TOPIC ONE: NATURE AND SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Defining administration The word administration is derived from the words “ad” which means “to” and “ministiare” which means “serve”, or “manage affairs”. Administration therefore means: “to look after or to take charge of something”. Other scholars define administration as follows: Marx (1963): ‘a determined action taken in pursuit of a conscious purpose’. It involves the systematic ordering of affairs and the calculated use of resources aimed at making those things happen which one wants to happen.” • Simon et al (1950) • “when two men co-operate to roll a stone that neither could move alone, the rudiment of administration had appeared”. According to him, it is through organizations and administration that individuals and groups cooperate to accomplish common goals. • Pfiffner (1960): • The organization and direction of human and material resources to achieve desired ends. • CHARATERISTICS/FEATURES OF ADMINISTRATION • 1 Administration involves the cooperation of human beings to perform tasks that have been mutually accepted as worthy of joint effort. • 2 A goal or objective in mind. • 3 Action of individuals towards achieving the goal or objective. • 4 Resources: material and human to achieve the goals/objectives set. • 5 Co-ordination among the individuals (team work) towards achievement of goals. • 6 Tasks that have been mutually accepted as worthy of joint effort • • • • • WHAT IS “PUBLIC”? Public can mean several things. 1. government 2. the general society 3. people of a defined territory or state When applied to administration it is understood as anything undertaken with the aim of serving the interest/welfare of the general society. It also means anything that is collectively owned by the general public. It is also used to refer to any activity that promotes public values. • What is public administration: • When administration is qualified by the word ‘public’ it simply means the practice of administration in the public sector. • Public administration is therefore governmental administration. • It is the machinery or means for the implementation of government policies. • According to W. F. Willoughby (1927): • “public administration denotes the work involved in the actual conduct of governmental affairs, regardless of the particular branch of government concerned • Ernest Barker (1944): administration was “the sum of persons and bodies who are engaged, under the direction of government, in discharging the ordinary public services which must be rendered daily if the system of law and duties and rights is to be duly ‘served’ • Pfiffner and Presthus: defined Public Administration as ‘coordination of individual and group effort to carry out public policy’. • Simon et al : define public administration as “the activities of the executive branches of national, state and local governments, independent boards and commissions set up by the legislature, government corporations and certain agencies of a specialized character”. • Wilson (1887): Public administration is detailed and systematic execution of public law. • White (1926):"Public administration is the management of men and materials in the accomplishment of the purpose of the state. • Waldo (1955): "Public administration is the organization and management of men and materials to achieve the purpose of government“. • Corson and Harris (1963) It is the action part of government, the means by which the purposes and goals of government are realized”. • FEATURES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION • Political Direction: Public administration is political, while private administration is non-political, public administration takes place in a political context. It is the politician who decides what public administrators must pursue. Politicians decide on the policies and Public Administrators implement them. • Absence of profit motive: The absence of profit motive from the Public administration is another feature, which distinguishes it from the private administration. The primary purpose of governmental organization is to provide services to the people and promote social good. Public Officials are appointed to act in the interest of citizens. That is why they are known as Public • Legal framework: Public administration operates within a legal framework. It is rule oriented. The responsibilities of public administrators are fixed by a set of constitutional practices, laws and regulations. Government officials are obliged to act within their legal powers and not outside the law. • Public accountability: Public accountability is the hallmark of Public administration in a democracy. Public administration is responsible to the public over the objective use of resources and manner of performance, though not directly but indirectly through political executive, legislature, judiciary, etc. • Public Administration is bureaucratic. Public Administration also known as the public bureaucracy is subject to strict adherence to rules and regulations, procedures and processes sometimes making decision making a bit cumbersome. • POLITICS AND ADMINISTRATION DICHOTOMY • Is keeping politics out of public administration the solution to an efficient public administration? • Politics involves the processes and activities connected with the shaping and use of state power. It is understood to mean the activities involved in policy decisions i.e. deciding what should be done in a country. This function is performed by Political Office Holders (Politicians) such as the Head of State, Ministers and other Government Appointees. • Administration (i.e. public administration) on the other hand is the means of achieving the policy objectives or decisions made by political leaders. It is the act of implementing the policies which the Political Office Holders have made or decided on. The early scholars of Public Administration who were mostly American scholars tried to draw a dividing line between Administration and Politics in their argument for an efficient public administration. They saw politics and administration as two distinct and separate activities which should not be mixed up if public administration is to be efficient. These scholars include Woodrow Wilson, John Pfiffner, W.F. Willoughby. • Woodrow Wilson: • “Administration lies outside the area of politics. Therefore, the problems of administration are different from the problems of politics”. • “The field of administration is the field of business, therefore politics has no place in administration. Therefore keeping politics out of administration will ensure efficiency”. • “The Politician and Political leader decides what policy should be followed” whiles • The Public Administrator implements those policies. • The Political Leader’s role is seen as the master while the Public Administrator is seen as the servant, that is why the term public servant used to refer to Public Administrators. • Frank Goodnow • Politics as the expression of the will of the state while administration is the execution of that will. • W.F.Willoughby • Administration is set up as the forth arm of government along the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. • John Pfiffner • Politics must be controlled and confined to its proper area which is the determination, crystallization and declaration of the will of the community. • Administration on the other hand is ‘the carrying into effect of that will once it has been made clear by political processes’. • These scholars (Wilson, Goodnow, Pfiffner, Willoughby, etc.) agree that : • There should be a Dichotomy between Politics and Administration. Administration should be pure and should not be mixed with politics. This was because the Spoils Politics which was being practiced in America at the time resulted in politicians who did not have the right qualifications to take up administrative positions after winning elections. This did not allow for efficiency in Public Administration. Therefore separating Politics from Administration will prevent politicians from interfering in Administration which will promote for efficiency. • Politics cannot be separated from Administration • After the Second World War, when reforms in America resulted in the abolishment of the spoils politics, scholars began to change their views on the need for a dichotomy between politics and administration. • These scholars no longer argued that Politics and Administration should be separated at all cost. • Pfiffner: • Politics and Administration cannot always be separated and isolated but that Politics should not encroach on Administration unnecessarily and vice versa. • Politics and Administration are so intermingled that a clear difference is difficult. • Senior Public Administrators are generally expected to know more about policy issues than the typical political leader. • The senior public administrator has the detailed knowledge needed to make informed policy decisions. Therefore the political leader often relies on the senior public administrator to formulate policies. So the administrator is not only responsible for policy implementation but plays an important role on policy making by offering advice to political leaders. • So it appears that the Wilsonian doctrine does not work in practice including developing countries like Ghana. Public Administrators have considerable scope to manipulate ministers. It therefore seems unlikely that the Wilsonian doctrine of dichotomy between politics and administration cannot be applied in its original form. MODERN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION • In the effort to improve performance in public administration, scholars and international development agencies have over the years proposed new approaches. They propose that the traditional (original ) way of doing public administration should give way to modern approaches. These approaches are discussed below. • Before that, let us have a look at the traditional public administration. • TRADITIONAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION/ CLASSICAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION • The traditional/classical model of Public Administration is based on Max Weber’s theory of Bureaucracy. • Max Weber’s ideas were borrowed and introduced into several public administrative systems in Europe including Britain. Britain for instance introduced it into her colonies in Africa such as the Gold Coast (Ghana), Nigeria, etc. That is how countries such as Ghana came to practice the traditional public administration. • Peters (2001) summaries the principles and features of the traditional public administration as : • 1) A non-political (politically neutral) civil service • 2) Hierarchy and rules • 3) Permanent and stabile officials; • 4) An institutional civil service; • 5) Internal regulations/ Written rules; • 6) Equality (internally and externally to the organization). • 7) Impersonal relations among officials • The traditional model of public administration was so successful in helping in the development of countries in Europe and the U.S.A. • Max Weber who developed this form of administration considered it as the most efficient mode of organization. • But despite the positive attributes of bureaucracy as the traditional form of public administration, scholars have also criticized it and described it as old, outmoded and inefficient • At the time Max Weber proposed bureaucracy, it was considered the best form of public administration compared to other forms such as traditional and charismatic modes of administration which existed during that time. • When public organizations today are criticized for being inefficient, what it means is that there are other possible new forms of public administration with different principles that sometimes work better than bureaucracy. • What are the criticisms of bureaucracy? • MODERN FORMS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION • DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION • Development administration originated during the 1950s as a new approach to public administration which is more appropriate for the new role of the state and public administration in national progress and modernization in the developing world. • It was proposed for developing countries because the traditional public administration introduced by colonial governments were not suited for developing countries after independence. • After independence developing countries were more focused on economic development instead of promoting law and order which was the focus of the colonial governments. • There was therefore the need for a new form of administration the can achieve the new role of the state after independence. • Development administration was therefore considered public administration for developing countries. • Development administration was a means of redefining the role of the state and Public Administration as an instrument for the improvement and modernization of the state. • Development administration is Public Administration with a difference. Its focus is on government influencing change towards the attainment of progressive social, economic and political objectives. • Development Administration is therefore an action-oriented, goal oriented administrative system (Weidner, 1962). • It is concerned with the organization of new agencies for development such as planning commission or a development authority or corporation. • It is also concerned with the efficient management of governmental programmes of development and the stimulation of private development activities call for a restructuring of public administration. • Development Administration • Change – oriented • Goal and result oriented • • • • • • • Traditional Public Administration Status –quo oriented Emphasis on economy and efficiency Flexible and dynamic Hierarchal and rigid Its objectives are complex and multiple Simple and limited objectives Concerned with new tasks Concerned with routine operations Believes in decentralization Believes in centralisation Stress on planning Does not relay much on planning Creative and innovative Resists organisational change Stress on participation of people Organisational stress due to control and command structure. • TWO ELEMENTS OF DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION • Development administration involves two elements namely: • The Administration of Development and The Development of Administration. • Administration of development • The bureaucratic process that initiates and facilitates socioeconomic progress by making the optimum use of talents and expertise available is the administration of development. • i. The execution of programmes designed to bring about progressive improvement • ii. The changes within an administrative system which increases its capacity to implement such programmes. • The Development of Administration • It is the development of administrative machinery and processes suited to the task of national development. • • • • • • • • • • Features of Development Administration :1. Change – oriented 2. Goal - Oriented and result oriented 3. Citizen participation in the administration 4. Commitment to development 5. Integrated and holistic process 6. It has two sides – one is development programmes and other is its implication. 7. Its scope of Operation is wide. 8. Stress on planning 9. Believes in decentralization.
