Chapter 1
Introduction to Public administration
Public administration is concerned with the
management of public programs.
Public administrators work at all levels of
government, both at home and abroad, and
they manage not-for profit organizations,
associations, and interest groups of all kinds.
the design and construction of roads and bridges
taxation and financial administration
Values of Democracy
Democracy refers to a political system in
which the interests of the people at large
prevail.
Democracy involves :
Individualism,
Equality, and
Liberty
Individualism : refers to the idea that the
dignity and integrity of the individual is of
supreme importance.
Equality : means that each individual has
an equal claim to life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness .
libertymeans that the individual citizen of a
democracy should have a high degree of self
determination.
He / She should have the maximum opportunity to select his /
her own purpose in life and to choose the means to accomplish
them.
Approaches to the study of
public administration :
There are three approaches to the study of
public administration
1) The Managerial Approach
2) The Political Approach
3) The Legal Approach
1) The Managerial Approach:
It emphasizes the management and organization of public
organizations
Suggests that management in the public sector is very much
like that in the private sector, in that it is primarily
concerned with efficiency.
2) The Political Approach :
related to the legislative function in government
concerned about assuring constitutional safeguards
According to this approach. efficiency becomes less a
concern than effectiveness or responsiveness.
3) The Legal Approach:
is related to the judicial function.
It emphasizes the administrators role in
applying and enforcing the law in specific
situations
Contrasting Business and
Public Administration:
There are several differences between public
administration and business administration
those are :
1- Ambiguity
2- Pluralistic decision making
3 - Visibility
4- Publicness
1) Ambiguity :
In most businesses, even those with service objectives, the
bottom-line profit is the basic measure of evaluating how
good a job the organization is doing.
In public organizations, where the objectives of the
organization in which one works may be much more
ambiguous and where making or losing money is not the
main criterion for success or failure.
2- Pluralistic decision making :
In a business enterprise, decisions might be
made rapidly by one individual or a small
group
In a public organization, decisions require
input from many diverse groups and
organizations.
3 Visibility
Managers in government seem to operate
with much greater visibility than their
counterparts in business organization.
4- Publicness
Publicness derives from the simple fact that
the public manager is pursuing public
purposes
Why study Public administration?
1. Many students recognize the vast array of
positions in government that require training in
public administration
2. Other students, whose interests lie in technical
fields such as engineering, recognize that at some
point in their careers their jobs may involve
management in the public sector.
3. As business people or merely as citizens,
they are likely to be called upon to interact
with those in public organizations.
4. A final group of students, a group
overlapping with any of the previous three,
might simply recognize the importance of
public organizations, the governmental
process and the impact of public
organizations on their daily lives.
Themes in Public Administration
theory and Practice :
There are several popular themes in public
administration .Those include:
1) Politics and Administration
2) Bureaucracy and Democracy
3) Efficiency versus Responsiveness
1) Politics and Administration
Administration lies outside the proper
sphere of politics.
Administrative questions are not political
questions
Although politics sets the tasks for
administration, it should not be allowed to
manipulate its offices
2) Bureaucracy and Democracy:
The moral commitments of a democracy can
be evaluated according to three standards.
First, democratic principles assume that the
individual is the primary measure of human value
Second, democratic morality suggests that all
persons are created equal
Third, democratic morality emphasizes
widespread participation among the citizens in
the making of major decisions.
The values of bureaucracy include
the need to bring together the work of many
individuals in order to achieve purposes far beyond
the capabilities of any single individual.
Second, bureaucratic systems were to be structured
hierarchically, with those at the top having far greater
power and discretion than those at the bottom.
Third, bureaucratic organization generally assumes
that power and authority flow from the top of the
organization to the bottom rather than the other way
around.
3) Efficiency versus Responsiveness:
thereis the hope that public organizations will operate in
the most efficient way possible, getting things done quickly
and with the least cost to taxpayers.
public
managers must be constantly attentive to the
demands of the citizenry
Types of Public Managers skills
Thegeneral types of skills that all public
managers need include :
1. Conceptual skills
2. Technical skills
3. Human skills
1. Conceptual skills include the ability to
think abstractly, especially in regard to the
managers concept of the organization
2. Technical skills refer to an understanding of
and proficiency in the methods, processes,
and techniques for accomplishing tasks
3. Human skills involve the capacity to work
effectively as a member of a group, or the
ability to get others to work together
effectively.
