PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION TO
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

• Define the meaning of Public Administration.

•Differentiate the meaning of Public and Private

Administration.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

1.1 DEFINITION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

1.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
1.4 POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
1.5 ADMINISTRATION AND POLITICS
1.6 PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ADMINISTRATIVE DICHOTOMY.
1.7 PRIVATE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.
1.8 ROLES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.

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• 1.1 DEFINITION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.
Public – Community having particular interest in common.
Administration – Coordination of men and materials within
organisation for the accomplishment of identifiable purpose.

‘Public Administration can be defined as a Management of men and

materials in the accomplishment of the purpose of the state’

• It is the science of how a country can be ruled.

• It is a government’s central instrument for dealing with general
social problems.
• It is the management of resources to achieve government’s goals
and objectives.

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Definition of PA from various scholars:
Woodrow Wilson:
‘ the most obvious part in a government, is the action taken by
government, it is an executive, and it is a body that operates in a
government’

L.D. White:
‘all the activities that aim to amend and implement public policy’

Dwight Waldo: 2 general definitions of P.A:

- ‘P.A is an organization and it is the management of people and
material to achieve government objective’
- ‘P.A acts as an art and science of management which relates to state
matters’

Marshalls & Gladys Dimock & Douglas Fox:

‘Public administration is the production of products and services to
fulfill the people’s demands’

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Definition of PA….cont

Felix A. Nigro & Lloyd G. Nigro (1984):

• PA is a group of people working together to organise
the public right
• It covers the branches of executive, judicial &
legislative
• It plays important roles in the transformation of public
policy and it is part of political process
• Is important and different from private management
• As a mediator for private groups & individuals to deliver
services to the society

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PROCESS of PA…..cont
Luther H. Gullick and Lyndall Urwick’s (1937)
(Papers on the Science of Administration) defines PA according
to the following characters which are:

i. P – Planning
• Process of generating programs for long-term social and
economic development
• It is an effort to increase standard of living in society by
using the available resources
• Process that determines the economic and social goal in
order to improve the human living and activities.
• Ensure full utilize of limited sources like money, raw material
and human power

ii. O – Organizing.
• To prepare structure for synchronization, communication and
instruction
• Public sector depends on organizational structure that
provide a clear division of function and responsibility to
ministry and department
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iii. S – Staffing
• Normally conducted by a government agency which elected b
the government
• In Malaysia, this responsibility is given to Public Administration
Commission
• Staffing is usually conducted using two methods: external
staffing and internal staffing
• Public staff must go through various training to increase their
productivity

iv. D – Directing
• Organization must have on officer who acts as the head of
organization
• He gives direction and instruction to other staff
• Instruction gives leadership, direction and motivation to staff.

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iv. C- Coordinating.
• A method to synchronize the work done by various departments
in the public sector
• Important due to the huge size of public organization
• It covers various department and other government agencies
• Prevent misspends of the cost and the time and overlapping of
duties

v. R- Reporting.
• As an instrument to ensure an organized communication and
information flow in the administration in order to facilitate the
effective process of forming, implementing and synchronizing
public policy.
• Instrument of democracy because report can ensure that the P.A
perform their responsibility effectively and further fulfill the
needs of people

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vi. B-Budgeting
• Documents that records the estimate budget and
income of a country in a given period
• To ensure accountability

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• Public administration is the device consist
of theory and practice :
i. Promote understanding of government
and its relation with society.
ii. Use public policy to meet social needs.
iii. Institute practices to effectiveness,
efficiency, meeting human requisites.

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Rosenbloom (2005):
‘PA is the action part of government, the means by which
the proposes and goals of government are realised’

He argued the three view of the roles of PA consist of :

i. The managerial approach

ii. The political approach.

iii. The legal approach.

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i. The managerial approach.

• The executive function, that emphasizes the

management and organisation of public organisations
• Emphasize on the technique of POSDCRB
• It gives consideration to problems in organization
administration, personnel and administration
accountability
• Studies the staff behavior and action
• Tries different methods or procedure in work area.
• Public vs private sector approach.

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ii. The political approach.

• Legislative function of government

• To ensure constitutional protection
• Every public administrator must be unbiased in
politics and loyal in his work regardless which party is
in rule
• He needs to have an ability to work together with
politicians

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iii. The legal approach.

• Related to judicial function.

• Role of PA in applying and enforcing the law in
specific situations.
• Consider matters like duties, barrier, good behavior,
officer ability and right of citizen from the law
context
• The characteristics in the approach are language of
constitution, code of law, printed judicial decisions
and appealing body like state council

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1.2 CHARACTERISTICS (ELEMENTS) OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION

Most scholars do agree that the definition of PA

should consists of the following:

 Cooperative group efforts (of government servants) in a

public setting
 Covers all the three branches (Executive, Judiciary, and
Legislative branches) of the government
 Formulation of public policies
 Different structurally from private administration, but closely
associated with the numerous private groups in providing
services to the community

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1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.

1. The importance of PA as a knowledge-based field

 The importance is unquestionable because in the study

of PA one learns about government, its principles,
bureaucracy, LG and State government, political
parties, interest group etc.
 In short, an effective administration would make an
individual a good administrator responsible for the
running of state development programs and he would
require a clear understanding of the principles of PA

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1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION…cont

2. The importance of PA in a Democratic country

• Political scholars of PA such as Max Weber (1920), Luther and
Gullick (1937), Dwight Waldo (1953) etc have emphasized the
importance of the subject-matter of PA for good governance of a
Democratic country.
• Leonard D. white succinctly stated that:
“The immediate objective of the art of PA is the most efficient
utilization of resources at the disposal of officials and employees.
In their broader context, the ends of administration are the
ultimate objects of the State itself – the maintenance of peace and
order, the progressive achievement of justice, the instruction of
the promise of conflicting groups and interests – in short , the
attainment of the good life.”
• So it clear that PA is crucial to ensure a more efficient and effective
administration and management of state affairs, its resources, and
also well-being and prosperity of it, for the betterement of the
people especially in a Democratic country
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1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION…cont

3. The importance of PA to society

• The importance of PA to society is immense.
• A good and proper administration of state affairs (PA)
will ensure society many valuable development
programs and projects, incorruptible or morally upright
administrators, good leadership, and so on.
• In essence, the virtue of PA places great emphasis on
procedures, clear rules and regulations, transparency of
oders, impeachment of the leaders through laws and
commissions, and fair elections of selected leaders by
the people. thus., it was no wonder Abraham Lincoln
(1809- 1865) stated that:
“Government is of the people, by the people, for the
people.”
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1.3 POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION.
• The core of public administration is to generate policy
• Policy normally guides every action
• It provides a framework for every aim to achieve certain
objectives
• Administration refers to the process where the policy and
decision is implemented
• In government, the major part of administration is carried
out by the Executive branch
• Public policy is a goal, objective and manifestation of the
government.
• Policy and PA are interconnected.
• Formulation of public policy should be based on priority and
preference.
• PA is the medium between the government and the mass.

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1.5 ADMINISTRATION AND POLITICS

• The study of administration should be

dichotomized (separated) from the political
activities of their leaders 9or politicians).
• This is to ensure a fair and neutral treatment of
the goods and services (programs) of the
government to the needy citizens.
• If there is no such dichotomization, then only
those who support the ruling political party will
get all or most of the benefits.

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1.6 THE CONCEPT OF DICHOTOMY
Dichotomy can be defined as :
‘A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two
non-overlapping parts’
• In other words, it is a bipartition of elements which
are mutually exclusive, nothing can belong
simultaneously to both parts, and everything must
belong to one part or the other. The two ways to
partition elements are themselves a dichotomy. They
are either complements (subdivision creating
subsets) or opposites.
‘Separation of two entities that are opposed entirely and
different form each other’
• Separation refers to between administration and
politics.
• Administrator as an agent of development should not
be influenced by any political sentiments

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• Administrators should not involved in
politics because :

i. Administrator is a people that responsible

to protect the PA.

ii. Timeframe limitation of a politician.

(Direct vs. Indirect Representatives)

"In whatever the situation, civil servants shall act

fairly and impartially, with integrity
and always in the interest of the public."
-Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Bin Hj. Hassan

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1.6.1 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PA & POLITICS

• Power
• Structure
• Purpose
• Office Tenure
• Activities

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1.7 DIFFERENCES OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.
KEY CHARACTERISTICS PUBLIC ORGANISATION
Ownership Belongs to government
Resources Mostly from the taxes
collected from the people
Objectives To serve the public or
people in the society
System of Accountability To the superior, and also to
the public
Size and complexity It is the largest
organization, and dominant
force of the country
Rules & governance. Federal Constitution
PRIVATE ORGANISATION
Belongs to private
ownership, e.g
shareholders
Resources are limited to
only the owners,
shareholders, and
stakeholders
To maximize profits
Accountable to only the
owner and shareholders
It operates on a narrow
and specialized range of
activities
Company Act 1965
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 CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBLIC AND
PRIVATE SECTORS.

PUBLIC SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR

CHARACTERISTICS: CHARACTERISTICS:

FUNDED BY TAXES, FUNDED BY PRIVATE

BORROWING, AND INVESTORS
GOVERNMENT ALLOCATION. PRIVATELY OWNED AND
PUBLICLY OWNED AND VS CONTROLLED
CONTROLLED. CREATED BY PRIVATE
CREATED BY GOVERNMENT INVESTORS TO EARN MONEY
TO ADMINISTER A PUBLIC FOR INVESTORS.
SERVICE. SEEK PROFITS
DO NOT SEEK PROFITS PAY TAXES.
DO NOT PAY TAXES

Source: Henry, (2004), Public Administration and Public Affairs 9th Edition,
Pearson Education Inc., New Jersey,. pp 332

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 SIMILARITIES

i. Subject to government’s regulations.

ii. Involved in administration.
iii. Effective management.
iv. Efficient utilization of resources.
v. Element of cooperation and esprit de
corps.

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1.8 ROLES 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.

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1.8 ROLES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION...cont

• 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. 28