PAD190 PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
LESSON 1
INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS LESSON
After attended this lecture student should be
able to:1. Define public administration
2. Identify the significance and characteristics
of public administration
3. Explain what is policy and administration
4. Explain the principles of political
administrative dichotomy
5. Explain the difference of public and private
administration
6. Describe the role of public administration
INTRODUCTION
General statements on public administration
• Public administration is one of the most significance administrative
machinery in a particular state or country.
• Public administration play very important roles in determining the nation’s
affairs and progress.
• Public administration work together with private administration in
managing the state or nation-building.
• The office of Public administration is different with political office.
• Public administration is consist of various components.
• Public administration is the government machinery to carry out certain
objectives with a variety of tools; such policy, regulation, direct and
indirect services to public.
• Public administration refers to the activity of governmental unit in carrying
out the public policy declared in the law.
WHAT IS PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION?
Definition of public administration
Public administration is the branch of government that is responsible for the execution or
implementation of policy .
Public administration is the set of organization, rules and laws that ensure the intentions of the
elected legislature are carried out through their laws.
Public administration - Establishments of federal, provincial and municipal governments
primarily engaged in activities associated with public administration. This includes such
establishments such as the Federal Public Service, National Defense, RCMP and provincial and
local administrations.
As an instrument of the state in assisting citizens .
Public administration is the detailed and systematic application of law. Every particular
application of law is an act of administration (Woodrow Wilson)
Public Administration is meant, in common usage, the activities of the executive branches of
national, state and local governments, government corporations and certain other agencies of
a specialised character. Specifically excluded are judicial and legislative agencies within the
government and non-governmental administration ( H. A Simon)
The Significance of Public administration
• Enhancing civil society, ensuring a well-run, fair, and
effective public service.
• Improving equality, justice, security, efficiency,
effectiveness of public services usually in a nonprofit, non-taxable venue.
• Maintaining law and order.
• Promoting peace and harmony.
• Protecting the interests of the state and of the
people .
• Practicing Good governance - transparency and
accountability in government policy decision making
and implementation process.
The characteristics of Public Administration
The characteristics of public administration in the democratic context are:Non-partisan or Neutrality – public administration is a non-political
administrative apparatus that is subject to policy direction but not partisan.
Structure - A set of laws or legally founded rules that create the structure of
the administrative apparatus of the state.
Power – public administration has given certain authority to draw and
implement policy to achieve the desired goal.
Activities – public administration carry out activities that related to the
government
Supervision - Continuing democratic supervision of administrative activities
through the executive which directs activities within public administration
apparatus.
Personnel – public administration is carried out by public servants who work
in public departments and agencies, at all levels of government, and
perform a wide range of tasks.
What is Policy and administration?
Policy - is a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and
achieve rational outcome(s). Policies can be understood as
political, management, financial, and administrative
mechanisms arranged to reach explicit goals. Policy merely
guides actions toward those that are most likely to achieve a
desired outcome.
Administration – is described as the implementation of
government policy carried out by peoples who work in that
organization or agencies and perform various tasks.
Policy and administration is two interconnected activities that
relevant to public administration and the government
administrative process. Public administration is working on
policy that decided by the government to achieve certain
desired goals.
The principles of political administrative
dichotomy
• a principle stating that politics and administration should
remain separate in the public sector.
• Politics is a process by which groups of people make decisions
on political interests. They are elected through election
process which involves, normally several political parties. It is
achieved to satisfy political interests.
• Administration is a process by which groups of people make
decisions on public interests. They are appointed by the
government to implement political decisions of the lead
government.
• The idea of separating politics and administration is to avoid
conflict of interest and maintaining neutrality (Max Weber)
• According to David H. Rosenbloom - the idea that public
administration can be separated from politics is strange. He
Public and private administration
Two different sectors or entities
Example :
Public administration – public school or hospital
Private administration – private school or
hospital
Both are providing same services to people and
aim to achieve same objective. However, there
are few differences of these two organizations.
The differences of public and private
administration
• Setting – how these two organizations was set up?
• Staffing– how the recruitment and training of the
personnel and their conditions of work?
• Mission/goal – What is the mission and goal?
• Operation/work procedures – How the procedures
used in these organizations.?
• Funding – How the financing of the activities?
• Decision making process – How decisions are made?
• Visibility /accountability – subject to whom?
PUBLIC VS PRIVATE
PUBLIC
• Created by the
government/public
• Constitution set the
formation
• Funded by taxes/public
budget.
• Not for profit motive.
• Controlled by legislative &
judiciary.
• Public services/Do not pay
taxes
PRIVATE
• Owned by private/individual
or group
• Subject to company law
• Funded by investor
capital/share
• Profits motive
• Controlled by the board
• Pay taxes
• Engage in various business
activities
SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
By the scope of Public Administration, we mean the major concerns of Public
Administration as an activity and as a discipline.
• Public administration covers every area and activity within the
ambit public policy. Thus, the scope of public administration is
very wide in modern state.
• Public administration is any kind of administration in the
public interest which has simply come to mean governmental
administration.
There are many views regarding the scope and range of
activities to be included in public administration. Some
thinkers take a broader view and include all governmental
activities having for their purpose, the fulfillment of public
policy, while other take a narrow view and consider only those
activities concerned with the executive branch of government
as a part of public administration.
The Role of Public Administration
Public administration plays very important role in any country.
The role of public administration is changing from being a major
provider of public services and development to promoter and
facilitator of development.
• Implementing government policies - Public administration has
important role to play in translating the ideas, wishes and
policies of politicians into reality.
• Providing Public services – public administration provide varieties
of services directly or indirectly through its agencies. Such
services including provision of water, education, health,
electricity, telephone, postal, transport, public housing,
immigration and security services.
• Improving Service delivery – improving service delivery in term of
timeliness, quality, availability, effectiveness, efficiency and
convenience. This can be achieved by considering citizens as
customer and success is measured in terms of citizens’
satisfaction.
• Promoting social change and economic
development – improving socio-economic
status of citizens and alleviating poverty.
• Maintaining peace and harmony - Public
administration is a major force for bringing
stability in society.
• Monitoring and control private sector
activities - Public administrationis also
regulate and control private economic
enterprises to meet the objectives of the
state.
• Protecting of the rights of workers in industrial sector
- it is imperative for public administration to
implement such laws in order to meet the
requirements of labour welfare.
• Scientific and technological developments – bringing
new techonologies for administration such as the
advancement of e-goverment.
• Economic planning - Centralised economic planning
has been pursued in many developing countries as a
method for socio-economic development. It requires
a large number of experts and elaborate
administrative machinery for plan formulation,
implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.
CONCLUSION
The Concept of Public Administration
• is co-operative group effort in a public setting;
• covers all three branches-executive, legislative, and judicial,
and their inter-relationships;
• has an important role in the formulation and implementation
of public policy and is thus a part of the administrative
process;
• is different in significant ways from private administration;
• is closely associated with numerous private groups and
individuals in providing services to the community”.
• is the non-political public bureaucracy operating in a political
system;
• deals with the ends of the State, the sovereign will, the public
interests and laws;
• is the business side of government and as such
concerned with policy execution, but it is also
concerned with policy-making;
• covers all three branches of government, although it
tends to be concentrated in the executive branch;
• provides regulatory and service functions to the
people in order to attain good life;
• differs significantly from private administration,
especially in its emphasis on the public; and
• is interdisciplinary in nature as it draws upon other
social sciences like political science, economics and
sociology. to the community”.
Major ? Should be discussed in
tutorial
• What is public administration?
• What are the significance and characteristics
of public administration?
• What is the principle of political
administrative dichotomy?
• What is the difference of public and private
administration?
• What are the roles of public administration?
THAT ALL FOR TODAY
SEE YOU AGAIN NEXT LECTURE
LESSON 2
“HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION”
THANK YOU