between bureaucracy and public administration, in particular
that of the civil service made to draw the attention of scholars and practitioners. As many
commentators in the field would agree, bureaucracy is condemned both for what it is and it is not.
Bureaucracy, like any other system, has weaknesses and strengths as well as advantages and
disadvantages.
First of all, it is important not to confuse defects in bureaucracy with defects in public administration
(public administration considered as "large-scale organization"). Defects in coordination and
organization inherent in large-scale organization may apply whether the organization is bureaucratic or
not. In addition, criticism of complexity of organization, the subordination of individual, and the
stifling (suppression) of initiatives must be accepted as applicable to most large-scale organizations and
not merely as characteristic of bureaucracy.

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Different arguments have been made also with regard to the application of the theory of bureaucracy to
the civil service. As Barber (1983:90-91) pointed out, "the civil service has been accused of containing
a bureaucratic, hierarchically organized, tightly knit elite. On the other hand, it has been stated that
bureaucracy is a means of institutionalizing clear, universal and impartial procedures for
administration, infinitely preferable to most of its historical alternatives". In practice, civil service
systems of many countries accord with many of Weber's characteristics and principles of bureaucracy
mentioned above.
In conclusion, the bureaucracy theory of organization has made useful contributions to the study of
public administration in general in terms of developing the concept professionalism in administration
by incorporating rationalist ethics and standards of conduct and business. Ideally, it is a major
breakthrough from the earlier corrupt, closed, authoritarian, and unresponsive administrative systems.
It is therefore a progressive and useful model of organization.
It is also necessary to bear in mind that Weber wanted to construct an "ideal type" model of
bureaucracy, which obviously cannot be approximated to reality. Weber was rather sufficiently aware
of the evils of "bureaucratization". He merely compared the prevailing administrative systems of his
time and the earlier ones with the ideal model of bureaucracy he constructed. It is a reality that
bureaucracy is still the best one in the history of administrative system and has no substitute until this
time.
2.4. APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
There have been different approaches to the study of public administration since 1887, since the subject
was born as a separate academic discipline. A concise review of the different approaches are presented
as follows:
2.4.1. HISTORICAL APPROCH
The historical approach is essentially based on the belief that knowledge of history is absolutely
important for an in-depth study of the subject. For a proper understanding of the subject, the study of

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public administration of the past particular periods is necessary to link-up with the present
administrative system.
2.4.2. LEGAL APPROCH
Exponents of this approach would like to study public administration as part of law and concentrate on
the formal legal structure and organization of public bodies. Its chief concern has been with power-its
structure and functions. Its main sources are constitutions, codes of laws, office manuals of rules and
regulations, and judicial decisions.
2.4.3. ISTITUTIONAL APPROACH
This approach tried to establish linkages between the study of public administration and government
institutions. It approached the study of administration through the study of structure, and functioning of
separate institutions of the state such as the executive, legislature, departments, boards and
commissions.
2.4.4. BEHAVIORAL APPROACH
This approach is mainly concerned with the scientific study of human behavior in diverse social
environments. It started as a protest against the traditional, historical, normative and largely descriptive
approaches in the social sciences. In public administration, behavioral study started in the 1930s with
the "Human Relations Movement". For this approach "administrative behavior" is part of the
behavioral sciences and the study of public administration should involve the study of individual and
collective human behavior in administrative situations or settings.
2.4.5. SYSTEMS APPROACH
One of the most significant landmarks in the evolution of organization theory is the development of
general systems concept for organizational analysis. The term "system" has been defined as a complex
whole, a set of connected things or parts. According to this approach in organizational analysis, an

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organization can be considered as a social system to be studied in its totality. In other words, a system
is a collection of interrelated parts, which receives inputs and produces certain results.
2.4.6. STRUCTURAL/FUNCTIONAL APPROACH
The two basic concepts to this approach are structure and function. All social structures exist to
perform certain functions. While functions concern the consequences of patterns of action, structure
refers to the patterns of actions and the resultant institutions of the systems themselves.
2.4.7. ECOLOGICAL APPROACH
Various scholars and administrators have often referred to the need to relate public administration to
the environment in which it functions. The ecological perspective in the study of PA included such
factors as people, institution, scientific technology, social technology, wishes and ideas, catastrophe
and personality.
2.5. STAGES IN THE STUDY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
The evolution of public administration as an academic discipline falls mainly into the following six
crucial stages.
Stage One
The first stage, which began with the publication of Woodrow Wilson's work, "The Study of
Administration" in 1887, can be called "the era of politics-administration dichotomy". Wilson is
considered as the founder of the academic discipline of public administration. Making a distinction
between politics and administration, he argued that administration is concerned with the
implementation of political policy decisions.
Another notable event of the period (first stage) was the publication of Goodnow's in title "politics and
administration" in 1900, which supported the Wilsonian idea further by conceptually distinguishing

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the two functions. According to him, "politics has to do with policies or expressions of the state will"
whereas "administration has to do with the execution of these policies".
Apart from this, the institutional locations of these two functions were differentiated; the location of
politics were identified with the legislature and higher levels of the government where major policy
decisions were taken, while the location of administration was identified with the executive branch of
the government and the bureaucracy.
With an increasing recognition of the study of public administration in American universities, Leonard
D White (1926) wrote a book known as "Introduction to the Study of Public Administration", which
was recognized as the first textbook on the subject. This book, while advocating a politics-
administration dichotomy, stressed the human side of administration, dealing comprehensively with
administration in government.
Stage Two
The second stage of evolution is marked by the tendency to reinforce the idea of politics-administration
dichotomy and to evolve a value-free "science of management". The central belief of this period was
that there are certain "principles" of administration, which were the task of scholars to discover and
advocate. Important works of this period sharing the same approach were:
 "Principles of Public Administration" by Willoughby (1927),
 "Principles of Organization" by Mooney and Reiley,
 "Creative Experience" by Mary P Follett,
 "Industrial and General Management" by Fayol,
 "Papers on the Science of Public Administration" by Gulick and Urwick, eds (1937),
The main reason for the upsurge of interest of administration in this period was absence of enough
skilled personnel to perform the rapid multiplication of government functions following the 1930s
Great depression. Therefore, schools of public administration were established to quickly train as many
people as possible in the techniques of administration.

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The main difference between the protagonists of the politics-administration dichotomy of the first and
second stages in the evolution of the discipline is that, while the former ones emphasized the legal and
constitutional aspects, the new school of scientific management of the second period emphasized a
purely scientific approach to the study of public administration, but retaining ideas of the first period.
With the help of scientific management methods, the leaders of public administration tried to discover
certain principles of public administration, which could be of universal applicability. Gulick and
Urwick (1937) coined the word BOSDCORB to promote some of these principles of administration.
BOSDCORB stands for Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting, and
Budgeting. These maxims (principles of administration were said to be of universal applicability in all
organizations.
Stage Three
The third stage began with a creation against the mechanical approach. The so-called "principles" of
administration were challenged and dubbed as "naturalistic fallacies" and "proverbs". The third stage
approach was based on experiments and organizational analysis. The experiments, which focused upon
work groups, have brought a major shook on the foundations of the scientific management school of
thought by clearly demonstrating the influence of social and psychological factors on the worker's
output.
This approach also drew attention to the effect of informal organization in the formal setup, the
phenomenon of leadership and influence, and impact of conflict and cooperation among groups in the
organizational environment. Thus, the approach revealed the vital importance of human relations in
organizations. Lastly, this approach criticizes the politics-administration dichotomous analogy of the
first and second period thinkers. Politics and administration couldn't be separated; one couldn't be taken
out of the other.
Stage Four

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The fourth stage was usher by two significant publications in the 1940s; i.e. Simon's "Administrative
Behavior" that associates itself to the behavioral field and Robert Dahl's "The Science of
Administration: Three Problems". Simon's approach widened the scope of the subject by relating it to
psychology, sociology, economics, and political science. He rejected both the classical "principles" of
administration and the "politics-administration dichotomy" in administrative thought and practice. He
argued that all administration revolves around rationality and decision-making. Simon identified two
mutually supportive streams of thought;
 One was engaged in the development of a pure science of administration, which required a
solid base in social psychology, and the other was concerned with the normative aspects of
administration and prescription for public policy.
 The second approach would require a broad understanding of political science, economics, and
sociology as well.
He favored the coexistence of both approaches, empirical and normative, for the development of the
discipline of public administration. Likewise, Dahl's essay identified three important problems in the
evolution of the science of public administration:
(i) The impossibility of excluding normative considerations from the problems of public
administration. Values inevitably (permeate) filter through administration while science is
value-free.
(ii) The inescapability of the fact that the study of administration must include a study of human
behavior, which is open to all possible variables and uncertainties making it impossible to
subject it to the rigors of scientific enquiry.
(iii) The tendency to pronounce universal principles based on few examples drawn from limited
national and historical settings.
Thus, the principles of public administration were attacked. They were not scientific but normative,
not universal but culture-bound. They were not grounded in evidence but based on misplaced
corporate analogies and autocratic assumptions.
Stage Five

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The fifth stage is concerned with the nature of post-war developments and transformations, taking
place in both the theory and practice of public administration. The older approaches have not been
totally abandoned in this period but modified considerably in the light of new developments.
Firstly, administration came to be viewed increasingly as a unit in the process of continuous

interactions between the people inside and outside the organization at any given period of time.
Secondly, separate studies of public and private business administrations tended to merge into a single
science of organization, whose theories and concepts were to be equally applicable to both private and
public administration
Thirdly, the increasing use of the systems and the behavioral approaches encouraged the comparative
study of administrative systems in diverse social settings and environments. New perspectives were
seriously needed and the impetus for the study of comparative public administration and development
administration (a relatively unknown field before WW II) became apparent.
In the transfer of administrative know-how to the developing countries, western administrative

concepts were found to be inadequate. The result was questioning of the traditional framework of
public administration and its universal applicability.
Stage Six
The final (six) stage of the evolution of public administration coincides with a general concern in the
social sciences for public policy analysis. This approach was a post WW II war phenomenon, and was
built upon two basic themes:
(i) The interpenetration of politics and administration at any levels; and
(ii) The programmatic character of all administration.
The interdisciplinary policy process and planning approach has become the most useful and relevant
guide to practical administrators in developing and developed societies alike. The adoption of the

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policy approach has revealed that public administration, which faced the disturbance of crisis of
identity since the 1940s is an interdisciplinary and applied field.
It came to be known as an integrating discipline- the meeting ground for all branches of knowledge.
According to Rumki Basu (1994:17), the problem of crisis of identity has been resolved with the
recognition and acceptance of the field as interdisciplinary and an applied subject. In the words of
James Fesler public administration, is policy formulation and policy execution, public administration is
bureaucracy, and public administration is public.
These premises directed attention in public administration towards political or policy-making processes
and specific public programs. Since 1968, the evolving discipline of public administration has come to
be enriched by the emergence of what has come to be known as the "New Public Administration".
CONCLUSION
Public Administration touches every aspect of human life. The greatest merit of public
administration lies in its educative value. The modern state is a welfare state and the administrations
are expected to provide the people with all the increasing demands for a comfortable life.
Public Administration is the action side of the government. Its importance as an instrument for the
expression of the will of the people, sustenance of democracy and as a discipline cannot be over-
emphasized. This unit was able to trace the growth of public administration from the rudimentary ….
Stage to the present day period of sophistication as expounded by Max Webber.
CHAPTER QUESTIONS
1. Trace the evolution of Public Administration.

2. Explain the changing nature of Public Administration.

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CHAPTER THREE
THE MANAGEMENT PROCESS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (FUNCTIONS
OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION)
Chapter objectives:
Dear students, in this chapter we will discuss the functions of the public administration, the
management process in public administration which is planning, organizing, controlling,
leading and staffing.
Learning objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to
 Understand the functions of public administration
 Understand the various the management process in public administration
3.1. INTRODUCTION
The broad definition of public administration presented in Chapter One indicates that it involves
several processes and performs major functions aimed at achieving organizational/governmental goals.
Public administration as a dynamic and ongoing activity entails knowing the processes how to perform
its broad functions in terms of Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, and Controlling (POSDC)
known as the "management process in public administration". In some literatures, we may find also
Reporting and Budgeting, being included as separate functions of public administration. Since these
functions or management processes of public administration are crucial to effective administration, the
brief descriptions of each of these are presented below.
3.2.The planning function
3.2.1. The meaning of planning

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Planning is a management or administrative process or function that involves setting goals and
deciding how best to achieve them. This function also includes considering what must be done to
encourage necessary levels of change and innovation. Barber defines planning as "an activity that
concerns with proposals for the future, with the evaluation of alternatives and with the methods by
which these proposals may be achieved".
Planning is the primary (first) administrative or managerial function that sets the stage for other
functions. It is a process of deciding exactly what one wants to accomplish and how to best go about it
before action is required. When planning is done well, it creates a solid platform for further managerial
efforts of other functions.
Planning is the dynamic process of making decisions today about future actions; and it is a selection or
choice among alternatives as to: What missions or objectives be achieved, what actions should be
taken, what organizational positions be assigned, how the end can be achieved, when to achieve it, who
is to do it, Where to do it. It bridges the gap between where are we now and where we want to be.
Planning is a continuous process so far as the organization is in operation. The more continuous the
planning is, the higher its efficiency of the organization.
Planning is a means to an end. Planning is not an end by it self. It is a means to an end (meeting
objectives). Planning is an instrument that pushes people towards the achievement of objectives.
Planning is preparing today for tomorrow; it is the activity that allows managers to determine what
they want and how to get it: They set goals and decide how to reach them. Planning focuses on the
future: what is to be accomplished and how. Answers six basic questions in regard to any intended
activity:
 What (the goal or goals).

 When (the time frame in which it will be accomplished)
 Where (the place or places where the plans or planning will reach its conclusion).
 Who (which people will perform the tasks).

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 How (the specific steps or methods to reach the goals).

 How much (resources necessary to reach the goals).
Planning is an essential activity for any organization that wants to survive by achieving its objectives.
Otherwise the old management dictum (saying), "failing to plan is planning to fail" still holds true.
Planning is indispensable to the administrative process as any decision and consequent activities
carried out to achieve objectives of that decision will limit the range of choices available for the
administrator in the future owing to the limited nature of resources. The basic requirement in planning
is that of coordination in order that contradiction of goals between various groups involved in the plan
is avoided, which in turn is possible if there is an overriding goal to which all groups are working.
In order to be effective, planning must be concerned not only with materialistic ends but also with
human behavior, which may inhibit the achievement of the goals. Therefore, any planning process
must attempt to rationalize and take into account possible resistance from implementers and dynamics
and unforeseen circumstances (uncertainties).
In general terms, planning may be carried out through specialized planning units (staff) or through
units of government, which at the same time perform other functions. Planning staff is a small group of
individuals who assist top-level managers in developing the various components of the planning
process. However, whichever type of unit is utilized, it is necessary that planning should take place at a
level where there is responsibility for the achievement of some overriding social policy, and thus there
is a natural tendency for the level of integration of planning to exist in the administrative structure.
Planning is of different nature in terms of scope, time, and objective and by whom it is prepared. For
example, indicative planning is prepared by central authorities that lay down the expected performance
of the economy in the immediate and medium-term. The target gives all the other decision-making
units a framework within which to make their own plan.
Planning involves selecting missions and objectives and the actions to achieve to them; it requires
decision-making, that is, choosing from among alternative future courses of actions. Managers who

50
develop plans but do not commit themselves to action are simply wasting time. The outcome of the
planning function is a plan, a written document that specifies the courses of action a firm will take.
3.2.2. THE NATURE OF PLANNING
Discussing the following points can highlight the nature of planning; its contribution to purpose and its
primacy.
(A) The contribution of planning to purpose and objectives
Every organization is established (exists) for the accomplishment of a purpose or objective. So, the
purpose of any plan and its derivatives or supporting plans is to facilitate the accomplishment of
organizational objectives.
(B) The primacy of planning
All the five managerial functions - planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling- are
designed to support the accomplishment of organizational objectives. However, planning precedes the
execution of all other managerial functions, because all other managerial functions must be planned if
they are to be effective. This does not mean that planning is the most important of all other managerial
functions, because to be important or useful all other functions have to accompany it.
Although in practice all the functions mesh (interlock) as a system of action, planning is unique in that
it involves establishing the objectives necessary for all group effort. The entire gist (idea) of initiating,
exercising, and activating the managerial functions of organizing, staffing, directing and controlling is
to bring the objectives formulated during planning in to fruition.
In fact, the concept of especially control would be unthinkable with out planning because any attempt
to control without plans is meaningless, since there is no way for people to tell whether they are going
where they want to go (the result of the task of control) unless they first know whether where they

51
want to go (part of task of planning). Plans thus furnish the standards of control. Since planning and
controlling are so much inseparable, they are treated as the Siamese twins of management.
The pervasiveness /Universality/ of planning function

Planning is a function of all managers, although the character and breadth of planning varies with each
manager’s authority and with the nature of policies and plans outlined by superiors. That is, all
managers-from presidents to first-level supervisors- do plan. Even for personal life we plan. " It is
difficult to call a person a manager if he or she doesn't plan " Koontz
The efficiency of plans
We measure the efficiency of a plan by its contribution to our purpose and objectives, offset by the
costs and other factors required to formulate and operate it. A plan may enhance the attainment of
objectives, but with unnecessarily high cost. Plans are efficient if they achieve their purpose at a
reasonable cost, when cost is measured not only in terms of time or money or production but also in
the degree of individual and group satisfaction. Plans can even make it impossible to achieve
objectives if they make enough people in an organization dissatisfied or unhappy.
3.2.3. THE IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING
Planning, if properly worked out, offers a number of important advantages for the performance of
organizations and for those who work in them.
(a) It provides purposeful and orderly activities: It is through planning we can establish our
objectives. Moreover, the sequence of activities is determined by planning. Once organizations known
what they can do and can't do over the future, they began to set objectives based on their capacity and
the order of activities needed to accomplish their objectives. It provides direction and a common sense
of purpose. Otherwise, the proverb "if you don't know where you are going you will reach to
anywhere" works real.

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(b) It points out the need for future change/ preparing for change: It is while planning that the
manager should consider the potential areas, changes in the future; rather than merely reacting to it as it
appears. When managers plan, they predict the future environment using different techniques of
forecasting. When doing this if they get something wrong, they change their actions.
(c) It answers “what-if” questions: In planning managers develop several "what if" questions
in order to reduce the risk of unpredictable future, so far as they plan for the future. By asking what if
questions managers develop alternatives.
(d) It provides basis for controlling: Standards /controlling mechanisms/ are developed during
planning. It specifies what is to be accomplished and provides a standard for measuring progress
(performance).
(e) If forces managers see the organization as a system: While planning managers have to
consider parts because the plan of one part (department) affects the operation of the whole organization
so far as parts of an organization are interdependent.
(f) It provides the opportunity for obtaining the required resources as well as for a greater
utilization of the available organizational resources: In planning we determine how much resource
is necessary to reach the goals, where and how to get, and how to use these resources.
(g) It provides the base for teamwork/ coordinating efforts: Management exists because the
work of individuals and groups in organizations must be coordinated, and planning is one important
technique for achieving a coordinated effort. Since planning is the best way to coordinate actions
among a variety of actors, all managers should develop plans that support the accomplishment of other
managers' plans.
(h) Developing managers: The act of planning involves high level of intellectual activity. Those
who plan must be able to deal with abstract and uncertain ideas and information. Planners must think
systematically about the present and the future. Through planning, the future state of the organization
can be improved if its managers take an active role in moving the organization toward that future.

53
Planning then implies that managers should be proactive and make things happen rather than reactive
and let things happen.
Through act of planning, managers not only develop their ability to think futuristically but, to the
extent that their plans are effective, their motivation to plan is reinforced. Also, the act of planning
sharpens manager's ability to think as they consider abstract ideas and possibilities for the future. Thus,
both the result and the act of planning benefit both the organization and its managers.
3.2.4. THE PLANNING PROCESS
Like other managerial activities planning involves processes or series of steps. In other words,
planning is a statement of action steps to be taken in order to accomplish objectives. These steps in the
systematic process are interrelated, and there is no rigid boundary between or among these steps, and
one is the base for the other. These may include the following:
(i) Establishing objectives
Strictly speaking planning starts when objectives are laid down. However, though it is not a part of
planning proper, it is true that management (planners) are expected to have a rough idea about their
organization potential and the environment which they or their company is in. it is only after the
managers have at least the rudimentary knowledge about their capabilities and available opportunities
that objective setting does make sense.
Here we have to bear in mind that the preliminary knowledge that planners are expected to have is not
considered as one element of planning because every reasonable person is expected to have it. This
involves establishing long range as well as the short-range objectives for the entire organization and for
each subordinate work unit.
Objectives specify the expected results and indicate the end points of what is to be done, where the
primary emphasis is to be placed and what is to be accomplished by the network of strategies, policies,
procedures, rules, budgets and programs. In developing objectives, the manager should consider two

54
characteristics: (1) objectives should be realistic and specific, and (2) objectives should be compatible
with other organizational objectives.
The more specific the objectives are, the easier it will be to monitor progress and to note successful
completions. Developing objectives that cannot be accomplished because of lack of time, talent, or
other resources will not be useful to the organization. Objectives developed by organizational levels
and peer managers should be compatible with one another. Top-level management should set the stage
for goal setting by lower level management, thereby ensuring maximum use of resources. Enterprise
objectives give direction to the major plans that define the objective of every major department. Major
department objectives, in turn, control the objectives of subordinate departments and so down the line.
(ii) Developing premises
Planning premises are assumptions about the environment with in which the plan is to be carried out.
Once objectives are established managers have to investigate the company's environment to know
factors that facilitate or block the attainment of these objectives. This involves examining the external
and internal factors which affect the performance of the organization: the external environment (for
treats and opportunities) through PEST analysis and internal environment (for strengths and
weaknesses) through self-audit.
Strengths: are internal competencies possessed by the organization in comparison with the
competitors. These include structure and policies of the organization, location, financial soundness,
knowledge of personnel, qualities of facilities, and so on.
Weaknesses: are attributes of the organization, which tend to decrease its competence in comparison
to its competitors.
Threats: are reasonably probable events, which if it were to occur, would produce significant damage
to the organization.

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Opportunity: is a combination of circumstances, which if accompanied by a certain course of action

on the part of the organization, is likely to produce significant benefits.
The key element of planning at this stage is forecasting. It is based on the forecasts made in different
areas that premises are made. Because the future is so complex, it would not be profitable or realistic to
make assumptions about every detail of the future environment of a plan. Therefore, premises are, as a
practical matter, limited to assumptions that are critical or strategic to a plan, that is, those that most
influence its operation.
(iii) Determining alternative courses of actions
Alternatives are courses of actions that are available to a manager to reach a goal. In developing
alternatives, a manager should try to create as many roads to meet objectives as possible. This refers to
developing alternatives on the basis of different scenarios. Usually the most common problem is not
finding alternatives, but reducing number of alternatives so that the most promising may be analyzed.
(iv) Evaluating (analyzing) alternative courses of action
Having sought out alternative courses, managers evaluate or analyze the benefits, costs and effects of
alternative courses in light of their weight to goals and premises. Because there are so many alternative
courses of action in most situations and there are numerous variables and limitations to be considered,
evaluation can be exceedingly difficult. This is a step in planning process that operations research and
mathematical as well as computing techniques have their primary application to the field of
management.
(v) Selecting a course of action
This is the point at which the plan to be adopted is chosen or selected. It is the real point of decision-
making. The analysis of each alternative’s advantages and disadvantages (costs and benefits) should
result in determining one course of action that appears better than the others. If no one alternative

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emerges as clearly the best, consideration should be given to combining parts or the entire content of
two or more alternatives.
(vi) Formulating derivative plans

At step five planning is ended. Formulating derivative plans means formulating other plans based on
one major plan.
(vii) Numberizing plans by budgeting
Plans will have meaning when they are changed in to numbers. Budgeting is the means of adding
various plans together and set important standards against which planning process can be measured. If
we numberize our plans, we can know our objective or plan specifically.
(viii) Implementing the plan
After the optimum alternative has been selected, the manager needs to develop an action plan to
implement it. This is a step where by the entire organization will be in motion or real operation. All the
planning in the world will not help an organization to realize objectives if plans cannot be
implemented. Authority, persuasion and policy are the manager's means of implementing.
(ix) Controlling and evaluating the results
Once the plan is implemented, the manager must monitor the progress that is being made, evaluate the
reported results, and make any modifications necessary. The environment in which a plan is
constructed in is constantly changing, so the plans may have to be modified. Or modification may be
needed because a plan was not quite “perfect” when it was implemented.
3.2.5. Types of Plans
Managers face different planning challenges. In some cases planning environment is stable and quite
predictable; in others more dynamic and uncertain. In all cases managers must understand the different

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types of plans and be able to use them effectively, since they all engage in planning their activities and
the activities of others. They all plan in basically the same way, but the kinds of plans they develop and
the amount of time they spend on planning are different for many reasons. Based on this variation, we
can divide plans based on three dimensions; namely scope/breadth, time, and use.
(i) Scope/Breadth Dimension
Scope refers to the comprehensiveness of the plan, or it refers to the level of management where (at
which) plans are formulated. This dimension creates hierarchy of plans. Based on scope/Breadth we
can classify plans in to strategic, tactical and operational.
Strategic Plan: Is organization wide plan that is formulated or developed by top-level management in
consultation with the middle level management. It addresses long-term needs and set comprehensive
action directions. In other words, it is best described simply as how to get where you want to go with
what you have or can get. It applies to the entire organization, and:
 Looks ahead over the next two, three, fire or more years.
 Develops the direction for the entire organization.
 Is primarily concerned with solving long-term problems associated with external, environmental
influences.
 Establishes overall objectives and positions an organization in terms of its environment.
The following are distinguishing characteristics of strategic plan.

 It requires looking outside the organization for threats and opportunities.
 It requires looking inside the organization for strengths and weaknesses
 It takes a longer view, i.e. it covers a relatively long time horizon > 5 years.
 It tends to be top management responsibility, but it reflects a mentality useful at all levels.
Strategic plans address such questions as:

 What business are we in?

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 What business should we be in?

 Where will we be in after some years (for example, after ten years) if we continue doing what
we are now doing?
The difference between that a firm would like to be (where we want to be) and where it will be if it
does nothing is called the Planning gap. Strategic planning is primarily concerned with closing that
gap. The success or failure of an organization depends up on the success or failure of strategic plans. It
makes premises for tactical plans.
Tactical Plan: Is a midway plan that helps to reduce long range planning in to intermediate one by
increasing the amount of specificity and making the actions goal oriented. Tactical plans are specific
and more goal-oriented than strategic plans. Middle level management in consultation with lower level
management develops them. Especially tactical plans:
 Are the means charted to support the implementation of the strategic plans and achievement of
tactical goals. They are concerned with shorter time frames and cover a narrower scope.
 Structures a firm’s resources to achieve maximum performance.
 Make premises for operational plans.
 Are narrower in scope than strategic plan and wider than operation plan; but more detailed than
strategic plan and less detailed than operational plan
Operational Plan: Is concerned with the day today activities of the organization and is made at the
lower level management in consultation with middle level management. Operational plans spell out
specifically what must be accomplished to achieve specific /operational goals. It is concerned with the
efficient, day-to-day use of resources allocated to a department manager’s area of responsibility. A
typical operational plan, for example, in a business firm could be production plan, financial plan,
facilities plan, marketing plan, and human resource plan.
Operational plans have relatively short time frame (< 1 year). It is the most detailed and narrowest plan
compared to the above two, because it is to be implemented on day-to-day basis. Unless operational
plans are not achieved in organizations, tactical and strategic plans will not be successful and goals at
those levels will not be achieved.

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Summary
Level of
Type of plan Scope management Time Specificity
Strategic plan Wide TLM Long:  5 years Less
Tactical plan Medium MLM Medium: 1-5 years Medium

Operational plan Narrow LLM Short: < 1 year Detailed
(ii) Time Dimension

Refers to how long a plan is in use or it covers. Based on the length of the time a plan covers, we do
have three types of plans: Long-range, medium-range and short-range plans. Time dimension and
scope dimension are the same except the former is about the length of time that the plan covers, while
the later is mainly about the level of management where the plan is formulated, but still having an
indication of time.
All strategic plans are long-range plans.
All tactical plans are medium-range plans.
All operational plans are short-range plans.
(iii) Use Dimension
Refers to the extent to which plans will be used on a recurring basis, i.e., based on how
repeatedly/frequently a given plan is used. Based on this dimension, we do have mainly two types of
plans: standing plans and single use plans.
(a) Standing Plans: are plans that provide an ongoing guidance for performing recurring activities.
They are plans, which are formulated to be used again and again for the day-to-day operation of the
organization. That is, repetitive situations or actions require the development of such plans. They
become necessary when the same kinds of actions are to be taken again and again. Standing plans
become valuable under relatively stable situations.

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Once established, standing plans allow managers to conserve time used for planning and decision-
making because similar situations are handled in a predetermined, consistent manner. For example, a
bank can more easily approve or reject loan requests if criteria are established in advance to evaluate
credit ratings, collateral assets, and related applicant information. The major types of standing plans are
policies, rules and procedures.
Policies: is a general guide that specifies the broad parameters with in which organization members are
expected to operate in pursuit of organizational goals. Policies are general statements or understandings
which guide or channel for thinking and actions in decision-making to achieve organizational
objectives.
Not all policies are “written statements”; they are often merely implied from the actions of managers.
The president of a company, for example, may strictly follow perhaps for convenience rather than as
policy a certain practice. The practice may then be interpreted as a policy and carefully followed by
subordinates.
Top managers of the organization usually establish policies formally and deliberately. They can also
emerge informally and at lower levels in the organization from a seemingly consistent set of decisions
on the same subject made over a period of time.
Rules: spell out specific required action or non-actions, i.e., actions that must be or must not be taken,
allowing no discretion in a given situation; for example "No smoking", "cheating is prohibited". Rules
are unlike procedures in that they guide action without specifying a time sequence.
The difference between rule and policy is that the purpose of policies is to guide decision-making by
marking off areas in which managers can use their discretion, while rule doesn't allow discretion in its
application, although rule also serve as guides. Rules are the most explicit of standing plans and are not
guides for thinking or decision-making. Rather, they are substitutes for them. The only choice a rule
leaves is whether or not to apply it to a particular set of circumstances.

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Procedures: are statements that detail the exact manner in which certain activities must be
accomplished. They put the precise order of activities to be carried out to do a task and thus,
procedures are chronological sequences of required actions. They provide detailed step-by-step
instructions as to what should be done.
When we compare the above three, policies, procedures and rules, we can understand that all are alike
in the sense that they are directives to guide people’s behavior to the desired ends and they are plans,
which are to be followed in the future. Conversely, procedures and rules are different from policies in
that the former are guides to actions while the latter are guides to thinking. So, procedures and rules
render no freedom and hence should be used when we want to discourage initiative or repress thinking.
But, policies must permit freedom with in limits and hence are used when people’s involvement,
participation or initiative is desired.
Though both rules and procedures repress (inhibit) thinking, they are different. Unlike procedures,
rules (1) guide actions with out specifying a time sequence (2) spell out that a certain action must or
must not be taken. Procedures, however, specify a time sequence.” In fact a procedure may be looked
upon as a sequence of rules. A rule, however, may or may not be part of a procedure”
(b) Single use plans: are plans aimed at achieving a specific goal that, once reached, will most likely
not recur in the future and dissolved when these have been accomplished. They are designed to
accomplish a specific objective usually in a relatively shorter period of time and it is non-repetitive.
They are detailed courses of action that probably will not be repeated in the same form in the future.
The major types of single use plans are programs, projects, and budgets.
Programs: are a complex of goals, policies, procedures, rules, task assignments, steps to be taken,
resources to be employed and other elements necessary to carryout a given course of action. A program
is a comprehensive plan that coordinates a complex set of activities related to a major non-recurring
goal. A program may be as large in scope as placing a person on the moon or as comparatively small as
improving the reading level of fourth grade students in a school district. Whatever its scope, it will
specify many activities and allocations of resources with in an overall scheme that may include such

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other single use plans as projects and budgets. A program may be repeated with modification but not as
it is.
Projects: are plans that coordinate a set of limited scope activities that do not need to be divided in to
several major projects in order to reach a major non-recurring goal. Projects are the smaller and
separate portions of programs. Each project has limited scope and distinct directives concerning
assignments and time. Each project will become the responsibility of designated personnel who will be
given specific resources and deadlines.
Budgets: is a statement of financial resources set a side for specific activities in a given period of time.
It a statement of expected results expressed in numerical terms. Budget is a single use plan that
commits resources to an activity over a given period of time. It may be expressed in Birr, worker
hours, units of product, machine hours, or any other numerically measurable term. It may be referred to
as a “numberized” program. Budget is also a control device. However, making a budget is clearly
planning.
Contingency planning can be added up to those major types of plans (standing and single use plans)
within the "use dimension of plans". Contingency planning is the development of alternative plans for
use in the event that environmental conditions evolve differently than anticipated, rendering original
plans unwise or unfeasible.
Although planning by definition involves "thinking ahead", organizational assumptions, predictions

and intentions may prove to be in error due to uncertainties in the planning environment. Unexpected
problems and events frequently occur. When they do occur, then plans may have to be changed.
Therefore, it is important to anticipate during the planning process that things might not go as
expected, and to develop alternative plans ready for use under such circumstances.
3.2.6. Characteristics of a good plan
Every sound business plan must have the following characteristics:

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Objectivity: Planning should, first all, be based on objective thinking. It should be factual, logical and
realistic. It should be directed to achieving organizational goals rather than personal objectives.
Futurity: Since a plan is a forecast of some future action, it must have the quality of futurity;
otherwise, it has little value as a basis for future action. If a plan is to be effective, it must foresee with
reasonable accuracy the nature of future events affecting the industry and the firm. The inability to
foresee future events, a human limitation that we cannot overcome, is the week link in planning
process.
Flexibility: Because no one can foresee the future, plans must be flexible. They must adjust smoothly
and quickly to changing conditions without seriously losing their effectiveness. The more difficult it is
to predict the future, the more flexible the plans must be.
Stability: Stability doesn't contradict with flexibility. A stable plan will not have to be abandoned
because of long-term changes in the company’s situation. It may be affected by long-range
developments, but it should not be changed materially from day to day.
Comprehensiveness: A plan must be comprehensive enough to provide adequate guidance, but not so
detailed as to be unduly restrictive. It should cover everything required of people, but not in such detail
that it inhibits initiative.
Simplicity and clarity: Although a good plan must be comprehensive, it should also be simple. A
simple plan seeks to attain its objective with the fewest components, forces, effects and relationships.
A plan should not be ambiguous. Lack of clarity makes understanding and implementation difficult.
Action-oriented: Good planning helps us to stay proactive rather than reactive to things because it
makes more:
 Result-oriented- creating a performance-oriented sense
 Priority-oriented- making sure that the most important things get first attention
 Advantage-oriented- ensuring that all resources are used to the best advantage
 Change-oriented- anticipating problems and opportunities, so they can be best dealt with.

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3.2.7. Planning Tools and Techniques
Some of the useful planning tools and techniques include forecasting, benchmarking, and participation.
Forecasting: is a vision of the future, a process of assumptions about what will happen in the future.
Forecasting could be made on the basis of quantitative or qualitative analysis.. To plan managers have
to gather relevant information from around the environment. Information is one of the valuable
resources for planning to exist. In the final analysis, however, forecasting relies on human judgment,
thus it is always subject to error.
Benchmarking: is a frame of reference used as a starting point. It is a technique that makes use of
external comparisons to better evaluate one's current performance and identify possible actions for the
future. Benchmarking needs information, as basically no plan exists without information. The purpose
of benchmarking is to find out what other people or organizations are doing very well and to plan how
to incorporate these ideas into one's own operations. It allows an opportunity to analyze and compare
all systems and processes for efficiency and innovation.
Participation: the concept of participative planning requires that the process include people who will
be affected by plan outcomes and/or will be asked to help implement them. Participation can increase
the creativity and information available for planning. It can also create the understanding, acceptance,
and commitment of people in every aspect. In the modern time, planning should be formulated in a
participatory manner that includes the contribution of many people representing diverse
responsibilities.
3.3. THE ORGANIZING FUNCTION
3.3.1. The Meaning of Organizing

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Once a manger develops a workable plan, the next step is bringing resources together in the most
effective manner to accomplish the plan. The manager should strive to match labor force to the right
place (job), which is an important part of management functions of an organization.
Planning, consequently, requires organizing the efforts of many people. It forces us to address several
basic questions:
 What specific tasks are required to implement our plans?
 How many organizational positions are needed to perform all the required tasks?
 How should these positions be grouped?
 How many layers of management (Organizational levels) are needed to coordinate them?
 How many people should a manager supervise directly?
The answers to these and other questions enable us to create an organizational arrangement, a structure,
for putting plans in to action.
Organizing: is the management process or function that focuses on allocating and arranging human
and nonhuman (physical) resources so that plans can be carried out successfully and attained
organizational objectives. It is the management function that establishes relationship between activity
and authority. It is through the organizing function that administrators/managers determine which tasks
to be done, how tasks can be best combined into specific jobs, and how jobs can be grouped into
various units that make up the structure of the organization.
Organizing - refers to the coordination of resources; i.e. labor, managerial talent, material, machinery
and money. It is an activity of establishing the total system of social and cultural relationship among
peoples who are joined together to achieve some specific common objectives.
Organizing - is also the process of determining authority dispersion, determining the extent of power
centralization or decentralization, or power sharing among organizational units, which in turn
determines the span of management or control. In an organization, we have a number of levels,
managerial positions.

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Organizing: is essentially the division of functions among people. it is establishing the internal
organizational structure. The division of functions and allocation of responsibilities could be both
vertical and horizontal. The nature and style of the organizational structure; i.e. vertical and horizontal
structure reveals the extent of the concentration of power in the organization, the former inclines to
centralization of power while the later is more likely to share power and to make decisions together.
The philosophy of hierarchy depends upon the nature of the organization. For instance, the military and
business management might not follow the same line of organizational hierarchy. The military
structure is very much centralized because of the seriousness of the decision matter, while in business
organizations the hierarchy is not that much stiff and provides managerial autonomy.
The manager while organizing must identify those areas of management that needs high degree of
autonomy and determine the span of control. Span of control refers to how many people should report
to each manager. Determining the span of control in turn has to do with the supervisory effectiveness
of managers.
3.3.2. THE ORGANIZING PROCESS
The organizing process has the following steps.

(j) Identification of objectives
This is to understand clearly the objectives of the organization, i.e., to reconsider the objectives
established during planning and identify the specific objectives to be pursued.
(ii) Identification of the specific activities needed which help the organization achieve its
objectives. Knowing the objectives clearly makes the identification of activities needed clear and
simple. Here we ask what work activities are necessary to accomplish the identified organizational
objectives. Creating a list of tasks to be accomplished begins if we identify clearly what objective in to
be accomplished or met. This identification of specific activities needed is called division of labor.
(iii) Grouping of activities necessary to attain objectives

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The series number of activities listed and/or identified must be grouped together. That is, this involves
grouping together of activities in accordance with similarities (homogeneity) of the activities,
interdependence, job characteristics or any other grouping criteria, and this result in departments and
the process is called departmention. Grouping of similar activities is based on the concept of division
of labor and specialization.
(iv) Assigning group of activities (work) and delegate the appropriate authority.
Management has identified activities necessary to achieve objectives has classified and grouped these
activities in to major operational areas. The activities now must be assigned to individuals who are
simultaneously given the appropriate authority to accomplish task.
(v) Provision for coordination/Design a hierarchy of relationships.
This step requires the determination of both vertical and horizontal operating relationships of the
organization as a whole. The vertical structuring of the organization results in a decision-making
hierarchy showing who is in charge of each task, of each specialty area, and the organization as a
whole. Levels of management are established from bottom to top in the organization. These levels
create the chain of command, or hierarchy of decision-making levels, in the company.
The horizontal structuring has two important effects.

1. It defines the working relationships between operating departments
2. It makes the final decision on the span of control (the number of subordinates under the direction of
each manager).
The result of this step is a complete organization structure. An organization chart shows this structure
visually. While developing organizational structure, managers make a variety of decisions; especially
they decide division of labor, delegation of authority, departmentation, span of control, and
coordination.

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(A) Division of labor
When joint accomplishment of a grand task is the goal of many people, this overall task must be split in
to its component jobs and apportioned among the people involved. It is only after these jobs are
correctly done that the grand task can be achieved.
The degree to which the grand task of the organization is broken down and divided in to smaller
component parts is referred to as division of labor. Division of labor is performed in light of
organizational objectives. It begins by determining (sub tasks) called jobs that are necessary to
accomplish the identified objectives. These sub tasks could include ongoing tasks which are part of the
regular routine for running any business such as hiring and record keeping or tasks unique to the nature
of the business; such as assembling, machining, storing, inspecting, selling, advertising, computer
programming.
After determining the sub tasks, sub tasks will be defined by enumerating the activities that each
individual sub tasks would entail in terms of what the incipient sub task performer is expected to do.
This is called job description. Job description is an account of activities what the sub task performer is
expected to perform and the associated authority and responsibility relationships among jobs.
The sub task assigned to the sub task performer is called job. Thus by doing so individuals specialize in
doing part of the task rather than the entire task, i.e., division of labor in effect is the assignment of
various portion of a particular task among organizational members. In short, division of labor involves:
 Breaking down a task in to its most basic elements
 Training workers in performing specific duties
 Sequencing activities so that one person's efforts build on another's.
(B) Delegation of Authority
Authority - is the right to commit resources (that is, to make decisions that commit an
organization’s resources), or the legal (legitimate) right to give orders (to tell some one to do or not to
do something). It is the right to make decisions, carry out actions, and direct others in matters related to

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the duties and goals of a position. It is the formal right of a superior to command and compel his
subordinates to perform a certain act. All managers in an organization have authority. It provides the
means of command.
Generally level of authority varies with levels of management. Higher-level managers have greater
authority, with ultimate power resting at the top. Authority decreases all the way to the bottom of the
chart, where positions have little or none. Authority is vested in a manager because of the position
he/she occupies in the organization, that is why we say, “authority comes with the territory.”
The person who occupies the position has its formal authority as long as he/she remains in the position.
As the job changes in scope and complexity, so should the amount and kind of formal authority
possessed. Even though a manager has formal or legitimate authority, it is wise to remember that the
willingness of employees to accept the legitimate authority is a key to effective management. Chester
Bernard called this Acceptance Theory of Authority.
Delegation of Authority - is the down ward pushing of authority from superiors to subordinates to
make decision with in their area of responsibilities. It is the process of allocating tasks to subordinates,
giving them adequate authority to carry out those assignments, and making them obligated to complete
the tasks satisfactory. Delegation is a concept describing the passing of formal authority to another
person. It is the assignment of part of a manager’s work to others, along with both the responsibility
and authority necessary to achieve expected results.
Delegation is necessary for an organization to exist. Just no one person in an enterprise can do all the
tasks necessary for accomplishing a group purpose, so is it impossible, as an enterprise grows, for one
person exercise all the authority for making decisions.
In delegating authority a manager doesn’t surrender his power because he does not permanently
dispose of it; delegated authority can always be regained. This is called recovery of delegated
authority. Reorganization inevitably involves some recovery and relegation of authority. In a shuffle
in an organization, rights are recovered by the responsive head of the firm or a department and then
relegated to managers of new or modified departments.

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The Process of Delegation

Delegation of authority has the following steps.
Assignment of tasks
Specific tasks or duties that are to be undertaken are identified by the manager for assignment to the
subordinate. The subordinate is ten approached with the assignment.
Delegation of authority
In order for the subordinate to complete the duties or tasks, the authority necessary to do them should
be delegated by the manager to the subordinate. A guideline for authority is that it be adequate to
complete the task - no more and no less.
Acceptance of responsibility
Dispensability is the obligation to carryout one’s assigned duties to the best of one’s ability. It is the
obligation created when some one accepts task assignments together with the appropriate authority.
Responsibility is not delegated by a manager to an employee, but the employee becomes obligated
when the assignment is accepted. The employee is the receiver of the assigned duties and the delegated
authority; these confer responsibility as well.
Creation of accountability
Accountability is having to answer to some one for your results or actions. It means taking the
consequences - either credit or blame. It is the requirement to provide satisfactory reasons for
significant deviations from duties or expected results. When the subordinate accepts the assignment
and the authority, he or she will be held accountable or answerable for actions taken.
A manager is accountable for the use of his/her authority and performance. The manager is also
accountable for the performance and actions of subordinates. The manager should take the time to
think through what is being assigned and to confer the authority necessary to achieve results. The
subordinate, in accepting the assignment becomes obligated (responsible) to perform, knowing that
he/she is accountable (answerable) for the results.

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The Importance of Delegation

1. It relives the manager from his/her heavy workload.
Delegation frees a manager from some time consuming duties that can be adequately handled by
subordinates and lets the manager devote more time to problems requiring his/her full attention (lets
the manager concentrate on strategic issues).
1. It leads to better decisions: Since subordinates are closer to real “firing line” activities and
problems than superiors, they have more realistic information and better understanding. The
realistic information that subordinates have may lead them to make better decisions.
2. It speedup decision-making: Decisions made by lower level managers usually are timelier than
those that so through several layers of management.
3. It helps subordinates to train and builds moral: Subordinate managers can reach their full potential
only if given the chance to make decisions and to assume responsibility for them.
4. It encourages the development of professional managers: Had there not been any delegation,
professional managers wouldn’t have been produced.
5. It helps to create the organization structure: If there were no delegation of authority is an
organization, there would exist only the president/CEO/ Top-level manager. And an individual
cannot create an organization.
The terms centralization and decentralization refer to a philosophy of organization and management
that focuses on either the selective concentration (centralization) or the dispersal (decentralization) of
authority with in an organization structure. Centralization or decentralization is a relative concept when
applied to organizations. They are tendencies of delegation of authority.
Factors determining the delegation of authority
Managers cannot ordinarily be for or against decentralization of authority. They may prefer to delegate
authority, or they may like to make all the decisions. Some factors that affect the degree of
centralization or decentralization- delegation of authority- are:
1. The history and culture of the organization

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Whether authority will be decentralized frequently depends upon the way the business (organization)
has been built. Those enterprises that, in the main, expand from with in show a marked tendency to
keep authority centralized. On the other hand, enterprises that result from mergers and consolidations
are likely to show, at least first, a definite tendency to retain decentralized authority. In other words,
Organizations, which were centralized or decentralized at their establishment, tend to centralize and
decentralize authority to repeat what they have done before. When centralized organization is changed
in to decentralization and the vice versa people feel discomfort.
2. The nature of the decision
The costlier and the riskier the decision is, the more centralized the authority will be. Cost may be
reckoned directly in dollars and cents or in such intangibles as the company’s reputation, its
competitive position or employee morale. The fact that the cost of mistake affects the decentralization
isn’t necessarily based on the assumption that top managers make fewer mistakes than subordinates.
They may make fewer mistakes, since they are probably better trained and in possession of more facts,
but the controlling reason is the weight of responsibility. Delegating authority is not delegating
responsibility; therefore, managers typically prefer not to delegate authority for crucial decisions.
3. Availability and ability of managers (LLMs)
A real shortage of managers would limit decentralization of authority, since in order to delegate,
superiors must have quantified managers to whom to give authority. In addition to the availability of
LLMs the quality of the existing LLMs, (subordinates) has impact on centralization or decentralization.
4. Management philosophy
The character and philosophy of top executives have an important influence on the extent to which
authority is decentralized. Sometimes top managers are despotic, tolerating no interference with the
authority they jealously hoard. At other times, top managers keep authority not merry to gratify a desire
for status or power but because they simply cannot give up the activities and authorities they enjoyed.

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5. Size and character of the organization
The larger the organization, the more decisions to be made, and the more places in which they must be
made, the more difficult it is to coordinate them. These complexities of organization may require
policy questions to be passed up the line and discussed not only with many managers in the chain of
command but also with many managers at each level, since horizontal agreement may be as necessary
as vertical clearance.
Slow decisions - show because of the number of specialists and managers who must be consulted - are
costly. To minimize the cost, authority should be decentralized wherever feasible. Also important in
determining size is the character of a unit. For decentralization to be thoroughly effective, a unit must
possess a certain economic and managerial self-sufficiency.
6. Geographic dispersion of operations
Geographic dispersion of operations makes decentralization more necessary because top executives
frequently find it impossible to keep abreast of the details of what is going on at various locations.
Moreover, managers on site may be in a better position to assess local situations and make appropriate
decisions.
7. Environmental uncertainty
Environmental uncertainty tends to produce a need for more decentralization. In this case, the fast pace
of change interferes with top management’s ability to assess situations with the speed necessary to
make timely decisions.
Problems in Effective Delegation

In spite of the advantages, many managers are reluctant to delegate authority and may subordinates are
reluctant to accept it. Both these barriers hinder effective delegation.

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Reluctance to delegate/Problems from Managers

There are a number of reasons that managers commonly offer to explain why they do not delegate.
Some are:
1. Fear of loss of power - if the subordinate does too good a job. Some managers’ fear when they
delegate authority because they expect that they will be substituted/replaced by their subordinates if
subordinates have got the experience and skill of decision-making.
2. “I can do it better myself” fallacy: Some managers have an inflated worth of them selves and
think that they do everything better than their subordinates.
3. Lack of confidence in subordinates: There perception of managers that my subordinates just are
not capable enough” When managers delegate authority to their subordinates they do not also delegate
responsibility. That is, managers are accountable for the actions of their subordinates and may fear the
blame if subordinates fail, if subordinates lack knowledge and skill.
4. Fear of being exposed: Some managers fear that their subordinates do too good job as compared
with themselves i.e. feel threatened that competent subordinates may perform too well and possibly
make the manager look poor by comparison.
5. Difficulty in briefing: Many times managers are reluctant to delegate authority if they conclude
that the time for briefing is more than the time for decision-making or if they believe they lack the time
to train subordinates. “It takes too much time to explain what I want done”.
Reluctance to Accept Delegation/problems from subordinates
1. Fear of failure and criticism: Subordinates who fear criticism or dissemble for mistakes are
frequently reactant to accept delectation. The solution for this problem can be teaching
subordinates when they make mistakes than criticizing or dismissing.
2. Subordinate may believe that the delegation increases the risk of making mistakes but doesn’t
provide adequate rewards for assuming greater responsibility.

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3. Lack of incentive or reward for assuming a greater workload. Accepting delegation frequently
means that they will have to work harder under greater pressure. Without appropriate
compensation subordinates may be unwilling to do so.
4. Lack of adequate information and resources. If subordinate managers think that they don’t have
enough factual information on which to base a decision or other resources necessary to carryout the
assigned duties, they tend to decline/reject accepting authority delegated. If subordinates are
already overworked.
5. Lack of self - confidence
6. Believing / Thinking that decision-making is the boss’s job.
Authority Relations in Organization (Line, Staff, Functional)
In an organization different types of authority are created by the relationships between individuals and
between departments. There are three types of authority.
Line Authority: Defines the relationship between superior and subordinate. It is a direct supervisory
relationship. It exists in all organizations as an uninterrupted score or series of steps. In line authority, a
superior exercises direct command over a subordinate. Line authority is represented by the standard
chain of command that starts with the most superiors and extends down though the various levels in the
hierarchy to the point where basic activities of the organization are carried out.
Staff Authority - is advisory in nature. The function of people in a pure staff capacity is to give
advice, expertise, technical assistance, and support to help line managers to work more effectively in
accomplishing objectives. Advisory authority doesn’t provide any basis for direct control over the
subordinates or activities of other departments with whom they consult (With in the staff manager’s
own department, he or she exercises line authority over the department’s subordinates).
(C) Departmentation: Meaning and Bases

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Departmentation: All organizations, regardless of their size or mission, divide there over all
operations in to sub activities and then combine these sub activities in to working groups. This process
of grouping specialized activities in a logical manner is called departmentation.
Department: is a distinct area, division, or branch of an organization over which a manager has
authority for the performance of specified activities. It is a unit formulated as a result of the
departmentation process. The physical and mental limitations of individual managers to effectively
oversee and coordinate activities beyond a given limit partly justify the need for departmentation.
Departmentation is not an end in it self but is simply a method of arranging activities to facilitate the
accomplishment of objectives.
Bases for Departmentation

Since organizations are different in their activities, objectives and areas in which they operate, there are
different bases for departmentation. The most common bases are function, territory, product, customer,
and process
1. Departmentation by Function
It is the grouping together of activities in accordance with the functions of an enterprise - on the basis
of similarity of expertise, skills or work activities. In other words, jobs that call for certain skills or the
use of similar working methods will be put together. It is probably the most common base for
departmentation and is present in almost every enterprise at some level in the organization structure. It
asks the question “what does typically the enterprise/organization do” what kind of activities. Example
of which are Engineering, production, marketing, Finance, etc
3.Departmentation by Territory/ Geography

 Groups (business) activities on the basis of geographic region or territory.
 Is common in enterprises that operate over wide geographic areas i.e, it is attractive to large-
scale firms or other enterprises whose activities are physically or geographically dispersed. The
logic is that all activities in a particular area or region should be assigned to a manager. This
individual would be in charge of all operations in that geographic area.
 Can be used by business, government, NGOs, or other enterprises.

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Geographic departmentalization works best when different laws, currencies, languages and traditions
exist and have a direct impact on the ways in which business activities must be conducted. For
example, Western region, Eastern region, Southern region
3. Departmentation by Product (Line)

It is the grouping and arrangement of activities around products or product groups. Departmentation
by product should be considered when attention, energy, and efforts need to be focused on an
organization’s particular products. This can be true if each product requires a unique strategy or
product process or distribution system or capital sources. This approach works well for an enterprise,
which engaged in very different types of products. For example:
 Textile products - Nylon products, woolen products, silk products, cotton products
 Petroleum refining - kerosene, diesel,
 Electronics - Radios, TVs, Computers
4. Departmentation by Customer
It is a grouping of activities around customers. This grouping reflects a primary interest in customers.
Customers are the key to the way activities are grouped when each of the different things an enterprise
does for them is managed by one department head. This makes economic sense when the customers are
distinct enough in their demands, preferences, and needs. It helps organizations meet the special and
widely varying needs of customers. It can be used in medical institutions such as hospitals and clinics -
emergency services, out patient services, inpatient services, x-rays; retail stores- men's clothing,
women's clothing, children's clothing.
5. Departmentation by Process
Manufacturing firms often group activities around a process or type of equipment. Making plywood,
for example, involves several sequential process: poling (removing bark from logs); sawing logs in to
8’ lengths, heating; veneer stripping and stamping veneer sheets in to 4' segments; drying and grading
according to quality; gluing plies together; finishing and bundling.
(D) Span of Control (Management)

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The term span of management is also referred to as a span of control, span of supervision, span of
authority or span of responsibility.
Span of control: simply means the number of subordinates or the units of work that an administrator
can personally direct.
Span of management - refers to the number of subordinates who report directly to a manger, or the
number of subordinates who will be directly supervised by a manager. This varies from one situation to
another. There is no magical number for the span of control. There are various factors affecting the
span of management. Based on the number of subordinates who should report to a manager or the
number of subordinates that a superior should supervise, we can have:
 Wide span of management and
 Narrow span of management
Narrow Span of Management: This means a superior controls few numbers of subordinates or few
subordinates report to a superior. When there is narrow span of management in an organization, we get:
 Tall organization structure with many levels of supervision between top management and the
lowest organizational level.
 More communication between superiors and subordinates.
 Managers are underutilized and their subordinates are over controlled.
 More trained managerial personnel and centralized authority.
Advantages
1. Close supervision and control
2. Fast communication between subordinates and superiors.
Disadvantages
Superiors tend to get too involved in the subordinates work
The problem of setting more trained managerial personnel
Excessive distance between lowest level and to level management. This kills intuitive for top-level
positions

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High costs due to many levels.
Wide Span of Management: This means many subordinates report to a superior or a superior
supervises many subordinates. If the span of management is wide, we get:
 A flat organization structure with fewer management levels between top and lower level.
 Many number of subordinates and decentralized authority.
 Managers are overstrained and their subordinates receive too little guidance and control.
Advantages
1. Superiors are forced to delegate
2. If initiates the development of clear polices
3. Subordinates must be carefully selected and trained.
Disadvantages
1. Tendency of overloaded superiors to become decision bottle necks
2. Danger of superior’s loss of control
3. Require exceptional quality of mangers.
Factors Determining an Effective Span of Management
The principle of span of a management states that there is no any specific number of subordinates to be
supervised by a manager. Rather, it states, there are factors that affect the span of management. Some
are:
1. Ability of the manger

The ability of the manager (supervisor) who is responsible for supervising subordinates affects the span
of a management. If the manager is well trained and highly capable, receives assistance in performing
her/his supervisory activities, doesn’t have many additional, non-supervisory activities to perform the
appropriate span can be relatively broad.
2. The abilities of subordinates.

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The amount of training, experience, and ability that subordinates have is directly related to a manager’s
span of control knowledgeable subordinates who work well on their own require less supervision than
inexperienced, poorly trained workers do. Well - trained subordinates require not only less of their
manager’s time but also less contract with them.
2. Type of work - Routines and simplicity of work

Managers supervising people with simple and repetitive jobs are able to manage more immediate
subordinates than are those who supervise people with complex, non-repetitive tasks.
3. Geographic dispersion of subordinates.
Normally, there is an inverse relationship between a manager’s span of control and the geographic
dispersion of his/her subordinates. For example, a sales manager whose sales people are scattered over
a wide geographic region cannot supervise as many subordinates as a manager can whose subordinates
are in one building. This is especially true when the manger and subordinates must meet on a regular
basis.
4. The availability of information and control systems

If there are sophisticated information and control systems, the manager can supervise many
subordinates and hence the span will be wide.
5. Levels of management
The size of the most effective span differs by organizational level. At the top level of management the
span is wide. At the middle level of management the span is narrow, because they involve in policy
supervision and much more direct, personal contract with subordinates than top-level managers. At the
lower level of management the span is wide, because as managers of operating employees, supervisors
frequently supervise work that is not complex and that rarely requires policy decisions. Instead, they
will usually rely on rules and procedures to help them solve the daily problems that arise.
3.3.STAFFING

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After the organizing function is completed (after jobs or positions are created within each
organizational unit incorporated in the structure), staffing becomes the next task of managers. Staffing
in broad sense is also known as personnel management or human resource management. It is the
process of assigning prospective employees to fill up the vacant jobs or positions created at the
preceding managerial function.
Staffing is the process of matching job demands with the people with required qualifications; i.e.
knowledge, skill, ability, experience and the like. Staffing involves a number of activities and
processes, such as:
 Recruitment (searching for candidates by using different means),
 Selection (choosing of eligible and fit candidates),
 Induction (orientating new employees about their jobs, colleagues, facilities, benefits, and the
general working environment),
 Placement (arrangement to the proper job),
 Appraising (periodic evaluation of the performance of employees),
 Promotion (upgrading permanent employees to a higher rank in the grade levels of an
organization),
 Record keeping, training, reward and reprimand, retirement and related activities,
Are the concerns of the staffing function mainly performed by the personnel or human resource
department, division, or unit.
3.4.DIRECTING (LEADIING)
Directing or leading is the management or administrative function that involves influencing others to
engage in the work behaviors necessary to reach organizational goals. It simply means guiding the
efforts of human resources to ensure high level of task accomplishment. Leading or directing includes
communicating with others, helping to outline a vision of what can be accomplished, providing
direction, and motivating organization's members to put forth the substantial effort required from them.
Leading involves motivating or activating people towards achieving a harmonized common

(organizational goal). It is a process of getting or winning the cooperation and willingness of people
fulfill organizational objectives. Leading includes, among others, the following:

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 Motivation: involves inspiring or stimulating employees by giving an opportunity to ensure

high-level individual performance and thereby attain organizational objectives. There are
different motivational factors, which could be implemented on the basis of identifying the real
demands and interests of employees, such as material and financial rewards, providing
training, introducing safety measures, creating conducive working atmosphere and
relationships, recognition etc.
 Dealing with People: managers need to spear their time to handle the effect of group
behavior as well as to capitalize the advantages of using the different talents of people they
lead. Leading has also to do with maintaining teamwork.
 Communication: is an important, perhaps the determinant, factor for effective leadership.
This refers to the level of consultation and interaction of managers with their subordinates,
and the use of communication channels or networks that facilitate effective transmission of
information and idea. For example, policies, orders, and regulations that are usually
formulated by the top management should be properly addressed to organizational members.
Leadership function is essentially influenced by the type of leaders an organization might have. There
are three basic types of leaders who exercise leadership roles differently:
 Authoritarian Leaders: they lead by using power, followers are alienated, performance is
proportional to power
 Transactional Leaders: they lead by using rewards, followers are willing but calculative, use
linkages between performance and goals as well as between performance and rewards
 Transformational Leaders: they lead by articulating and communicating realistic vision,
intellectually paying attention to individual differences, make followers committed and loyal.
3.5.CONTROLLING
Controlling is the management function that is aimed at regulating organizational activities so that
actual performance conforms to expected organizational standards and goals. Controlling simply means
monitoring of task accomplishments and taking necessary measures. To do the necessary regulatory
functions, administrators need to monitor ongoing activities, compare results with expected standards
or progress toward goals, and take corrective action as needed.

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Controlling involves follow up of employees' activities to get feedbacks about results by comparing
performances with plans. Controlling shouldn't be associated only with its negative sense; i.e.
subjugating or subduing subordinates by giving no or little discretionary power in their operation. It
should rather be considered mainly in positive terms as having a purpose of helping people to be in
conformance with plans, making an appropriate adjustment when performances deviate from
expectations. Administration therefore involves:
 Looking ahead,
 Making good plans, and then
 Helping people to take actions needed today in order to best meet the challenges of the future. In
this regard, " administrators are responsible to monitor the goals, look for problems, and help
people who fall behind before they lose control of or cause organizational damage". In
controlling, managers need to:
 Have standards or yardsticks, which are the measuring instruments through which performances
and plans could be compared,
 Get outputs compared with inputs with reference to approved plans and identify the gaps and
the causes of deviations,
 Correct deviations, if there is any, by properly addressing the identified problems,
In fact having standards and comparing outputs with plans might be a short-lived exercise or business.
What is most difficult rather is identifying the problem to correct the prevailing deviation. As a matter
of principle managers may use the following three types of control:
(a) Preliminary control: it is a pre-action control that takes place before the actual managerial
activity started. It is an attempt to have a very realistic objective. To apply preliminary control there
should first exist job description or specification that describes the nature and content of the work an
employee is expected to perform and the means of handling it. Thus, a manager has to check whether
the person holding the position has the necessary skill, ability, and interest before the actual work
starts.
(b) Concurrent control: this type of control is undertaken while the business or an activity is in
motion. In other words this is controlling an ongoing activity in the plan period without waiting for the
end of the planning period.
(c) Feedback control: is a type of control of performance at the end of the planning period.

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CHAPTER FOUR
MAJOR AREAS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Introduction
Students; you have learnt the general functions of public administration in chapter Three.
Therefore, in this chapter we will discuss about the major areas of public administration in
brief manner.
Chapter Objectives
At the end of this chapter, the students will be able, among other things, to:
 Understand the major areas of public administration
 Identify the basic principles, approaches and objectives of public policy.
 Understand the personal administration concepts in public administratio
4.1.PUBLIC POLICY
Public administration theorists have been concerned with attempts conceptually to distinguish policy
and administration. The distinction, which was probably based on a confusion of politics and
administration, has always been somewhat fictional. There are therefore two principle features of
policy:
(1) Policy is concerned with either change (its dynamic aspect), or with the preservation of the stats
quo (its static aspect), and
(2) There is no clear distinction between policy and administration and both contain dynamic
elements. The existence of a passive executory administration is no longer a justifiable
assumption.
Policy formulation is necessary prior to every action in every form of organization, be it private or
public. It is thus a prerequisite for all management. The different definitions of public policy reflects its
multi-faceted nature, yet all draw elements of public decisions, choices, positions and statements of
intents.

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Meaning:
According to Rumki Basu (1994:270), Policy can be broadly defined as a "proposed course of action
of an individual, a group, an institution or government, to realize a specific objective or purpose within
a given environment".
Policy is a set of interrelated decisions taken by a political actor or group of actors concerning the
selection of goals and the means of achieving them within a specified situation.
Policy has been defined as "a matter of either the desire for change or the desire to protect something
from change" (Barber (1983:59). Barber further added, "Policy making occurs in the determination of
major objectives, in the selection of methods of achieving these objectives, and in the continuous
adaptation of existing policies to the problems that face the government".
Public policy can be comprehensively defined as a "purposive and consistent course of action
produces as a response to a perceived problem of constituency, formulated by a specific political
process; adopted, implemented and enforced by a public agency".
Policy lays down the framework within which organizational goals are set to be accomplished. The
objectives of an organization, which are often vague and general, are concretized in the policy goals
that set the administrative wheels in motion. Policy formulation is one of the vital tasks of any form of
government. As Basu (1994:270) puts it, "the essence of public administration is policy-making".
Dimock defines policy formulation as "the consciously acknowledged rules of conduct that guide
administrative decisions".
Public policies are those, which are developed by governmental bodies and officials. The special
characteristics of public policies as differentiated from other policies emanate from the fact that they
are by "authorities" in a political system namely, "elders, chiefs, executives, legislatures, judges,
administrators, councilors, monarchs, and the like".

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The following are implications of the concept of public policy:
(i) Purposive or result oriented action rather than random behavior or chance happenings is the
hallmark (characteristic" of public policy,
(ii) Public policy refers to the action or decisional pattern by public administrators on a
particular issue over a period rather than their separate discrete decisions on that matter in
an ad hoc fashion,
(iii) Policy is what governments actually do and what subsequently happens, rather than what
they intend to do or say they are going to do,
(iv) Public policy may be either positive or negative in form. Positively, it may involve some
form of government action regarding any issue or problem; negatively, it may involve a
decision by government officials not to take action on a matter on which governmental
opinion, attitude, or action is asked for,
(v) Public policy in its positive form is based on law and is authoritative; it has a legal sanction
behind it, which is potentially coercive in nature and is binding on all citizens,
The question here is that why do we study public policy? There are both academic and political reasons
for studying public policy or engaging in policy analysis.
(a) The study of public policy formulation processes may help to gain greater knowledge and
understanding of the complexities of the interacting social, economic and political processes
and their implications for society. Policy may be viewed either as a dependent or
independent variable.
If the former is the case, then attention is placed on the political and environmental factors
that help to determine the content of policy. If public policy is viewed as an independent
variable, the focus shifts to the impact of policy on the political system and the
environment.
(b) Factual knowledge about the policy-making process and its outcomes are a prerequisite for
prescribing on dealing with social problems normatively. The study of public policy should
be directed towards ensuring that governments adopt appropriate policies to attain certain

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desirable social goals. It is not to deny, however, that substantial disagreements may exist in
society over what constitutes "desirable" or the "appropriate" goals of policy.
In practice, policy formulation overlaps with policy decision in the policy-making process. Policy
formulation aims at getting a preferred policy alternative approved. A policy decision on the other hand
involves action by some official person or body to approve, modify, or reject a preferred policy
alternative. Policy decision when approving a preferred policy alternative takes such forms as the
enactment of legislation or the issuance of an executive order. Therefore, what is typically involved in
the policy decision stage is not selection from among a number of policy alternatives, but action on the
preferred policy alternative.
Another point of discussion in the study of public policy is about the factors determining policy
formulation. Policy-making cannot be adequately understood apart from the environment in which it
takes place. Demands for policy actions are generated in the environment and transmitted to the
political system. At the same time, the environment places limits and constraints upon what can be
done by policy makers. Hence, environment is a decisive factor on public policy formulation.
Environment, in turn, includes geographical characteristics as natural resources, climate and

topography; demographic variables like population size, age and sex ratio distribution and spatial
location; political culture; social structure; and the economic system. Of these environmental aspects,
political culture and socioeconomic variables are considered as the more influential factors in public
policy formulation.
A). Political Culture: culture has been defined as the entire pattern of social life, the inherited modes
of living and conduct that the individual acquires from the community or environment. Most social
scientists agree that culture is one of the many factors that shape or influence social action. Political
culture is also part of the general culture, which denotes widely held values, beliefs, and attitudes
concerning governmental policies and actions. What is relevant here is therefore to see some of the
implications and significance of this culture for policy formulation.

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Differences in public policy making of various countries can be partly explained in terms of variations
in their political culture. For example, the time orientation of people-their view of the relative
importance of the past, the present and the future has implications for policy formulation. A political
culture oriented more to the past may recognize age-old traditions, customs and social moves, while
future oriented political culture comprehends to change and innovation.
Rumki Basu (1994:273) further identified three types of political cultures as parochial, subject, and
participant.
a) In a parochial political culture, citizens have little awareness of or orientation towards either the
political system as a whole or the citizen as a political participant. Citizen's participation in the
policy formulation in a parochial political culture is essentially non-existent, and government will
be of little concern to most citizens.
b) In a subject political culture as that of in many developing countries, citizens are oriented towards
the political system, yet they have little awareness of themselves as a participant. They are aware of
governmental authority and they may have political views, but they are essentially passive. In the
subject political culture, an individual may believe that he/she can do little to influence public
policy, which may lead to his/her passive acceptance of governmental action.
c) In the participant political culture, like that is evidenced in the United States, citizens have a high
level of political awareness and information and have explicit orientations towards the political
system as a whole, and a notion of meaningful citizen's participation in politics. Such orientation
includes understanding of how individuals and groups can influence decision-making.
In the participant political culture, individuals may organize into groups to influence government
action to rectify their grievances. Government and public policy are viewed as controllable by
citizens. It is also assumed that more demands will be made on government in a participatory
political culture than in the other two types.

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In general, the study of political culture is important because values, beliefs, and attitudes could
inform, guide, and constrain the actions of both decision makers and citizens.
B). Socio-economic variables: The term socioeconomic condition or variable is used here in the
widest sense to include geographical characteristics and demographic variables as being economic
resources. Public policies can be seen as emanating from conflicts between different groups often with
opposing interests and attitudes. Groups that are underprivileged, dissatisfied, or threatened by
economic changes often seek governmental intervention or assistance to improve their lot or status
through some sort of policy decision.
It is recognized that society's level of economic development will impose limits on what the
government can do in providing public goods and services to the community. The ways in which
socioeconomic conditions influence or constrain public policies have been subjected to considerable
analysis. Economic development shapes both political processes and policy outcomes.
In other words, differences in the policy choices of governments with different political systems turn
out to be largely a product of differing socioeconomic levels rather than a direct product of political
variables. Levels of urbanization, industrialization, income and education appear to be more influential
in shaping public policy outcomes than purely political variables like voters' participation, inter-party
rivalry, and political party strength.
There are different conceptual approaches to policy making in the study of public administration. As a
field of study, public administration examines every aspect of governmental efforts to get implemented
public policies. But Herbert Simon (1948) disagreed with those who tried to define public
administration narrowly as a study of public policy. He instead viewed public administration raging as
wide as governmental problems or affairs and would eventually bring political science and other
possible social sciences to be part of it, and would become applied science.
Simon suggested in that while studying public administration, scholars should concentrate less on
public policy and on the behavior of decision makers and the process by which they defined public
policy. For him, decision-making is the heart of administration; it pervades the entire administrative

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process as much as the art of getting things done. He believed that there is a possibility of measuring
and evaluating efficient decision-making, and the need to define, quantify and measure administrative
choice.
Simon dropped the notion of optimal rational choice altogether and opted for bounded rationality and a
satisfying model of decision-making. In other words, he believed in that people accept what is good
enough or satisfying to them and don't search for all possible alternatives so as to select the optimal
rational alternative. Decision-making process could be broken down into intelligence (searching the
environment for conditions necessary for decision); design (inventing, developing, and analyzing
possible courses of action); and choice (selecting a course of action).
The three decision models, which Simon identified in 1960 include:

(a) Non-programmed decision-making based on instinct, judgment, intuition, and other extra-
rational factors,
(b) Pure rationality optimal decision-making, and
(c) Satisfying decision-making,
Charles Lindblom (1959) has noted the differences between the ways policy-making has been
described in theory (the rational comprehensive approach) and the way it is actually made (incremental
steps).
The rational comprehensive approach
In the rational comprehensive method, an administrator has to follow certain principles such as
identifying a priority objective, rationally ranking all the relevant "values" or "advantages" to pursue
the best policy, formulating several possible alternatives to achieve the stated objective, selecting the
best alternative, and so on.
This approach to decision-making is rational and comprehensive, because all alternatives and values
are taken into account and logically selected and weighed in their relative importance. But rational

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decision-making is difficult in practice since there are a variety of factors that complicate the task of
the policy maker.
The rational method has been criticized as being impracticable for a number of reasons:
(a) It is practically impossible to collect all information and make a complete list of policy options,
(b) The process involved in this approach is time consuming and expensive,
(c) The assumptions that values can be ranked and classified is erroneous, since there are always
differences among the legislatures, administrators and the public on the values that a nation
should pursue,
(d) The assumptions to consider everything before a new policy is decided is impossible since the
consequences of adopting a new policy is in most cases unknown
The incremental approach
Although the rational comprehensive approach is theoretically good, what actually occurs in
administrative decisions is quite different; i.e. "successive limited comparison" technique or
incremental step. Firstly, administrators operating under limited resources take up on a priority bases
programs of immediate relevance. Secondly, they do not outline a wide range of possibilities in
selecting appropriate policies, but only a few "incremental" steps that appear to them feasible on the
basis of their experiences.
Two advantages of incrementalism are identified, namely:
(1) Decision-makers could proceed through a succession of small incremental changes, thereby
have the advantage of avoiding serious alterations in case of mistakes in decision making,
(2) This method is truly reflective of the policy-making process by means of consensus and
gradualism and contemplates possible changes in public policies,
Though it is widely accepted that incrementalism describes the reality of the policy making process, it
has its own disadvantages or weaknesses, among which:
(1) Incrementalism can result in important policy options being overlooked,
(2) Incrementalism discourages social innovation and is partisan in approach, which in reality
means the interests of the most powerful get maximum attention by policy-makers,

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(3) Incrementalism cannot be applied to fundamental decisions such as declaration of war, hence
cannot be considered as an approach without flaws or mistakes,
Another important topic in the study of public policy is that who the official policy makers are?
Official policy-makers are those who are legally empowered to formulate public policy. These include
legislatures, executives, administrators, and judges.
Legislature: The legislature formally performs the task of law making in a political system. This
doesn't necessarily mean that the legislature has an independent decision-making power or actually
frames the official policy since political parties, pressure groups, and so forth can influence it. But it
can safely be concluded that the legislature is more important in policy formulation in democratic than
in dictatorial systems, and within the democratic systems, it tends to have greater independency in
policy formulation in presidential systems (USA) than in the parliamentary (British) systems.
Executive: Modern governments everywhere mainly depend upon executive leadership both in policy
formulation and execution. In developing countries in particular, the executive has even more influence
in policy making than in developed countries because of the greater concentration of power in the
hands of the government with less responsiveness to the legislature.
Administrative Agencies: although it has been an accepted doctrine in political science that
administrators were merely implementers of policies determined by other organs of the government,
such distinctions are now found to be fallacious as politics and administration are blended, and as
administrators are highly involved in policy formulation in the modern world.
The technical complexity of many policy matters, legislature's lack of time and information are among
the major reasons for administrative agencies to have a formally recognized discretionary authority to
formulate policies. Public officials are associated with policy formulation in three important ways:
(a) They have to supply facts, data and criticism about the workability of the policy to the
legislature if the initiative for policy-making comes from them. In addition, since members of
the parliament might have lack of administrative acumen (intelligence) or experience on

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technical or purely professional matters, they have to give due recognitions and rely on the
suggestions of the officials,
(b) Since the administrations are supposed have constant contact with the general public and
thereby to be in a better position to understand the difficulties that arise in the implementation
of policies, the initiative for policy legislation or amendments originates very often from the
administration.
(c) On account of lack of time and knowledge, the legislature passes skeleton acts and leaves the
details to the administration.
The Courts: in countries where the courts have the power of judicial review, they have (as in the US)
played an important role in policy formulation. They can affect the nature and content of public policy
through exercising their judicial review and statutory interpretation power in cases brought before
them. Determining the constitutionality of actions by legislative and executive branches of the
government is basically the functions of the judiciary. The courts also specify the government's limits
to actions and states what it must do to meet legal or constitutional obligations.
Besides the official policy makers, many unofficial bodies may participate in the policy making
process. These may include political parties, interest groups, and individual citizens. These unofficial
bodies could participate in public policy making in terms of expressing demands, supplying official
policy makers with much technical information about specific issues and possible consequences of a
policy proposal, and presenting alternatives for policy actions.
Once we make public policy and implement it, it is imperative that the effects of such policies have to
be evaluated and analyzed. Public policy evaluation is concerned with the analysis of the effects of
governmental decisions on the target public. In other words, it is an attempt to assess the content and
effects of policy on those for whom it is intended. It means commenting on the merits and demerits of a
policy. Often policy evaluation occurs throughout the policy process, not necessarily at its termination
stage.

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There are generally three recognized methods of policy evaluation; namely:

(a) Policy impact evaluation: It is an assessment of program (policy) impact and effectiveness,
the extent to which programs are successful in achieving the intended objectives,
(b) Policy strategy evaluation: This refers to the assessment of the relative effectiveness of
program strategies and variables with emphasis on determining the most effective and
productive strategies, methods and procedures,
(c) Policy project appraisal: It is a process of assessing individual projects through site visits and
other means with emphasis on managerial and operational efficiency.
In discussing policy evaluation, we need also to understand the differences between policy output and
policy outcome. Policy output refers to the quantifiable actions of the government that can be
measured in concrete terms, while policy outcomes refers to the qualitative impacts of public policies
on the lives of the people.
4.2.PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION (MANAGEMENT)
Personnel administration or management is that part of administration concerned with the management
of people at work. In other words the central concern of personnel management is the efficient
utilization of employees of an organization. Some people would argue that personnel management is
simply a collection of people-management techniques, which can be used in all organizations.
However, as Margaret Attwood and Stuart Dimmock (1996) noted, the validity of this definition or
understanding is doubtful since techniques applied in one organization for the effective utilization of
staff may fail elsewhere.
In recent years, the term "human resource management" has been frequently being used in reference to
"personnel management". Most organizations have a specialist personnel department that gives support
to managers and supervisors who have direct responsibility for the management of people. Thus, the
function of a personnel department is to assist with the acquisition, development and retention of the
human resources necessary for the success of the organization.

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Ideally, we may sometimes find differences of administrative systems within the "public sector" as the
"civil service" and "public corporations" or "public enterprises" distinguished on the ground of their
basic functions or engagements, the former largely engaged in regulatory function or services while the
later in production or service provision activities. However, in the context of our discussion; i.e. public
personnel administration (management), "civil service" came to encompass the other segment of the
public sector (public corporation/enterprise) since the principle are essentially the similar. Therefore,
discussions of this topic hereunder will be in view of the civil service and would adequately serve our
purpose.
4.2.1. The Concept of a Career Civil Service
Herman Finer, quoted in Rumki Basu (1994:295), defines the civil service as a "professional body of
officials, permanent, paid and skilled". In this connection, a civil servant may be understood as a
"servant of the general public (not being the holder of a political or judicial office), who is employed in
a civil capacity and whose remuneration is wholly paid from the budget provided by the parliament any
legitimatised body of the government". This excludes members of the armed forces and judicial
services.
The civil service constitutes the "permanent" executive in the modern state. With the increasing variety
in the functions of the civil service, the new category of employees (both technical and generalist in
character) working under the public sector are being gradually added to the category of civil servants
everywhere. The major requirement of the civil service is that it shall be "impartially selected,
administratively competent, politically neutral, and imbued (instilled) with the spirit of service to the
community".
Willoughby defined career civil service as:

"A system that offers equal opportunities to all citizens to enter the government service,
equal pay to all employees doing work requiring the same degree of intelligence and
capacity, equal opportunities for advancement, equal favorable conditions and equal
participation in retirement allowances and makes equal demands upon the employees".

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Career civil service has been understood as a system aimed at recruiting young people having the
talent and ambition, with capacity for learning and growth, training them in order to develop their
potentialities for the service of the state.
Despite there have been historical traces for the existence of some sort of a rudimentary civil service,
for example in ancient china and Egypt, concept of civil service as a career is comparatively a recent
origin even in those developed countries. England had no permanent civil service until the middle of
the 19th century and USA until the end of that century. The "patronage system" and the "spoils system"
that prevailed in England and the USA respectively have delayed the development of a merit-based
public career system until those mentioned periods.
According to Dr. Finer, the growth of the cardinal principles of modern civilization brought about the
establishment and growth of a professional civil service. Some of those principles were the principles
of specialization and division of labor, the democratic ideas of "career open to talents", etc.
The Civil service is the chief instrument for the implementation of the will of the state as expressed
through public policy. It is indispensable to the functioning of the modern state. With the change in the
philosophy of the state from the laissez faire to that of the social welfare, the modern state involved
itself in multifarious tasks, which are performed by the civil service.
The basic task of the civil servants is to transform politics into action. Besides, the higher echelons of
the civil service assist their political superiors in policy-formulation through expertise advice,
assistance, and information. With the diversification of the nature of the civil service personnel, civil
servants of the technical category engaged in various productive and public sector organizations are
rendering useful social and economic services to the people.
Therefore, the tasks of the civil servants became comprehensive, directly impinging on the lives and
welfare of citizens. Due to the increasing significance of the civil service in modern societies and the
assumption of responsibility by the state for the performance of various socioeconomic functions, it has
become necessary or imperative to recruit persons and thereby build competence for the civil service.

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Professionalization of the civil service became absolutely necessary to attract the best available talent
to government jobs and enable them to make a rewarding career of it. For example a Commission
established in 1933 in the US defined the concept of career civil service and identified its main
characteristics as:
(1) High prestige and status attached to government service,
(2) Appropriate recruitment procedures,
(3) Broad avenues for promotion and transfer of personnel,
(4) Clear pay scales, and
(5) Adequate retirement and pension system
In addition/similar to the above outlined ones, the main characteristics of a career civil service that
have got common acceptance are:
(1) Permanence of tenure and stability of service,
(2) Equal opportunity of competing for government services,
(3) Merit to be the sole criteria of recruitment with due recognition to ability and personal
efficiency in a sound promotion system,
(4) Fairly large extent of territorial jurisdiction of public employees to enlarge their scope of
activity and improve their avenues for promotions, and
(5) Adequate steps taken to provide in-service training to civil servants to keep them in touch with
the latest trends and developments in administrative theory and practice.
Powell also suggested the incorporation of (a) planned and continuing upward progression system, and
(b) planning of staff needs to be included in the provisions of a career civil service. The system of
career civil service is applicable to all ranks of administration from the highest to the lowest grades and
to all levels of government.
Ideally, a career civil service is a system of service, with recruitment on merit, security of tenure, and
due recognition of service and merit through timely promotions. Every organization has its own service
systems comprising permanent civil service groups, whose size and function depend on the nature of
the organization. Modern civil service constitutes people with both general and technical qualifications.

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Personnel administration involves a number of tasks that range from recruitment to retirement and
pensioning. The most identifiable tasks of personnel management (administration) are discussed in
brief as follows.
4.2.2. Recruitment of Personnel
Recruitment of personnel is one of the crucial tasks of modern governments and lies at the heart of the
problem of personnel administration. The main test of any machinery of recruitment of personnel lies
in its ability to recruit the right type of persons to the right job. An effective recruitment process is that
attracts the best available talent.
Public recruitment may be defined as that process through which suitable candidates are included to
compete for appointments to the public service. It is thus an inclusive process-selection, which in turn
includes the process of examination and certification. Inclusiveness of the recruitment process refers
also to the emphasis not only on finding, but also on building of people who are capable of performing
the complex tasks. The recruitment and selection process includes a number of different steps, which
are as follows:
1.Develop/obtain accurate job description: management should ensure that clear, concise and accurate
job descriptions are available for every position. Accurate job descriptions are the basic building
blocks on which advertisements, interviews and other aspects of fair selection are constructed.
2.Defining the ideal candidate: having prepared the job description for the vacancy under
consideration, we now need to match the characteristics of the job with the characteristics of
candidates who may apply for it. In order to undertake this process successfully, we need to have
what is known as a "person specification" that defines the knowledge, skills, and experiences
required for the successful accomplishment of the tasks summarized in the job descriptions. Hence,
criteria used in the person specification must be related strictly to job requirements.
3.Announcement of vacancies (invitation of candidates) through newspapers, journals, and any other
appropriate media,

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4.Short-listing of the most appropriate applicants: short-listing is sorting the best potential candidates
by eliminating inappropriate applicants simply by referring to their curricula vitae, application
letters, filled-out forms and so on with out the need to see them in person. This process has to be
followed by notifying short-listed applicants to appear for exams or necessary tests,
5. Holding of examinations for testing or determining the abilities of recruits (exams would be in the
form of interviews, written tests, or practical tests),
6. Selecting the best or eligible candidate/s from among those who have been examined or tested
7. Placement or appointment of selected recruits. Appointment could be permanent, temporary,

provisional, or probationary.
8. Induction or orientation of the employee: this in general has to do with the new employee's early
"life" with the organization. Line managers, fellow workers, personnel and training staff have a role
to play in the induction of new employees. In addition to orienting new employees about the jobs,
the organization, and the working environment, many organizations provide also induction training
as a formal mechanism before the new entrant is engaged in performing the task.
The aims of the induction process are: (i) to make the new employee efficient as quickly as
possible, (ii) to encourage new employees to become committed to the organization, (iii) to
familiarize new employees with the job.
One of the main problems in the recruitment system of modern civil service is laying down proper
qualifications to suit the needs of the diverse tasks of administration. Broadly, there are two types of
qualifications required of public servants; general and special.
General qualifications relate to the civil status, domicile, sex and age, while special qualification may
include educational background, technical experience, and personal qualifications. We may need some

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clarification only about what personal qualifications, since all other items of qualifications included in
the general and special qualifications are self-explanatory.
A public servant is required to posses many personal qualifications like integrity, resourcefulness, tact
and sincerity. Besides devotion to public duty, other desirable personal qualifications are:
(a) Flexible and recognition of the need for coordination,
(b) Familiarity with the subject matter of organization and management,
(c) Facility at problem solving,
(d) Highly developed reading and writing ability,
(e) Ability to settle vexing situations through interpersonal contact,
There are also various ways of determining qualifications, which have been adopted in most countries
today; such as:
 Personal judgment of the appointing authority,
 Certificates of character, ability, and educational qualification,
 Record of various experiences-educational and occupational,
 Examinations (written, oral, practical or performance demonstration),
 Psychometric tests,
1. Written tests may further fall under the following main categories:
(a) Ability tests, the purpose of which is to assess the general mental ability of the candidate, hi
memory, response to problems, and power of logic. This in turn could be sub divided as;
 General intelligence test: the device of measuring mind,
 Unit trait system: a process of identifying for example, perception, memory, reasoning ability,
and comprehension,
 Social intelligence test: devised to measure the quality of adaptability to kinds of new
situations and ability to influence people,
 Administrative ability test: devised to test the ability of a candidate to appraise people,
capacity to make prompt decision, etc.

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 Mechanical intelligence test: used to test the ability of thee mechanical performance of lower
level grades,
(b) Aptitude tests, which are meant to test particular aptitude of the candidate towards the job,
(c) Achievement tests, which are meant to the standard academic qualifications laid down for
recruitment to various services,
(d) Personality tests, devised to measure, for example, emotion and temperament, confidence and
sociability, qualities of ascendance and submission, hidden traits,
2. Oral interview is the commonest, least complex, and inexpensive method of personnel recruitment
test, which is also known as "viva voce". This test, however, is not entirely free from bias and
subjectivity, hence usually supplemented by written test.
4.2.3. Training
Training is another crucial task in personnel management (administration). The terms training and
education are often used as if they are synonymous. But they are not, and an understanding of the
differences between them is important to understand the training process in organizations. Both
training and education are processes, which help people to learn, but they differ in orientation and
objectives. Attwood and Dimmock (1996:96) simply described:
 Training as "...oriented towards the needs of the organization, specific to the employee's work
situation, aimed at making workers more effective in their jobs, relatively short in timescale, and
often fairly narrow in content".
 Education as "...oriented to the needs of the individual, more abstract in nature, geared to the
needs of the individual and to the society generally, generally a long-term process in terms of
timescale, and widely drawn in content".
In the words of Basu, training is the systematic imposition of skilled knowledge to all categories of
civil servants for their advancement and efficiency in service. The training of civil servants has got
special significance today, and an indication of this is the gradual proliferation of training programs
and institutions to train public servants in many countries.

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The general conception of training is a mixture of many elements. For example, training means
imparting of specialized knowledge of facts and their interrelationships; or teaching of techniques that
require the coordinated handling of tools, appliances and physical faculties; or the formation of mental
and physical habit patterns to ensure automatic responses to work efficiency.
Because of the increasing importance of training, many countries have adopted training policy.
Training policies must be supportive of organizational policies and goals. To ensure the effectiveness
of the organization's workforce, the training function is suggested to be acquainted with or involved
with the strategic planning process. Training, as one of the personnel administration activity, should be
receded by a training need assessment and analysis and should be conducted on a continuous basis.
4.2.4. Performance Appraisal
The term "performance appraisal" implies the process of valuing the employee's worth to the
organization, with a view to increasing it. In other words, performance appraisal is the evaluation of
the performance of the employee against agreed upon standards. Management's objectives in
performance appraisal may include:
 To help improve current performance,
 To set objectives for individual performance,
 To assess training and development needs,
 To assess future potential for promotion,
 To give employees feedback on their performances,
 To counsel employees for career opportunities,
 To rate employees' performance for salary review purposes,
 To encourage managers to think carefully about the general factors that influence the
performance of their employees, including their own leadership style and behavior
There are different types of appraisal systems. These may include: personality-based (trait-based)
appraisal, performance-based (result-based) appraisal, and critical incident appraisal methods.

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(a) Trait-based or personality-based performance appraisal system largely depends on the judgments
of managers about their subordinates on such dimensions or personality characteristics as
intelligence, initiative or loyalty. In this appraisal system, the roots of prejudice tend to be very
close to the surface. The appraisal criteria involved in this system are more of behavioral,
personality related rather than actual job performance. Further, the appraised person may not
have the chance for feedback since evaluation results will be kept confidential in most cases.
(b) Result-oriented or performance-based appraisal system concentrates on the actual performance of

an employee measured on the basis of agreed upon plans between the manager and subordinate,
and specific objectives or performance targets. In other words, this method focuses on specific
outcomes achieved as a result of job performed by employees as measured by predetermined
success criteria. It is also more transparent, hence provides an opportunity for subordinates to get
feedback about how their result has been rated. Many experienced practitioners argue that result-
based appraisal is more objective and effective.
(c) Critical incident appraisal system is more of an ideal type, hence seldom used in practice. It refers
to the rating of an employee when he/she produces an extra-ordinary result that might not be part
of the plan in the normal task job. In this system, employees will be rewarded only if they show
exceptional performance other than their normal duty for which they are paid regular salaries or
wages.
4.2.5. Promotion
A sound promotion system is of vital importance for the continued efficiency of the public service.
Promotion in the words of White implies "an appointment from a given position to a position of higher
grade, involving a change of duties to a more difficult type of work and greater responsibility
accompanied by change in title and usually an increase in pay".
Promotion is a reward to an employee, which entails a change in position and status in the
organizational hierarchy and pay scale. A system of graded promotions is essential to help build morale

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and efficiency of employees. Unless the organization has adequate promotional avenues, it will not be
able to attract talented people towards it.
A proper promotion system helps to retain the services of the ablest amongst its employees and also in
giving them opportunity to improve their capabilities and qualifications. It is thus useful to the
employee individually as well as to the administration as a whole. But to improve the morale and
efficiency of administration, a promotion system must be based on the principles of equity and fair pay.
Unjust prejudice, favoritism, corruption, or bias on the part of the promoting officer, by pushing up
unqualified employees are some of the factors that affect the establishment of sound promotion system.
Willoughby outlined the following conditions as the basis of a promotion system:

 Adoption of standard specifications setting forth the duties and qualifications required for all
promotions in the organization,
 The classification of these positions into sub-classes, series, grades and services,
 The adoption of principle of merit in determining the selection of employees for promotion,
 The provision of adequate means for determining the relative merits of employees eligible for
promotion.
All types of civil services lay down certain eligibility criteria or principles for promotion to all grades.
In most instances, two main principles have been fixed for promotion:
1. The seniority Principle: this principle is widely prevalent in government services as a method
of promotion in most countries. This principle is automatic, and avoids the need for making invidious
distinctions among persons. It is greatly followed in the public service everywhere since it is objective
and easy. It greatly eliminates chances for favoritism and corruption. It also reduces unhealthy rivalry
in the organization thereby promotes harmony and increased morale.
However, this system has its flaws. It doesn't necessarily lead to the selection of the best performer
who is eligible for promotion. It leads to demoralization and non-complacency in service. This system
encourages only mediocrity (weakness).

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2. Merit principle: this system ensures that the best person is promoted to the higher post based on
specified criteria alone. This would encourage hard work, and efficiency, reward talent and increase
morale in the service. However, this system is criticized for being greatly subjective, making it
susceptible to all kinds of pressure and prejudice. It often leads to unhealthy rivalry and causes
considerable ill-will among those who may miss for promotion.
4.2.6. Some Issues in Personnel Administration
(A) Civil Service Neutrality
The theory of the neutrality of the civil services was developed in England to maintain the continuity of
the civil service within the unstable political system due to periodic elections and the resultant change
of government. Career administrators perform mainly the following functions:
(i) Execution of laws and government decisions,

(ii) Providing expert guidance, information and managerial assistance to the political executive,
(iii) Maintaining the continuity of administration
(iv) Helping the political executive to understand the probable consequences of alternative courses
of action,
Unlike the political appointee, such as a minister, a career official is professional in administrative
affairs and enjoys a permanent tenure, and is expected to be non-partisan and politically neutral.
Political neutrality of the civil service is an essential complement to the merit system (in recruitment
and promotion of personnel). Political neutrality means not only the absence of political activity or bias
on the part of civil servants, but also that they will serve every government that comes to power
irrespective of its part affiliations.
The main reason for the advocacy of civil service neutrality is that the civil servant can serve the
changing governments drawn from different parties with the same vigor and honesty. Since the
execution is the task of the civil servants, any commitment other than to the goals and objectives
allotted to them will defeat the very purpose for which they exist. Apart from the rights of civil servant

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in voting, if they engage in partisan politics their role as an impartial advisor would be seriously
impaired in the eyes of the public.
The issue of civil service neutrality doesn't mean differences in goals or objectives with that of the
political appointee. Rather, if the administration is to work efficiently and smoothly and the
government objectives to be achieved successfully, the political executive (for example, the minister)
and the civil servant must work in close cooperation and harmony.
The basic assumptions behind the concept of bureaucratic neutrality are that it seeks to reflect the merit
system in those systems where the concept is recognized in the behavior of the bureaucrat, and that the
advantages of permanency, continuity, reliability, and professionalism far outweigh the disadvantages,
conservatism, reluctance, to depart from to accommodate change.
These assumptions are, however, refused in modern times in all political systems- including Western
democracies where such ideas originated. Therefore, the only acceptable connotation of the doctrine of
civil service neutrality seems to be an idea of non-partisanship and impartiality in the sense that they
shouldn't carry on their operations in any political considerations.
In other words, the traditional concept of civil service neutrality is undergoing a change this time,
particularly in developing countries because of the impact of many factors. An important factor bearing
on this question is the pivotal roles civil servants are being called upon to play in developing countries.
The successful implementation of developmental tasks on the part of administrators, require not only
qualities of initiatives and leadership but also emotional and intellectual commitment to the social
welfare values adhered to by the state as well.
The relevance of the classical theory of neutrality has often been come to be questioned for the
following reasons:
(a) The process of policy decision-making is no longer confined to the political executive; it
trickles down or percolates through the entire structure or makeup of the government resulting

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in the inescapable items of delegation that let administrators to make bylaws or sub-policy
decisions.
(b) In the context of large-scale welfare governments, neutrality is neither possible nor desirable.
A certain commitment to the goals and objectives of the state is inescapable in the face of the
civil servant-neutrality cannot be allowed to degenerate into disinterestedness.
(c) In the sphere of policy advice and execution, modern bureaucracy takes an active part.
(d) As a human being, civil servant cannot be psychologically neutral on issues and problems,
which confront them.
(B) The Generalist-Specialist Controversy
The generalist-specialist classification of civil servants is mainly implemented mainly in those

countries, which follow the British model of civil service administration. It means the dichotomy of
the civil service into a "higher administrative class and subordinate technical services", making
subordination of the specialist to the generalist.
A generalist is a public servant who has no specialized background and who can be moved to any
department or branch of administration. The generalist is well versed in the procedures of
administration and generally performs POSDCORB functions. In some instances, a generalist officer is
understood as one with a liberal college education and, after some training, appointed to a middle level
supervisory post, which doesn't call for any compulsory technical qualification.
The specialist on the other hand is one who has special knowledge or skill in a particular field such as a
doctor, an engineer, a technician, etc. This may include not only services discharging a technical
function based on a pre-entry vocational training, but also those which after entry specialize in
particular areas of administration requiring no pre-entry vocational training. The specialized services
are also called "functional services". The generalist occupies the superior position, which comprises the
policy-making levels.

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The specialist or technical officer is also the incumbent of a supervisory position, which calls for
specialized skills and for which a technical or professional qualification is laid down. The field
positions manned by specialist group are headed by members of the specialist group.
(C) Integrity in Public Administration
The problem of administrative corruption is perhaps as old as administration itself, but the problem of
public accountability is as old as the theory and practice of democratic administration. The enormous
expansion of the government bureaucracy, touching all aspects of the citizens' live, has brought the
problem of effective public checks and control on public administration to the forefront.
The expansion of governmental tasks results in the multiplications of the volume of work where
administrative power and discretion are vested at different levels of the governmental hierarchy.
Accompanying this is that where there is power and discretion, there is always the possibility of abuse.
Executive discretion, delegated legislation, and administrative adjudication are vitally connected with
problem of public accountability of administration. The problem of administrative malpractices is a
universal phenomenon with different degree and form of existence.
Studies undertaken in many countries, particularly in those developing ones, indicate that there are vast
spheres of administrative actions in which the bureaucracy can exercise discretionary authority without
being accountable to citizens in case of abuse of authority. Statutory powers have been given to all
types of bureaucrats with ample scope of harassment, corruption, indulgence in malpractices, and so
on, by the misbehaving (errant) individuals.
In the democracies of the West, however, there are many informal agencies of public control over
administration like political parties, pressure groups, press, and public opinion, which by their
vigilance and initiative can manage to exert powerful influence and act as a check against
administrative excesses. Nevertheless, recent trends in the world administrative system, including in
developing countries, have showed encouraging responses through the establishment of institutional
devices to fight against such administrative excesses. The most common institutional devices are the
following:

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(i) Administrative Courts or Tribunals: the French system of administrative courts set up to deal
with disputes between the administration and the individual citizens is a unique device that has been
adopted by many other countries. But, a distinction is made between the acts that government servants
perform in their personal capacity and official capacity. Administrative courts can be used to settle the
later type of acts. Members of the courts are civil servants with thorough knowledge of administrative
processes.
The administrative court exercises general supervision over administration and possess ultimate
authority over all disciplinary matters concerning civil servants. Decisions in these courts are taken as
promptly as possible and are much less expensive than in the other ordinary courts. The gradual spread
of this institutional device to many countries is a growing proof of its efficiency and popularity as a
device for prompt settlement of citizens' grievances.
This method has been practiced in Ethiopia since 1962 with the establishment of the "Central Personnel
Agency-CPA", in its former name. One of the strongest departments that existed within the structure of
CPA was the "Administrative Tribunal" that has been dealing in the settlement of such matters
mentioned earlier, specially disputes arising between employer public service organizations
(administrations) and their employees. Decisions made by the "Administrative Tribunal" has been also
respected as final. The court also currently exists in the Federal Civil Service Commission-FCSC",
which was formerly known as CPA with in fact reduced jurisdictional power as compared to what it
had previously.
(ii) The Procurator: the procurator system, which originated in the USSR, has now spread to many
other countries, especially in countries of East Europe. It is an important institutional mechanism for
redressing citizens' grievances and ensuring observance of legality at all levels of the administration.
The procurator is in charge of many functions including prosecution of crimes, supervision over
legality in the activity of the investigating agencies, judicial sentences and judgments, and legality of
the execution of sentences. However, its most significant function is that of "general supervision".

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(iii) The Ombudsman: is a Swedish word that stands for an officer appointed by the legislature to
handle complaints against administrative and judicial action. It is a typical Scandinavian institution for
redressing citizens' grievances, which has aroused worldwide interest. It has been adopted in North
European countries. Although the political system of these countries may vary, they have common
interest in the democratization of public administration and finding ways and means for establishing an
effective system of public accountability and control over the administrative apparatus at all levels.
The Ombudsman is established as an instrument of the parliament for the supervision and control of the
administration. In investigating of complaints, the Ombudsman has free access to all the files of the
administration and can demand explanations from the officials or authorities concerned. Ombudsman
can investigate all cases of administrative malpractices and improper use of authority, complaints
against administrative decisions or actions as well as complaints of inefficiency and negligence.
4.3.FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION
4.3.1. Meaning of Financial administration
Financial administration is the management of the finance of a state or of a public authority endowed
with taxing and spending powers. Sound Financial administration is vital to the success of any
organization. Efficiency and economy are the two watchwords (mottos) of public finance. Financial
administration seeks to arise, spend and account for the funds need for public expenditure.
Financial administration involves the activities of four agencies: the Executive, which needs and
spends the funds; the Legislature, which grants the funds and appropriates them to particular agencies;
the Finance Ministry, which controls the expenditure; and the Audit, which sits in judgment over the
way in which the funds have been spent. All these agencies have their own role in financial
administration.
4.3.2. Sources of Public Finance

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The main sources of finance in most governments are taxes, print money, borrowing, sales of assets,
user charges and fees. The method of government financial administration affects the economic
situation of a nation.
Taxes are the main sources of public finance or revenues. Taxes are defined as involuntary or
compulsory payments associated with certain activities of physical or legal persons without explicit
relationship. Taxes could also be further divided as direct and indirect. The difference between direct
and indirect taxes is that the later is paid in connection to production, consumption, imports or exports.
Whereas, direct taxes are levied on employed, self-employed and owners of partnerships.
An indirect tax can be general like Value Added Tax (VAT), or specific tax on certain goods and
services like excise tax. It can also be levied on imported goods, such as customs duties. Indirect taxes
can be levied to counteract the external effects of consumption and production, in addition to its aim of
generating public finance. Revenues from indirect taxation are not in general earmarked transfers, and
are used to finance public expenditure, investments and public transfers.
4.3.3. Budget
In public administration, the term "budget" refers to a financial document, which is annually placed
before the legislature by the executive, giving a complete statement regarding the government revenues
and expenditure of the past financial year and an estimate of the same for the next financial year.
However, it should be noted that there is unanimity in the definition of the term "budget" among
different writers. Despite differences in defining the term, most people agree that the budget is the
keystone of financial administration and the various operations in the field of public finance are
correlated through the instrument of the budget.
Budget is generally, an instrument of financial administration, and for the analysis of a government
policy in financial administration. A budget is a financial report of statement and proposals are
periodically placed before the legislature for its approval and/or sanction. It is a balanced estimate of
expenditures and receipts (revenues) for a given period of time. For the administrator, the budget is a

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record of past performance, a method of current control, and a projection of future requirements or
plans.
Budgeting is aimed at gathering legislative support for government proposals. It is an attempt to

allocate financial resources through a political process. It reflects an organization's goals and
aspirations and its policies and proposals to realize them. The real significance of the budget lies in
providing orderly administration of the financial affairs of a government. The conventional pattern of
government budgeting serves the sole purpose of fiscal accountability and is merely a document for
parliamentary control of the financial operations of a government.
4.3.4. Features of a Budget
(A) Line-Item Budgeting: is simply listed categories (line-items) of expenditure such as salary,
overtime pay, postage, fuel and oil, office supplies, and so forth. However, presentation of items of
budgets could be aggregated into broad categories as operating (recurrent) and capital budgets. Such
presentations of a budget gives some room for administrators to make a budget transfer from one
category of budget to the other. Line item budgets are relatively easy to use and understand, and are
attractive to the legislative officials. They are uniform, comprehensive and exact.
Line-item budget is effective from the view point of public accountability. Nevertheless, with the
massive increase of public investment and expenditure for development, reforming the traditional
concept of accountability-based budgeting becomes a prime concern in the modern age. Apart from its
simplicity, line item budgeting has little power to serve as a means of ensuring economy, efficiency
and effectiveness. With the recognition of the limitations of the line item budgeting, adoption of
performance budgeting became essential.
(B) Performance Budgeting:
Most of the shortcomings of line item budgets were sought to be removed by the performance budget, a
new concept in financial administration that first originated and developed in the USA. Performance
budgeting is a financial document that seeks the implementation of government programs through

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budget allocation. As an operational instrument, it is done by presenting government operations in the

form of projects, programs, activities and functions for which there is managerial responsibility.
Through such a functional classification governmental financial operations, public policies are sought
to be identified in the annual budget in concrete physical terms in order to identify the direct interaction
between inputs and outputs and to clearly review state performance through cost overheads. The
concept of performance budget, also known as program budget, sets in advance the targets of the
authorizations against which performances of governmental departments can be assessed periodically.
Performance (program) budgeting serves as a basis for efficiency and work measurement qualitatively
and quantitatively. It shifts the emphasis from the means of achievement to achievement itself. The
difference between line item budgeting and performance budgeting can be seen as:
 A line item budget shows, for example, how many clerks will be hired, how much money will
be spent for travel, how much will go for printing, for stationery and so on. The plans are
based on these line items; the information has to do with the things used.
 The program budget starts with the work to be done, the costs of various units, the purpose of
travel, and the ends to be served by printing or supplies. The program plans are set in terms
of the jobs to be accomplished; the controls are related to responsible management, the
information tells what work is being or will be done in relation to what was authorized in
the past.
The preparation of performance budgeting involves several processes. It is prepared in functional

categories, such as agriculture, health, education, industry, etc. Each functional category is divided into
"programs", for instance health may be divided into primary health, child health, and public health.
Each program is divided again into activities (a collection of similar types of works in a program), and
further divided into "projects". The entire budgetary process of a program (performance) budget entails
certain steps:
(a) The first step is to indicate the organizational structure of the agency and the objectives of that
agency,

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(b) The second step is to draw up a financial requirements table that seeks to make a tabular
presentation of the budgetary needs of the organization consisting of mainly three elements; i.e.
a program and activity classification, objective-wise classification, and sources of financing.
(c) The third step consists in providing an explanation of the financial requirements. The purpose
of this explanation is to provide some indicators that are capable of reflecting the performance
aspects of the organization.
Performance budgeting has a number of merits. It serves many useful purposes and corrects many
shortcomings of the line item budgeting. It is becoming increasingly popular as a tool of financial
management and policy in modern financial administration. In general:
 It makes possible to establish identifiable linkages between policy and performance, inputs
and outputs,
 It would improve the budgetary processes and related fiscal policy-making coupled with the
analysis of actual governmental performance,
 It would help to evolve a better system of financial accountability and legislative control,
 It would facilitate the process of audit of governmental operations,
 It would make effective result-oriented assessment of the long-term development policies of
the government,
 It would help to eliminate waste and inefficiency in the financial transactions of the
government, to be more developmental-oriented.
 It fixes responsibility very precisely, and gives a clear picture of revenue and expenditure
alternatives.
Performance budgeting has also its own limitations and difficulties. The adoption of performance
budgeting imposes a lot of initial difficulties especially in countries where the traditional form of
budgeting has been continuing for long. The main limitations of this system are:
 Government performance is not always easily quantifiable and may not have clear visible
results; for example law and order is a government activity whose result or performance
cannot be objectively measured,

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 The difficulty relates to the lack of cost-accounts. Many assets of the government agencies
cannot be accounted for in terms of unit costs,
 A problem in adopting the performance of budgetary procedures is the arduous (tough) task
of linking accounting heads with development heads,
As mentioned earlier, four organs of government exercises financial control in a parliamentary

democracy- the Legislature, the Government (executive), the Finance Ministry, and the Audit
Department. In particular, audit would be the most effective means of financial control since it is an
integral part of the parliamentary control of public finance. It is external control over administration,
which seeks accountability to the parliament. Auditing is a quasi-judicial function and a combination of
the two is incongruous (incompatible).
CHAPTER QUESTIONS
1. Discuss in brief manner the major areas of public administration

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CHAPTER FIVE
CONTROL SYSTEMS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
INTRODUCTION
In all the political systems of the world, there are three arms of government – the Legislature, the
Executive and the Judiciary. These are respectively the rule making, rule application and rule
adjudication organs of government. In this unit, you will be introduced to the organs of government,
the three arms of government. We will also describe and analyze the functions of the three arms
of government we shall identify the reasons behind the declining power of legislature.
Chapter objectives
At the end of this Unit, students should be able to:
 Explain what an organ of government is

 Describe the three organs of government – Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary
 Analyse the functions of these organs in the present dispensation
 Identify the reason behind the declining power of the legislature
 State and explain the impact of military decrees in public administration.
5.1. The Legislature
The Legislature is usually elected body which has the primary responsibility of making laws for the
whole society. Although practically everywhere, the universal duty of the legislative body is law
making, yet it does more than simply write laws.
5.1.1. The Legislative Control of Public Administration
The legislature is that arm of government whose responsibility is to make laws for the entire country

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or state or local government as the case may be. Apart from law making, the legislature also acts as a
check on the activities of the other arms of government. Since administration involves the
implementation of public policies and laws made by the legislature, there is the need for the legislature
to exercise control over such implementation. This is to ensure that these policies or laws are being
implemented as intended.
The major reason behind this is to avoid and prevent tyranny, autocracy and maladministration. It
also allows for good government that will meet the yearnings and aspirations of the populace. Though
public administration theorists support the claim for administrative independence from detailed
legislative controls, the massive growth in the size of government and its extended powers over all the
citizenry has necessitated legislative intrusion in details of administration. Such controls run into the
particulars of policy formulated and to its manner of implementation and not just its general shape.
Legislative control of administration is through three (3) devices.
First is legislative evaluation. This device occurs after an administrative action has taken place. This is
to determine whether the intention equals the outcome. The second is what is known as legislative
vetoes that influences pending administrative actions. The third is the legislative authorization that
permits the legislature to shape government administrative policies, prior to their initiations.
Self Assessment Exercise:
Name and explain the three devices used by the legislature to control administration.
5.1.2. Legislative Powers and Functions
The legislature constitutes the chief organ of popular government. Their major powers and functions
include:
Statute-Making

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The main role of the legislatures all over the world is statute or law making. In the process of
governance, they examine and discuss in details bills on various subjects that are brought before them.
They can repeal, alter or add to the provisions of existing laws and make them applicable to changing
conditions.
Control of Administration
In many countries, the most important function of the legislature is the control it exercises over the
administrative authorities. Since most existing departments and other administrative agencies were
created by the legislature, it may alter or abolish them at will. It may grant them generous or little or
no money at all.
Secondly, the legislature must ratify treatises and approve appointments to important state
offices before they become effective. It also has the power to discipline members of the
executive or any administrative officer by impeachment, by address or by voting due to lack of
confidence. Such control is necessary to check the abuse of office and excesses of the government,
thereby enhancing individual liberty.
Electoral
Most democratic legislatures play a significant role in selecting public officials. An example could
be seen in parliamentary dispensation where the prime minister is elected by the legislature.
These legislatures do not always, of course, directly cast ballots for various candidates for the
office, yet every time one votes on a question of confidence, it is, in effect re- electing or defeating the
incumbent prime minister. Even in presidential democracies, the legislatures have some electoral
powers. The constitution of the United States provides that, when no candidate for president or
vice-president receives a majority of electoral votes the House of Representatives (each state
casting one vote) will choose the president from among the top three candidates.
Financial
The legislatures also hold what is known as financial power. The legislature determines the nature

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and amount of taxes and how public money should be spent, and only as a result of legislative
appropriations.
Executive
In addition to acting upon executive budgets, most democratic legislatures also pass upon certain other
executive proposals. International treatises are negotiated by the executives but must be approved the
legislatures before they become effective. In the United States of America and the 1979 Constitution
of Nigeria, presidential appointments are only provisional until approved by the majority of the
senate.
Judicial
Some democratic legislatures also perform judicial functions. This is done through the instrument
of impeachment.
Investigative
The legislatures of most democratic nations perform investigative functions. Legislative committees
are set up for the purpose of digging up information desired by the legislators. These committees hold
hearings, subpoena witnesses, keep records and correspondence and often submit reports to the
legislatures. In the United States the Watergate Scandal investigations are good examples of
congressional investigations.
Constitutional
The legislatures in most democratic systems have certain powers over the establishment and
amendment of their nation’s constitutions. Many constitutions were originally drawn up by the
legislative bodies, and every legislature is authorized to play some role in formal amendments.
Representation

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The legislature is the very essence of representative government. Law making has often been treated
as the method of expressing the sovereign will of the whole political community. In a number of
nations, provisions are made for submitting certain legislative proposals to popular referendum, so that
there can be no mistake about what the majority of the people or electoral desires. The legislature
may be considered a mechanism for achieving some form of representation. A legislature,
more than any other government institution, includes among its members, individuals representing the
broadcast range of interest and wide range of viewpoints.
Interest Articulation and Aggregation
The legislature might be viewed as one of the areas in which conflict occurs, or as a forum in which
demands made by different interests are identified, exposed and communicated. Demands and
interests by various groups in society can be articulated within the context of a national legislature.
Once interests and demands are articulated, the legislature can play an important role in aggregating
them. Aggregation means some efforts of reconciliation and compromise.
Supervision, Scrutiny and Surveillance
Legislatures serve as an overseer of the executive on behalf of the general public. The supervisory
function of the legislative extends to public institutions established by the legislature such as public
corporations, local authorities or activities which are supported by public funds. The legislature may
supervise the operation of such institutions to see if it is meeting the goals set forth for it, if the funds
are being well spent and if the operation is being performed within the limits prescribed for it. A
popular instrument of surveillance is the parliamentary commissioner or ombudsman. An
ombudsman is an officer of the legislature. Generally, his purpose is to investigate complaints
about the behavior of administrative officials.
Educating and Informing the Public
The last but not the least is the function which occurs in legislative debates, committee hearings and

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elections and during the period between elections when legislators attempt to maintain ties with their
constituents by interpreting major issues in newsletters, in television and radio talks and through
visiting their constituencies. Legislatives are thus forums for educating the people about the activities
of government. The media coverage given to legislative debates and answers provided to
questions raised by the opposition enable the broader pubic to learn about what is going on in the
polity.
5.1.3. Typology of Legislatures
Legislatures are classified according to the number of chambers. There are two main types:
unicameral and bicameral.
5.1.3.1.Unicameral Legislatures
Unicameral legislature is one made up of only one chamber and usually composed of members who
are directly elected by the electorate. Examples of unicameral legislatures include Greece, Turkey,
Bulgaria, Israel, Denmark and New Zealand.
Countries adopt unicameral legislatures due to certain factors. They work well in small countries with
homogenous, social and economic organizations. The structure is simple and definitely locates
responsibility. Here, legislations are easily passed into law without delay unlike bicameral
legislatures. Unicameral legislatures are less costly to maintain. The financial burden of paying
salaries and allowances to members of the second chamber is removed. But at times unicameralism is
often frowned at due to certain factors.
The factors in favour of unicameralism rest on the supposed demerits of bicameralism and conversely,
factors opposed to it are the assumed advantages of bicameralism.
Concretely, the virtues of checks and balances and the lessened likelihood that the two houses could be
subject to a demagogue, are absent in the single-chamber legislature. Also, in a state with many
conflicting interests, it is often impossible to provide a formula for representation in a single house.
5.1.3.2.Bicameral Legislatures

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This type of legislature has two chambers: the upper and the lower house or the upper or lower
chambers. Examples of bicameral legislatures include Nigeria, United States, Canada, Britain and
India.
The lower chambers are made up of members elected in direct elections on the basis of universal, equal
and secret suffrage. Usually members of the upper chambers belong to an older age group and are
more experienced in public affairs than members of the lower house.
The upper house is in the main hereditary, but this is not applicable in the case of Nigeria as every
member of the Senate or House of Representatives are periodically elected.
Certain merits are likely to be attached to bicameralism. Here, two houses are less likely than one
to be carried away by the excitement of the moment or the influence of a demagogue. In
bicameralism there is greater likelihood of temperate and deliberate discussion resulting in
balanced equitable careful legislation. It checks upon hasty passages of laws by a single
chamber. It is a safeguard against the despotism of a single chamber. The bicameral system is a
bulwark of individual freedom against the tyranny of a legislature made up of a single interest.
In federal states, the second chamber affords an opportunity for equal representation of units. It
enables the use of the people of political and administrative experience and ability without necessarily
subjecting them to the rigorous process of electioneering.
Bicameralism allows the special representation of certain interests in a country. Thus, apart from
regional representation different interests, socio-economic, traditional and aristocratic are given special
representation in the second chamber. Such representation may serve to secure national unity.
The existence of two chambers allows a division of labour through the assignment of certain minor
matters to one house or the other. Despite the several advantages of bicameralism, there are certain
arguments against it.
The two houses are often deadlocked, preventing or delaying the business of legislation
especially during the period of emergency. A typical example can be seen in the Nigerian National
Assembly on the issue of constitution review where the House of Representative that wants to assume

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equal status with the Senate which is often regarded as the upper house of upper legislative chamber.
Bicameralism encourages unhealthy competition between the two houses which may lead to the
paralysis in the process of governance.
Apart from the above mentioned, it is expensive to run. The financial burden of maintaining two
houses is considered an unnecessary waste of resources. There is also the issue of duplication of
efforts as both houses seek independently to obtain the same information and as both debate on the
same “question.”
The operation of a cabinet system of government may become almost impossible where either house
can cause a cabinet to fall just by voting “lack of confidence” in the government.
Bicameralism may breed political instability of government.
If membership is by nomination it can be used as a dumping ground for those who were rejected at the
polls by the electorate.
5.1.4. Legislative-Executive Relations
In most nations, the legislature exercises some degree of control and influence over the
executive. Legislatures in parliamentary system of government influence the decision making process
of the executive during the “question period.” Law makers are provided the opportunity to question
members of the government on many points of policy administration.
In presidential system of administration, the legislature may influence the executive by delaying or
disapproving presidential nominations to high offices. Thus the powers of the legislature to approve
certain presidential appointments and ratify treatises negotiated by the president, provides an
opportunity for the legislature to influence the policy of the executive.
In parliamentary-cabinet systems of government, members of the cabinet are chosen from the
legislature. The prime minister and his cabinet are collectively responsible to the legislature. Even

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in presidential systems where the executive is chosen outside the legislature, the executive still depends
upon the support of the legislature since all executive policies need its approval to become effective.
The success and stability of the executives in both systems of government depends significantly upon
the continuous mutual cooperation and understanding between the legislature and the executive. A
hostile legislature can frustrate the execution of executive programme.
The issue of financing government projects rests squarely on the shoulders of the legislature.
Legislatures in most countries debate on the appropriation bill before the President or the Prime
Ministry assents it to become a budget. Legislatures in most countries authorize the raising and
spending of the money by the executive. Financial control is a traditional weapon in the hands of the
legislature in seeking to exercise some control and influence over governmental policies. If the
legislature refuses to appropriate money, the executive cannot prosecute designated programmes.
There is also the investigative function of the executive. The legislature can launch
investigations into the conduct of administrative activities and into the personal conduct of and lives
of members of the executive. These investigations may be carried out by committees of the legislature.
The abuse of executive powers can be checked by the investigatory power of the legislature.
Moreover, parliamentary executives can be defeated by the legislature through ensure motion or vote
of no confidence in the executive. This system is designed to keep the executive closely in tune with
the desires of the voters and a majority of their representatives in the legislature. There is also the issue
of impeachments. The executive can be impeached and removed from office on being found guilty of
an impeachable offence by the parliament.
5.1.5. The Declining Power of the Legislature
The legislatures in most countries have declined while the executive continues to arrogate more powers
to itself. In most democratic nations, the legislatures have largely lost their traditional policy-initiating
role and have become checkers, revisors, and critics olicies initiated by the executives. What are
the probable factors responsible to the declining fortunes of the executives?

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First and foremost is the growing volume and complexity of problems requiring public policy
intervention. The legislative bodies cannot cope with the increasing governmental functions, because
of its size, limited time ad processes of decision making.
Secondly, there is the erosion of legislative functions by the executive when there is the need for the
exercise of the emergency powers by the executive.
Some legislatures lack technical expertise. Since most bills are technically in nature, most members
of the legislature do not understand them and are, therefore, unfit to participate effectively in
the legislative processes. There is also the lack of adequate time to devote to discussion of
legislature bills.
Lastly the limitation imposed on the powers of the legislature that influences it includes the activities
of pressure groups, public opinion and the growth of disciplined political parties.
5.2.The Executive
The executive arm of government is that organ whose sole responsibility is mainly to implement rules
and regulations as necessitated by the legislature, the law making arm of government. Those who
apply the authoritative rules and policies of a society are called the political executives. This
arm of government gives effect to the will of state by carrying out or executing the law of the land
being constitutions, statutes, decrees and treatise as the case may be.
A Chief Executive is invested with the executive power and are assisted by the ministries extra-
ministerial departments. In modern times those officials generally called “Executives” perform two
distinct principal roles.
The first here is the chief-of-state. Here, he or she is acting as the nation’s official ceremonial head
and spokesman for the entire political entity. Secondly, he or she is referred to as the “Head of
Government” acting as the leader of office holders who propose, direct and enforce the nation’s public
policies. In a parliamentary system of government each role is performed by distinctly different

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officials or groups of officials whereas in the presidential system both are performed by the same
official.
5.2.1. Executive Powers and Functions
The executive arm of government derives its powers mainly from the country’s constitution and the
laws that may be reviewed by the judiciary. Their major functions includes that of law enforcement,
the execution of administrative policy, the conduct of foreign affairs, the control of armed forces and
the authority to grant pardon and amnesty to offenders against the state.
The powers of the executive are enormous. Its discretionary authority is very great. It must not
merely execute laws, but must take action on many matters not covered by law. The executive
branch of government is responsible for much of the planning of the modern state. In reality, the
executive is the active force in any government. But these enormous powers conferred on the
executive can be grouped under the legislative, administrative and judicial.
Administrative Functions
The major function of the executive here is that of coordinating and controlling the
administration of the state; direction and supervision of the execution of law.
The power to nominate individuals and sending them to the senate for screening before their
appointments; the executive is also in control of the armed forces. These include the supreme
command of the army, navy and the air force. In some states, the chief executive has the power to
declare and prosecute war.
They also conduct foreign relations. The executive in every state is charged with conducting
relations with other states. At his discretion the chief executive appoints, instructs and controls the
activities of ambassadors, ministers, consuls and other foreign-service officers. He/she may dismiss
the ambassador of a foreign state by recalling his or her own ambassador. He determines the direction
of the country’s foreign policy and also sends representatives to international assembles and
conferences. He/she has the power to negotiate binding treatise with foreign countries.

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Legislative Functions
The executive recommends and initiates bills for the consideration of the legislature. The
executive exercises suspensive veto of bills. They delegate legislation which is power to issue
statutory orders and rules under the power vested on t by the legislature. Such power is
necessary to meet the changing circumstances of modern day exigencies.
There is also the power of summoning, proroguing and dissolution of the legislatures especially in
parliamentary systems.
Judicial
The last but not the least is the judicial functions. The chief executive has the power to issue pardons
for offences against the state either before or after trial and conviction. Such a pardon either releases
a person from the legal consequences of a crime or remits the penalties imposed. The chief executive
may reduce a sentence or by a reprieve, delay its execution. Also he may issue a proclamation of
amnesty whereby a specifically described class of persons is freed from the legal consequences of
their actions.
5.2.2. Typology of Executives
In the ancient time, most heads of kingdoms as they were then known, were either hereditary
monarchs, although some were absolutes monarch in the sense that they wielded legislative,executive
as well as judicial powers.
Today, most executive have drastically curtailed their powers.
Most nations have been replaced with constitutional monarchies or “Limited Monarchies.” In
constitutional monarchies, government is formally conducted in the monarch’s name. The
British Queen is a typical example as she opens and dissolves parliament; gives her assent to all acts
of parliament before they become law and appoints ministers.
Despite all these assumed functions in parliamentary system of government, the real executive power

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is vested in the cabinet headed by the Prime Minister. Constitutional monarchs then are chiefs of state
who perform symbolic and ceremonial functions.
But with increasing civilization, some nations have entirely abolished their monarchies and
replaced them with republic regimes formally headed by elected officials called President.
There are three (3) types of executives:
• Parliamentary and Non-Parliamentary Executives;

• Titular and Real Executives; and
• Single and Collegial Executives.
Parliamentary and Non-Parliamentary Executives
We have what is known as Parliamentary Executive when an Executive normally referred to as the
Prime Minister is elected in the parliament and not directly by the electorate. This is the case of
Britain. The Prime Minister holds on to office only as long as it commands majority in the
parliament. Then Presidential system is where the executives are chosen independently of the
legislature and holding office for a fixed term.
A presidential system of government is an outstanding example of the non-parliamentary executive.

Here all executive powers, subject to a few limitations are vested in a single chief executive which is
the president, who exercises wide constitutional and discretionary powers. He/she is elected for a
fixed term and except in the case of some definite crime being judicially proved against him, he
cannot be removed before the expiration o his term of office. However, both the parliamentary and
presidential executives have their good and bad points.
Titular and Real Executives
The titular executives are heads of states who serve as emblems of national unit. They perform solely
symbolic and ceremonial functions, thus relieving the real executives from numerous public
engagements and thereby enabling them to concentrate upon the solution of governmental problems.

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The titular heads of state have the right to be informed and consulted about public issues by the heads
of government who are the real executives. The real executive is the head of government who
performs the day-to-day business of government.
In parliamentary system of government, the real executive is the cabinet headed by the prime minister
while in the presidential system the real executive is the president, a single individual who serves as
chief of state as well as head of government. The role of the political head of state and ceremonial
head of staff is thus fused on one individual. He carries final decision making power and ultimate
responsibility.
Single and Collegial Executive
In the single executive, a chief to whom all other executives are subordinate has final control. The
outstanding instance is the President of the United States and Nigeria. He appoints cabinet ministers
who are directly responsible to him. They are mainly advisers and not his colleagues.
A clear advantage of a single executive is that it secures the unit, singleness of purpose, energy and
promptness of decision so necessary for the success of an executive. The advantage of a single
executive is apparent during the period of emergency when unity of control is absolutely necessary.
In collegial executives, executive powers are performed by a council or a cabinet. The number of
persons constituting collegial executives varies from seven as in the case of Switzerland or twenty in
the cabinet system of most nations.
Although a collegial executive impairs unity of control by dividing responsibility, it is safer than a
single one. It renders more difficult the encroachment of the executive on the liberties of the people in
general.
5.2.3. The Growing Concentration of Powers in the Executive
In recent times there is a noticeable growth in the powers of functions of both the presidential and

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parliamentary executives. This also is an indication that the legislative powers in modern democracies
are declining. This may be due to a lot of reasons.
The growth of disciplined party system: The chief executive is usually the party leader who exercises
considerable influence over the legislature. Political parties spell out the basic policy lines a
government will follow and assume a particular policy line by putting their people or trusted allies into
cabinet and other important administrative positions.
Second, is the growing number and complexity of governmental policies and problems. Third, National
Emergencies, whether real or imagined also brings extensive increases in executive powers. Lastly, the
nature of modern government is such that leadership, continuous concentrated and coordinating,
adequately informed and equipped, is virtually necessary. In all nations, there is a deep seated human
impulse to centre responsibility for leadership in a single person. This is especially of great
advantage during the period of national emergency when the chief executive should act much more
speedily and effectively in taking vital and necessary decisions than legislative bodies which are
by nature deliberative organs.
5.3.The Judiciary
This constitutes the third arm of government. It entails law, judges and courts. The primary dut y of the
judiciary is the interpretation of law and application f existing laws to individual cases.
The role of the judiciary in modern day democracies cannot be over-emphasized. The liberty of
individuals depends upon the fairness of courts in protecting them both from other individuals and
from tyrannical or over-zealous member of government. To enable the judiciary to fulfill this
important role, it is separated from the control of the other branches of government – the legislature
and the executive. Also important to the preservation of individual liberty is that the judiciary should
consist of judges who are men of honesty, impartiality, independence and sound legal knowledge.
5.3.1. Functions of the Judiciary
The overall function of the judiciary is to interpret and apply the law with certainty and

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uniformity to specific cases as they arise.
The major function of the judiciary is that of settlement of disputes. Here, the court deals with cases
between private individuals and the government. Both civil and criminal cases are settled by the court.
A civil case is the one brought in the name of the state against a person accused of a misdemeanor or
felony. It is the duty of the court to determine whether a person is innocent or guilty and accordingly
invoke appropriate penalties.
Prevention of Wrongful Act
This is done by means of writs and restraining orders. Courts may act to prevent violations of the
law. Failure to obey an injection constitutes contempt of court, and may be punished by fine or
imprisonment.
Judicial Review
This refers to the process by which courts, especially in the federal systems, are given the power to
determine whether the legislative statutes are in conflict with the constitution. The courts will declare
them void on rounds of unconstitutionality. Judicial Review is thus a valuable check upon
headstrong executive or legislative action.
Preservation of Civil Liberties
The courts frequently play a leading role in the preservation of civil liberties. In most countries, the
courts are effective in protecting civil rights. They make certain that the executive branch, in carrying
out its functions, adheres to the rules of procedure laid down by law.
Declaratory Judgments
Many countries provide by law that courts may in actual controversies render declaratory

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judgments – that is judicial determinations of the rights of parties existing under statutes,
contracts, will or other documents.
Such judgments enable the parties to ascertain their respective rights, without becoming involved in
wasteful and unnecessary litigations. Declaratory judgments are binding on the parties.
3.3.2 The Need for the independence of the Judiciary
Independence of the judiciary refers to the absence of bias in the administration of justice by the
courts. The independence of the judiciary is essential to individual freedom.
Judges must as far as humanly possible, be made independent of the liberties and rights of individuals
are protected against the encroachment of tyrannical executives, judges must be able to act
independently without fear or favour.
Before law can be properly administered, there must be a thorough knowledge of the aw and a
developed judgment, which is the ability to be impartial and non-partisan as well as the highest
personal integrity and honesty.
To perform their role effectively judges should be selected based on merit and not any other criteria.
To secure the impartiality of the judiciary, certain modes should be used in the selection of judges.
The appointment of judges should be based upon the recommendations of an impartial body, which in
Nigeria, is the National Judicial council (NJC).
Under system of tenure: Judges should have a secured tenure of office, so long as they are not guilty
of any crime known to the law, they continue in office. This system serves to maintain judicial
independence and high integrity. Under no circumstances should judges be removed from office
until the prescribed retirement age except on grounds of incapacity, infirmity of mind and proof of
stated misdemeanour.

133
Short tenure tends to place on the bench judges who are under the temptation to please the public rather
than fulfill the law. Anything less than these makes the law inconsistent.
Security of Salaries
The salaries of judges must be fixed and charged on the consolidated fund, which means that whether
the annual budget is passed or not, judges should not be denied their pay. Salaries of judges should not
be subjected to legislative debates.
The judiciary should be independent of the pressures of both executive and the legislature. To this
end, members of the judiciary should not belong to either the executive or the legislature.
The judiciary should be kept distinct and separate from the organs of government so that the members
of the bench are not unduly influenced in the discharge of their functions.
The independence of the judiciary is to be secured by appointing as judges, men of exemplary quality,
impeccable character, high integrity and honesty, especially those who are not easily susceptible to
financial, social and political influences and pressures.
Immunity of judges from Prosecution as regards the Performance of their Official Duties
This protection of the law enables the judge to perform his function without fear and favour. The
immunity of judges from legal liability for words spoken and acts done by them in the performance of
their functions enhances their independence and impartial administration of justice.
From the above discussion, it is clear that judicial independence can be secured and maintained
through the selection of judges by an impartial body, a secured tenure of office, adequate
remuneration and absence of prosecution arising out of performance of duties. However, the
experience of some countries especially in Africa, has demonstrated that many factors can limit
judicial independence. These factors include the political contract and manipulation of the
judiciary by the executive as well as Walihood of bias arising out of personal interest of

134
members of the judiciary themselves.
CONCLUSION
In this Unit, you learn the functions of the three arms of government being the legislative, the
executive and the judiciary. You also learnt the reasons behind the declining power of the legislature
and the growing concentration of powers in the executive arm of government. This Unit was solely
about control systems in Public Administration, where three arms of government were examined and
their impact on public administration.
CHAPTER QUESTIONS
1. How effective is the legislative control over administration?

2. What are the means of executive control over administration?
3. What are the forms of judicial control over administration?
4. Explain the limitations of judicial control over administration.
5. Name and explain the various types of the executive.
6. Examine the importance of Legislative control over Public Administration.

135
REFERENCES
 Dahl Robert A. (yr). The Science of Public Administration
 Patrick Mbeli (yr). Public Administration: A Broad View
 Shafritz, Jay M. And Russell, E.W., Introducing Public Administration, New York, 2003
 Simon Et Al, Public Administration, 1966
 Simon H.A, Administrative Behavior, 1957
 Waldo D., The Study Of Public Administration, 1995
 White, L. O. (yr). Introduction to the Study of Public Administration.
 Willoughby, W. F. (yr). Principles of Public Administration.

136
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THE NATURE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

Although we acknowledge the age-old practice of administration, governmental administration of the

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

1.2.MEANING AND SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Different writers defined the term "administration" in various ways.

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

1. Is cooperative effort in a public setting

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

The following is an all-encompassing definition that consists a list of functions of public

"Public administration is decision-making, planning the work to be done, formulating

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

1.3.THE ART AND SCIENCE EXPOSITIONS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

1.4.PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION vs. PRIVATE ADMINISTRATION

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

(d) Instability: As a result of operating in a political environment, public administrators are

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

(g) Decision criteria: Decision-making in public administration is unlike that of a private

1.5.THE ENVIRONMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

1.5.1. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN DEVELOPED (INDUSTRIAL)

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

1.5.2. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

3. Emphasis to non-productive orientations is another tendency (trend) of the bureaucracies of

5. The bureaucracy in developing countries is likely to have high degree of operational

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

Regardless of the aforementioned limitations of the current administrative patterns of developing

1. Define Public Administration and discuss its scope.

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: ADMINISTRATIVE THOUGHTS

At the end of this Unit, a student should be able to:

2.2. THE STUDY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

However, in English-speaking countries emphasis was on generalist administrators and circumstances

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

2.3. ADMINISTRATIVE THOUGHTS (ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES)

2.3.1. THE CLASSICAL THEORY

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

Grouping: the approach identifies four relevant factors in grouping:

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

 Coordination: grouping may be justified and should be operated to achieve coordination or

Specifying responsibility: responsibility is a corollary of authority, the natural consequence of

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

2.3.2. THE HUMAN RELATIONS (BEHAVIORAL) THEORY

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

By: Jemal Ali & Mohamed Ibrahim JJU, Department of PADM

2.3.3. THE SYSTEMS THEORY