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P ublic Administration has reluctantly been accepted as a science by some of its sister disciplines in the Social Sciences. This may be ascribed to the eclectic nature of the Discipline and its reliance on related disciplines to explain, direct and inform study and practice. Public Administration studies human beings engaged in administrative and managerial duties in organs of state. Therefore, any study should consider the behaviour and actions of human beings in an organisational setting operating in a political environment. Sciences depend on theory to investigate, explain and predict the phenomena being studied. A science has to be founded on justifiable laws or acceptable theories to develop new knowledge and influence practice. Public Administration is in the unenviable position that it studies social phenomena subjected to continuous change due to societal values and political changes. Thus it has to be able to adopt theories providing for universal truths, but accommodating the new domain of study, e.g. the development of public-private-partnerships and the evolution of the developmental state. Various theories related to Public Administration will be investigated in this article to establish their relevance. This will be used as a foundation to enter into a discourse regarding the identification of the requirements against which Public Administration theory should be tested. With this as a point of departure the possible development of Public Administration related theories will be discussed.
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Since the early origins of Public Administration, scholars bemoan the absence of a grand, unifying theory for this applied, social science as a discipline. From their arguments it seems that the absence of a unified theory is largely to blame for the identity, existential and academic crisis which the discipline arguably experiences. If such a unified theory does not exist, and there is a general consensus that it could add value by focusing research and generally facilitating a sharper demarcation of the study field, the appropriate question is: Why not simply attempt to construct one? The purpose of this article is to reflect on the feasibility of designing a unified theory as a coherent framework for the study of Public Administration. The reflection will include a deliberation on the desirability of such a unifying theory, contemplation on the possible methodology to pursue such a theory, as well as an exploration of the potential challenges which theorists will face in their attempts to design such an integrated and comprehensive foundational framework.
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Public Administration Review
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The success and survival of any organizations be they government or not is contingent upon group efforts and cooperation to achieve set goals. This paper discusses the nature and scope of public administration to say that in modern day societies, any administration in the public interest transcends beyond government circles and finds expression in other spheres of human endeavours including the church, mosques, postal services as well as international relations and diplomacy, respectively. The paper discusses the concepts of administration and public administration thereby creating a distinction between the two concepts. Furthermore, the understanding of the scope of administration through the various schools of thought have also been captured, the essence of which is to generate a clearer understanding of the discourse under review. The paper ends with conclusions.
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Indian Institute of Public Administration
'If scholars live or die in terms of the images they create, students of public administration are clearly in trouble even if some hope still exists. …' Thus began Robert T. Golembiewski his monumental book: 'Public Administration As a Developing Discipline, Part I, Perspectives on Past and Present'. He devoted the book to provide content for Public Administration as a field. 'Content in his case included not only an orientation to analysis, but also the skills and technologies necessary for supporting cumulative traditions of research and application. To quote from the book ' Public administration's early history is studded with symbols testifying to its rich destiny and performance. Not only were all problems ultimately administrative problems, for example, but the very existence of our civilizations depended upon the success with which we learn of to cope with the administrative ultimates.' Woodrow Wilson's influential conclusion who noted, " it is getting harder to run a constitution, than to frame one " did generate its many an echo. Again to quote from the Foreword to the monumental 1937 publication 'Papers on the Science of Administration' by Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick, " if those who are concerned scientifically with the phenomena of getting things done through cooperative human effort will proceed along these lines we may expect in time to construct a valid and accepted theory of administration. " The confidence of the first half of the 20 th century, however, did not last long. " For a variety of reasons, " Frederick Mosher concluded, " public administration stands in danger of … senescence. " Frederick Mosher further emphasized the crisis of identity concern soon thereafter: 'More is now known about public administration than was the case twenty years ago. But there is a great deal more to know. There are more depths to probe than were then visualized, and more different perspectives from which to start the probing. This field need bow to no other in respect to its sophistication about its subject matter. But such sophistication can senesce into mere dilettantism unless it is grounded in premises and hypotheses that are in some degree ordered and tested and that are continuously refreshed with new data and experience.' Φ The author a senior member of the Indian Administrative Service-the premier Civil Service of India is presently working as Additional Financial Advisor and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Defence in the Government of India. Earlier till recently he was working as Secretary Finance, Government of Uttar Pradesh and prior to that as Member (Finance & Accounts) UP State Electricity Board. He was the key person in the UP government's team assigned with the task of structuring and negotiations of first ever stand-alone programme loan to a sub national government by the World Bank. He has vast experience of serving in the various field level Public Administration positions, PSUs and at the policy formulation levels in the secretariat. The views expressed here, however, are entirely his own and in no way should be construed to represent the organization / the government he happen to be serving/have served. In this apparently visible two-part article, the first part is devoted to capture the discipline of public administration as seen by the masters of yore and is based largely on the works of Robert T. Golembiewski. The second part of course is what may be euphemistically called the recipe of the author.
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