AN INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

INTRODUCTION

Public Administration as independent Subject of a social science has recent origin. Traditionally Public Administration was considered as a part of political science. But in Modern age the nature of state-underwent change and it became from police stale to social service state. As a consequence, the Public Administration, irrespective of the nature of the political system, has become the dominant factor of life. The modern political system is essentially ‘bureaucratic’ and characterized by the rule of officials. Hence modern democracy has been described as ‘executive democracy’ or ‘bureaucratic democracy’. The administrative branch, described as civil service or bureaucracy is the most significant component of governmental machinery of the state.

Meaning of Public Administration

Administer is an English word, which is originated from the Latin word ‘ad’ and ‘minister’. It means to serve or to manage. Administration means management of affairs, public or private.

Various definitions of Public Administration are as follows-

Prof. Woodrow Wilson, the pioneer of the social science of Public Administration says in his book ‘The study of Public Administration’, published in 1887 “Public Administration is a detailed and systematic application of law.”

According to L. D. White “Public Administration consists of all those operations having for their purpose the fulfillment of public policy as declared by authority.” Both above definitions are done from traditional viewpoint and related only to the functions and actions of Administration.

Following thinkers have taken a broad view while defining Public Administration

According to Simon –

 “By Public Administration is meant the activities of the executive branches of the national, state, & local governments.”

According to Willough –

 “Public Administration in broadest sense denotes the work involved in the actual conduct of governmental affairs, and in narrowest senses denotes the operations of the administrative branch only.”

According to Gullick -

“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.”

According to Waldo -

“Public Administration is the art and science of management as applied to the affairs of the state.”

Marshall E. Dimock -

“Administration is concerned with ‘what’ and ‘How’ of the government. What is the subject matter, the technical knowledge of afield which enables the administrator to perform his tasks. The ‘How’ is the technique of management according to which co-operative programs are carried to success.”

Conclusion:-

All above modern definitions of Public Administration emphasize the value based character of Public Administration and Public Administration as a science and art of administration. A close scrutiny of the definitions reveals that Public Administration has following important characteristics or features.

Important characteristics of Public Administration

1.  It is part of executive branch of government.
2.  It is related with the activities of the state.
3.  It carries out the public policies.
4.  It realizes the aspirations of the people as formulated and expressed in the laws.
5.  Waldo and other thinkers insist on the commitment and dedication to the well being of the people. Otherwise Public Administration behaves in a mechanical, impersonal and inhuman way.
6. Public Administration is politically neutral.