UNIT 2 IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION .

Structure
7.0 Objectives 1.I Introduction
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1.2 3.3 .2.4 2.5 2.6

The Practical Concern The social Science Perspective The Third World Perspective Liberal Studies for Citizenship. Contributions of Public Administration
2.6.1 Epistemological 2.6.2 Technical 2.6.3 Omhudsmanic

2.6.4 Liberal-Educational 2.6.5 Professional

2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10

Let Us Sum Up Key Words Some Useful Books Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

Public Administration is of practical significance to every citizen in the contemporary society. In this unit we shall discuss the importance of the study of Public Administration. ~ f i estudying r this unit, you should be able to:

describe how Public Administration responds efficpntly to diverse public needs and pli~ys pragmatic problem solving role explain how Public ~dministrationf as a Social Science, organises knowledge about governmental structure and processes I recognb and describe the ,emergence of the sub-discipline of Develop,ment Administration; and state its contributions to creative citizenship.

In the first unit you were introduced to the discipline of'Public Administration. You have read &out its meaning, scope, character as well the distinction between Public'Administration and Business Administration. In this unit we will explain to you the importance of the study,of Public Administration in modern society. The importance of Public Administration as a specialised subject gf study was well brought out by Woodrow ~ i l s o nthe i founder of the disaiplirie. In his celebfated essay on 'The Study of Administration' published in 1887, he characterised government a'drninistration as the practical or business end of government that could be separated fram the rough and tumble of 'politics'. Urging .for the establishment of an autonomous field of academic inquiry, Wilson observed: "There should be a science of administration which shall seek to straighten the paths of government, to make its business less unbusiness like, td strengthen and purify its organisation, and to crown its duties with dutifulness."

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THE PRACTICAL CONCERN

Since government ha$ to respond to diverse public needs, Public Administratign's first and Ibremost objective should be to efficiently 'discharge the publi.c!s business. The Wilsonian

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The Nature of Public Administration

definition of the subject as an efficiency-promoting, pragmatic field was the first explicitly articulated statement on the importarlce of a separate discipline of Public Administration. This view of the discipline emerged at a time when there had been a felt need for increased for a positivistic role of the govemment as the chief regulator of the social prod~ctivity~and social order and a facilitator of socio-economic development. Classical administrative theory about \;hich we wciuld discuss in detail in the next block, reigned uninterrupted for about three decades since the beginning of the :sent century. It laid special emphasis o n improvement in the machinery of governmer.,. 4 s the tasks of modem administration increased,enormously, it was just proper tb look into the cau5es of apmlnistrative incompetence. tie Haldane Committee Report (1919) Management (1937) in the in Britain and the Pre.sident's Committee on ~dmihistrative United States are examples of official efforts to streamline Public Administration to make it a fit agency of social development. In India, also several committees had been set up during the British period as well as after independence. One of such major effort was undertaken by the Administrative deforms Commission (1966) which was set up with the identical purpose of making Public Administration a suitable agency for effective and efficient socio-economic development. The overdependence of administration on "po~itidsw was criticised by the reformers of Public Administration. On the basis of studies made by the practising administrators and 'academicians, a iew'faith was- born in t h i f o 6 of a 'science' of administration that would have great applied value in scientific restructuring of Public Administration. The classical 'principles' of administration have severely been criticised. Despite criticisms they have never been totally discarded. These were the precursors of later-day sophisiicated methods and techniques of administrative improvement such as cost-benefit. analysis, .operations research, etc.
* With increasing social complexity and international tensions, governments everywhere had gradually come to assume more and more interyentionist postures. Trade. ' Cominerce and Industry eiparided and new kinds of productive enterprise sprang up. . There were increasing social demands for State intervention in industrial regulations. ' Poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy and other social evils had becoqe central concerns of public policy. The era of the laissez-faire state had thus come to an end. Instead, it positivist-interventionist welfare,state has emerged steadily.

The State's increasing concern for social regulation and general social welfare meant a quantum leap in governmental activities. The academic interest in the study of , , govemment and administration accompanied this historical expansion in state activities.
As Leonard White has put it: "In their broader context, the ends of administration are the ultimate object of the state itself-the maintenance af peace and order, the progressive achievement of justice, the instruction of the young, protection against disease and insecurity. the adjustment and 'compromise of conflicting groups and interests-in short, the altainment of the good life".
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Rising popular demands and expectations from government coincided with a lively interest in 'efficiency' in Public Administration. How can governmental activities be made more cost-effective? How can the budgqary practices in govemment be streamlined and made more and more management-oriented? Are there better ways of organidng the administrative machinery? What could be done to ensure a steady and timely flow of skilledmd motivated personnel within the governmental machinery? After all, it is popular satisfaction and fulfilment of popular demarids that provides the , rationale for Public Administration. So, what methocis could be invented to monitor popular reactions to administrative action? How can people's satisfaction be measured? Apart from these, larger issues of public policy formulation, policy execution and monitoring and evaluation of policy outcome had come to assume crucial significance in governmental operations. After the seminal contribution of H&beft Simon to decision-theory, Public Administratjon has received policy science prientation. This has greatly enhanced the utility of the discipline for practical policy analysis and policy improvement in the government. Writers like Dmr and Dye have greatly enkched policy analysis as a major area of Public Administration.

* These objectives and practical requirements of govemment gave a fillip to the academit: development of the new discipline af Public Administration. The'importance of the new

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discipline came to be recognised, as sustained academic inquiry and interest started ,.producing new techniques and methods of improving governmental performance. Public Administration's increasing practical concern for publii' problem-solving has steadily legitimised its.place in the larger family of Social Sciences. Complexity and larger scale of governmental operations have prompted innovations in organisational designs, In order to meet the needs of rapidly changing $cia! situations, governments have been groping for new.organisational formats that would'match the specific situational needs. Organisation theory has, in recent years, assumed the character of a well-developed discipline. The theories of organisat ion have Reen co-ppted by Public Adminisqation and there is widespread application now of organisation theories to adm'~istrative design problems. The organisation theory . . perspectrve is now an integr I part-of Public' Administration discipline. 'This hiis made the discipline much more useful then ever before for organisational development and structural experimentations in govemment. Thus in recent years the discipline has . ' acquired considerable strength. It is in a position tb suggest'~lternative ways (if organising governmental activities to optimise the results. Application of &havioural science knowledge 9 3 s also facilitated more sophisticated analysis of public personnel systems. Research as bn motiv~tionand morale. group and intergroup behaviour, and interpersonal relationships have produced .rich.conceptual and theoretical toolkits that are currently being uskd b> Public Administration-analysts, The crucial importance of the human element.in administration,'which was. large1y ignored in the classical model, is currently being emphasised. As i n applied science, Public Administration has thus been of direct use in public personnel management.

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Imporlilrce of Publk Administration

A SOCIAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE

. So far we have presented Public Administration as a pragmatic and problem-solving
discipline. This is a one-sided analysis. Now we will examine an equally important fact$ of Public ~dministrationri:., it:; social-scientific status. Since government touches on almost all aspects of life in the contemporary world, how the government is organised and how it operates in practice should naturally attract our attention. The importance of public Administration as social science lies in its methddical study of government and in attempts to organise knowledge about governmental structure and operations. In'this role, Public Administration as'a discipline is more interested in providing scientific explanations rather than merely solving public problems.
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Administration is looked at, in this perspective, as'asocial activity. Hence the concern of academic inquiry would be to understand the impact of government policies and operations on the soc'iety. What kind of sociely do the policies envis~ge? To what'extent administrative action is 'class' oriented:' In other words, how is Public . i Administration and what are the immediate and long term effects o f governmental action on the'sociai structure. the economy and polity? From this social science perspective, Public ~dministration, as a discipline, has to draw on a variety olkirlcrr dijciplines {uch as History, S(xit)lopy. Economics, etc., the aUwtive,being to "explain" find not just to "prescribe".
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Check Your progress 1 . . Note : i) Use the space below for your answers. ii) Check your answkrs with those given at the end of the unit. I ) Explain how the interventionist role of Government is increasing.

 he ~ i t u r of e Public

Administration

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How do behavioural sciences help in the analy\i\ of Public Administra~lon'

. .3) How adrnini51ratlon I \

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2:6 THE THIRDbWORLD PERSPECTIVE

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Plrblic Administration's special status in the "developing countrie~"has been u ~ d e l j acknowledged. The post-colonial, "third world" countries have everywhere embarked upon speedy socio-economic development. These countries have naturally to rely on the government to push through speedy 'development'. This means Public Adminlstration,has to be organised and operated to increase productivity quickly. Similarly social welfare activities have to be efficiently and effectively executed. The government-sponsored 'planned development activities have necessitated the birth of new sub-discipline of "Development Administration", about which you would know more in Unit 5. Ba\ed on u series of country studies. Development Administration has emerged as an extremely u\eful field that has great practical utility in the special circumstances of the developing countries. The'emergence of 'Development Administration' is indicative of a felt need f i x a body of knowledge about how to study the thlrd world administration and at the \ame time to bring about speedy socio-economic dev,$opment with government intervention. All the developing countries in the third world depend on the gcvemment's aggressive role in nation-building and socio-economic reconstruction. Development Administration, therefore has emerged as a special sub-discipline to serve the cause of development. This is a distinct branch of the discipline, sewing a distinct cause, viz. development.

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LIBERAL .STUDIES FOR CITIZENSHIP

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Another general utility of Public Administration as a'discipline lies in its contribution to credtive citizenship. In a democracy, the citikns must be well-informed about what the government does or does not do. Governmental literacy is a sine-qua-non of good citizhnship. People must get. to 'know about the organisation of government, the activities it. undertakes and the manner in which these are actually performed. As a discipiinel,~ublic Administration has ample scope to educate the lay citizens a b u t the machinery and procedure of-work in the government. '

CONTRIBUTIONS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

As already stated. the expanding role of government in every country, especially in the develbping nations, has encouraged many-sided inquiries into governmental ,operations. - .; Since government touches on almost every conceivable'aspect of lifp in a democratic , society, the citizens must have access to informqtion about government and about how.it is' I ,
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actually orgeised and pressed into social regulation and citizens' welfare. Public Administration as an intellectual discipline has, therefore, been gaining in importancejwith the increasing interventionist role of goveniment in social life. The importance of a well-developed discipline of Public Administration' lies in its five kinds of major contributions to organised social life which we will discuss iiow;

Imporl:~ncc of [4uhlic

.idrnini>tr;~lion

* epistemological * technical
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ombudsmanic liberal-educational, and professional.

The fiist type of contribution arises out of the discipline's capacity to build up a rigorous. systematic and scientific body of knowledge about governmental structure and operations. Publio Administration alone has the exclusive responsibility to study the government in action in all its aspects. In dischargihg this responsibility, it has been striving to collect reliable information and data, analysl: administrative structures and operations, and build explanatory theories for enhancing knowledge about administrative practices.

2.6.2 Technical
The second type of technical contribution of the discipline flows from its first major role as stated above. Since the days of the pioneers like Woodrow Wilson, it has been the endeavour of Public Administration specialists to apply knowleqge to act~ial-public problem solving. With reliable theoretical equipment and on the basis of "clinical" studies of administration situation, the technical consulting capacity of the experts in the discipline has increased considerably. Advising government and solving practical problems in administration are legitimate expectations from Public Administration analysts.

.The third type of contribution of the discipline can came out df investigative studies of critical sectors of administration. Case studies on citizens' grievances, administrative red tape, corruption, etc. may be widely circulated to familiarise the general public,.the press and the legislature about the actual goings-on inside the bureaucracy. By disseminating , knowledge and information, the experts in Public Administration can play a socially useful role akin to the ombudsmanic institution as established in many countries.

2.6.4 Liberal Educational

Public Administration as a discipliqe has the fourth important responsibility to create enlightened citizenship. In a democracy, knowledge of how the government and the administration functions must be universally disseminated. This is what can be called governmental-administrative literacy. Public Administration is the only social science discipline that,can perform this role of a universal educator of "government and administration" for all the citizens.

2.6.5. Professional
Public Administration has also served the cause of vocationalism. The discipline has been greatly useful in training civil servants and equipping students to join the professional stream of practising administrators. Institutes and schools of Public Administration, Public Affairs and Public Policy Analysis are engaged in the ofganisation of professional courses,
Check YOU; Progress 2 Note: i) Use the space below for your answers.

ii) Check your answers wih those given at the end o f the unit. '.
1) Why Public Administration is of special importance in developing countries?

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2) In which a r m a n Public.Administration contribute to o~anised slciallife? :

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2.7 LET . US . SUM

UP

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The importance of Public Administratioh as a discipline has been highlighted in this unit. ' Subsequent developn~ents in the discipline in response to both practical problems and academic:questions have further enhanced its importance as an autonomous field. In the contemporary world, the burden of public duties on government has been steadily i increasing. To expect that the days of,laiskz-faire wobld return again is mere daydreaming, The positivistic-interventipnistrole of government would automatically find reactions ih academic inquiry. And as history has shown, the importance o f Public Administration as a discipline has been closely associated with the increasingly activist role of govemment everywhere., As regards the 'de;eloping* or 'thidworld' countries, 'Development Administration' as a sub-discipline has a special role to play to systematise knowledge about 'development' as . well as to facilitate successful and effective governmental intervention in radical socioeconomic 'reconstruction.
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2.8 KEY WORDS

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Laissez-faire : Policy of non-interference.

Ombudsmaniq: Investigation of individual's complsints against public authorities. Positivist : One who recognises only positive facts and observable phenomena.

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2.9 SOME USEFUL BOOKS .

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~hattacharya,Mohit. 1987. Public Administration: Chapm-Z: The World b s s Rivae Ltd:: Calcutta. d Golanbiewski, Robert T,1977. PLMic ~ckinistratim as a ~ ~ e i o bisc&liie; g n ~ Vol,J; . Marcel b k k e ~New : Yo*.' .~enri. Nicholas. 1975. Public A&ninistratioy and Public ~ffdirs: Rcntia Hall. Englewood-Cliffs: New Jersey. I

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N i p . Felix A. and Niw. Lloyd 0. 1980. Modern Public Adminirtration; -Harperand Row: New Yotic. . While, LSDe. 1968. In!rodrcrion to the Study o f P ~ I Ahinistroion; ~ C @unriahblishing House: New Delhi: . -., ,

EXERCISES
check Your l~rGress1
1 ) See Section 2.2

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2) See Section 2.2 3) See Section 2.3

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CheckYourProgrcess2
1 ) See Section 2.4
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2) See Section 2.6