Concepts, Approaches and Context

Definitions; Role and Scope of

Public Administration in Society
Week 2
6 April 2022
Ref: Chapter 1: Public Administration: An Action Orientation, 7th
edition by Robert B. Denhardt, Janet V. Denhardt, and Tara A. Blanc
Today’s agenda
• What is public administration (how scholars define it)

• Why study public administration?

• Significance of Public Administration

• Characteristics of Public Administration

• Scope of Public Administration

Public Administration
 Public Administration (PA)
• Public to administration means governmental
administration; it is the management of governmental
affairs and activities.

• Management of public programmes.

• PA is government in action.
 Public Administration
Marshall Edward Dimock defines PA as “the
accomplishment of politically determined objectives”.
 Woodrow Wilson
• Pioneer of the social science of PA.

• Published ‘The study of Public Administration’ in 1887.

• “Public Administration is a detailed and systematic

application of law.”
 Leonard Dupee White
“Public Administration consists of all those operations
having for their purpose the fulfilment of public policy
as declared by authority.”
 Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick
“Public Administration is that part of the science of
administration which has to do with government and
thus, concerns itself primarily with the executive branch
where the work of the government is done.”

(Papers on the Science of Administration, 1937)

 Clifford Dwight Waldo
“Public Administration is the art and science of
management as applied to the affairs of the state.”
• Why study public administration?
 Significance of Public Administration
• Basis of government (works at all levels of government,
both home and abroad).

• It plays vital role in the life of the people.

• Instrument for executing laws, policies, programmes of

the state.
 Significance of Public Administration
• It is a stabilizing force in the society as it provides
continuity.

• It is instrument of national integration, especially in the

developing countries which are facing class conflicts.

• Vehicle for social change.

Public Administration as basis of Government
• It is possible for a state to exist without a
legislature or judiciary; but not even the most
backward state can do without administrative
machinery.
Public Administration as basis of Government
• The modern state cannot confine its field of activities to
merely maintenance of law and order, dispensation of
justice, collection of revenue and taxes and participation
in welfare activities.
Public Administration as basis of Government
• The modern welfare state is expected to provide more
and more services and amenities to the people.

• PA is the machinery used by the state to place itself in a

position to make plans and programmes that can be
carried out.
 Public Administration in Peoples’ Life
• Various departments of government such as education,
social welfare, food, agriculture, health, sanitation,
transport, communication etc. are run by the department of
PA.

• PA is rendering various types of services to the people from

birth to death of an individual.
Public Administration as Stabilizing Force
• PA is carried on by the civil servants who are the
permanent executives.

• Political executives i.e. ministers may come and go,

systems of government or constitutions may undergo
change but administration goes on forever.
Public Administration as Stabilizing Force
• PA is a great stabilizing force in society. It is a preserver
of the society and its culture.
Public Administration as vehicle for Social
Change
• PA is regarded as an instrument of change and is
expected to accelerate the process of development.

• Government undertakes the tasks like poverty alleviation,

spreading education, industrial development, social
sector reforms etc.
Public Administration as vehicle for Social
Change
• The burden of carrying out these social changes in a
planned and orderly manner rests upon the PA of the
country.
Characteristics of Public Administration
• Executive branch of government.

• Related with the activities of the state.

• It carries out the public policies.

• It realize the aspirations of the people as formulated

and expressed in the laws.
 Characteristics of Public Administration
• Commitment and dedication to the wellbeing of the
people. Otherwise PA behaves in a mechanical,
impersonal and inhuman way.

• Politically neutral (Wilsonian conceptualization)

 Scope of Public Administration
• Narrow perspective or POSDCORB perspective.

• Broad perspective or subject-matter view.

• Prevailing view.
 Scope of Public Administration
(Narrow Perspective)

• Luther Gullick is the main exponent of this perspective.

• According to him the scope of PA is narrow or limited.

 Scope of Public Administration

• It is also regarded as POSDCORB view.

• It insist that the PA is concerned only with those

aspects of administration which are related with the
executive branch and its seven types of administrative
functions.
 POSDCORB View – 7 Functions of PA
• P stands for Planning

• O stands for Organization

• S stands for Staffing

• D stands for Directing

• Co. stands for Co-ordination

• R stands for Reporting

• B stands for Budgeting

 Broad Perspective
• Woodrow Wilson, L D White are main exponent of this
perspective.

• PA covers all three branches of the government: Legislative,

Executive and Judicial and their interrelationship.
 Broad Perspective
• Legislative organ makes the laws.

• Executive organ of the government implements the laws.

• Judicial organ of the government interprets the laws.

• There is interrelationship between these three organs.

 Broad Perspective
• Scope of PA is like a cooperative group.

• PA is a part of the political process.

• It has an important role in the formulation of public

policy at all levels, from national to grassroot.
 Broad Perspective
• PA is closely associated with numerous private groups
and individuals in providing services to the community.

• It has been influenced in recent years by the human

relations approach.
 Prevailing view
Prevailing view divides the scope of Public
Administration into two parts:
• Administrative theory.
• Applied administration.
 Administrative Theory
It includes the following aspects:

1. Organizational Theory - structure, organization,

functions and methods of all types of public authority
engaged in administration, whether national, regional
or local and executive.
 Administrative Theory
2. Behaviour - functions of administrative authorities and
the various methods appropriate to different types of
functions. The various forms of control of administration.
 Administrative Theory
3. Public Personal Administration - problems
concerning personnel e.g. recruitment, training,
promotion, retirement etc. and the problems relating
to planning, research, information and public relation
services.
Applied Administration
 Applied Administration

• Political functions - It includes the executive -

legislative relationship, administrative activities of the
cabinet, the minister and permanent official
relationship.
 Applied Administration

• Legislative function - It includes delegated legislation

and the preparatory work done by the officials in
connection with the drawing up of bills.
 Applied Administration
• Financial functions - It includes total financial
administration from the preparation of the budget to its
execution, accounting and audit etc.

• Economic Administration - It is concerned with the

production and encouragement of industries and
agriculture.
 Applied Administration
• Defense - Functions - relating to military administration.

• Foreign Affairs Administration - It includes the conduct of

foreign affairs, diplomacy, international cooperation etc.

• Educational function - It includes functions relating to

educational administration.
 Applied Administration
• Social welfare administration - It includes the activities
of the departments concerned with food; housing,
social security and development activities.

• Local administration - It concern with the activities of

the local self-governing institutions.
 Questions.

Clarification!