POL SC HELP

MA Entrance Series

50 Most Important MCQ

Public Administration
Administrative Thinkers
Useful For DUET, JNUEE, UGC-NET,
Other Entrance Tests & Competitions
Before we start; plz note
• Colour of the question shows the difficulty level
• Green Bold: Easy to Medium
• Violet Bold : Medium to Tough
• Maroon: Tough,
• Additional Information in Yellow Highlighted Box

• Will not discuss all question; you should just read them
• Video is long but very useful if you have patience
 Which of these are not related to F.W.Taylor
(A) Piece Rate system
(B) Art of cutting metal Other concepts developed by Taylor
(C) Functional foremanship Shop management, time management, principles of management
(D) None of the above
D (Correct Answer)

Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?

Ideas Administrative Thinkers
(A) Human relation approach Elton Mayo
(B) Bounded rationality Herbert Simon
(C) PODSCORB Henri Fayol
(D) Scientific management Principle F.W.Taylor

C(Correct Answer); PODSCORB- Luther Gulick

Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?

Ideas Administrative Thinkers
(A) Satisficing Herbert Simon
(B) Workers as Social Man Elton Mayo
(C) Workers as machine F.W.Taylor
(D) Bureaucratic theory of organisation Henri Fayol
D(Correct Answer); Bureaucratic Theory- Weber
Which of these is not considered as part or components of New Public Administration (NPA)
(A) No to value Neutrality- Value laden and Normative
(B) Politics-Administration’ Dichotomy
(C) Social Equity
(D) Public Administrator as social change agent
D (Correct Answer)

Which one of the following is not one of the 4 D’s of NPA

A) Decision-making A(Correct Answer); 4th is democratization
(B) Decentralization
(C) democratization
(D) Decentralization

B(Correct Answer);
Who was considered main force behind the NPA movement?
A) Herbert Kaufman
(B) Dwight waldo
Other Components of NPA
(C) H. George Frederickson
Client Orientation: citizen centric administration; Relevant, flexible,
(D) Herbert Simon
agile, responsive, and adaptive ; Decentralization, Delegation,
democratization, de-bureaucratization
Which of these are not related Classical era of Public Administration in which focus was on
development of science of administration- scientific management, and universal principles
of administration?
(A) Herbert Simon
Other classical administrative Thinkers
(B) F.W. Taylor
Weber, Willoughby, L.D.White
(C) Henry Fayol
(D) Gulick & Urwick A (Correct Answer)

Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?

Ideas Administrative Thinkers
(A) fourteen principles of Management Henry Fayol
(B) Principles of Public Administration - Willoughby
(C) Administrative Behaviour Herbert Simon
(D) Principles of management- Max Weber

D(Correct Answer);
Which one of the following is not part of the Scientific Management as given by Taylor?
(A) Treating worker as social man embedded in his community/society and family.
(B) Science, not rule of Thumb
(C) Scientific Selection, training and development of workers
(D) Division of labour and responsibility between management and workers: Harmony, not discord

A(Correct Answer);
 Which of these are not features of scientific management by F.W.Taylor
(A) Uniform rate of payment
(B) Separation of planning and execution/operation Other features:
(C) 4 planning foreman and 4 4 execution foreman- • Scientific analysis of time, motion, workflow, tools, implements,
(D) Person as machine etc. to increase labour productivity
• Greater responsibility on managers
A (Correct Answer)
• ‘Differential rate’ or ‘Piece-rate’ system : Workers paid higher or
lower based on amount of job done
Which one of the following is not a type of authority
described by Weber?
A) Traditional
BCorrect Answer);
(B) Feudal
(C) Charismatic
(D) Rational-Legal

Which one of the following is not features of ideal type of

Other features:
Bureaucracy by Weber?
• Hierarchical authority structure
(A) based on ‘Rational-Legal’ Authority
• Recruitment and promotions based on merit
(B) Division of labour: Expertise: high degree of specialization
: skill, ability, knowledge, expertise
(C) non- Hierarchical authority structure
• Development of a career service
(D) Impersonal relationship among bureaucrats and
• ‘Supports Politics-Administration Dichotomy
bureaucracy and citizen/client
CCorrect Answer);
 Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?
Administrative Thinker Books
(A) Max Weber Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
(B) L.D.White Shop Management
(C) Elton Mayo The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization
(D) F.W.Taylor On the Art of Cutting Metals
B (Correct Answer) L D White wrote:Introduction to the Study of Public
Administration
Who wrote Toward a New Public Administration: Minnowbrook Experiment

(A) Dwight Waldo

(B) F. Marini
(C) Herbert Kaufman
(D) H. George Frederickson
B(Correct Answer)

Which is not one of the principles of management by Fayol?

(A) Unity of Command
(B) Subordination of Individual Interest
(C) Span of control
(D) Scalar Chain C(Correct Answer)
Which of these Public Administration thinkers condemned ‘principles of administration’ by
classical thinkers, such as Taylor, Fayol, Urwick, etc. as non-scientific- mere proverbs

(A) Herbert Simon Simon: Started his career in public administration, won Nobel prize
(B) Peter Drucker in economics, and worked extensively in computers- IA
(C) Fred Riggs A (Correct Answer)
(D) Elton Mayo

Which one of the following is Not correct about administrative thoughts of Herbert
Simon?
(A) He was deeply influenced by Vienna school of logical positivism
(B) He advocated for separation of fact and values. only facts based science of
administration can be universally valid
(C) For him, administration is all about decision making. Decisions are as important as
actions. Actions are nothing but decision outcomes.
D(Correct Answer); all A,B,C are correct
(D) None of the above

Which one of the following is not an step in rational decision making as given by Simon?
A) Scanning
(B) Intelligence
(C) Design
(D)Choice A(Correct Answer); all A,B,C are correct
Which of these are not the features of Rational Decision making as given by Simon?
(A) Means-Ends logic: Rational decision is selecting best MEANS/Alternatives to reach agreed-upon END/Goal
(B) Value-fact dichotomy : Selection of end/goal are based on value judgment, whereas selections of means/alternatives
on factual judgment
(C) Rational Choice assume bounded rationality on part of the decision maker.
(D) More weightage to facts: Decisions, that is, choosing alternatives, should always be based upon factual judgment
C (Correct Answer): rational choice assume
Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ? comprehensive rationality
Decision maker Attribute
(A) economic Man Maximizes (utility)
(B) Administrative Man Bounded rationality
(C) Administrative Man Satisfices- good enough decisions
(D) Administrative Man Intendedly irrational
D(Correct Answer); Intendedly rational

Which one of the following is an incorrect reasons or factors for bounded rationality of
administrative Man, as per Herbert Simon ?
A) Incomplete Information of the problem, alternatives, and consequences
(B) Administrative Man being intendedly irrational
B(Correct Answer); Intendedly rational
(C) Limited time and cognitive ability to process information
(D) Structural /organizational constraints- organization norm, culture, communication gap
 Which of these Administrative Thinkers has given the concept of Incrementalism in decision making?
(A) Charles E. Lindblom
(B) Herbert Simon
(C) Michael D. Cohen
A(Correct Answer): Cohen- Garbage Can Model; Kingdon-
(D) John W Kingdon
Multiple Stream Theory

Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?

Administrative Thinker Book
(A) Herbert Simon Administrative Behaviour
(B) Dwight Waldo The Administrative State
(C) Peter Drucker Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices
(D) Fred Riggs A Reader in Bureaucracy
D(Correct Answer); Fred Riggs wrote
‘The ecology of public administration’

Which one of the following Administrative thinker is best known for giving ecological theory of
Public Administration ?
A) Robert Dahl
(B) John Merriman Gaus C(Correct Answer);
(C) Fred Riggs
(D) Robert King Merton
 Which of these is not one of the societal model given by Fred Riggs as part of his ecological theory of Public
Administration ?
(A) Dispersed
(B) Fused A (Correct Answer):
(C) Diffracted
(D) Prismatic

Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?

Societal structure Features
(A) Fused Single structure all functions
(B) Diffracted One function, multiple structure
(C) Prismatic Overlapping in structure and functions
(D) Diffracted Separate structure for each function

B(Correct Answer);

As per Fred Riggs Indian societal structure and therefore its Public Administration is best
represented by which of his model?
A) Dispersed
(B) Fused D(Correct Answer);
(C) Diffracted
(D) Prismatic
Which of these is not one of the features of Prismatic model of Public Administration as given by Fred Riggs ?
(A) In-formalism
(B) Formalism
(C) Overlapping
(D) Heterogeneity A (Correct Answer):

Formalism in Prismatic model of Public Administration means

A) Excessive focus on rules and regulations
(B) Excessive formal approach in handling public grievances.
(C) Gap between Rules/Regulation and their actual application in given situation.
(D) Rigid rules and regulations, leaving no scope for decisions suited to particular situation
C(Correct Answer);

Overlapping in Prismatic model of Public Administration means

A) One function performed by many structure
(B) One structure performs many functions
(C) Both the above
(D) None of the above C(Correct Answer);
Which of these is NAME given by Fred Riggs to the traditional non-market economy in Prismatic Society?

(A) ‘Hat’ market

(B) ‘Bazar’ market
(C) ‘Bazar’ Canteen C (Correct Answer):
(D) ‘canteen’ market

Which of these is name given by Fred Riggs to Administrative sub-system in Prismatic Society?

(A) Bureau
(B) Sala
(C) Chamber
(D) Clects B(Correct Answer);

Which of the countries may not reflect Fred Rigg’s Prismatic model of Public Administration?
A) India
(B) Thailand
(C) UK C(Correct Answer);
(D) Philippines
 Who is the author of the book Innovation and Entrepreneurship
(A) Peter Drucker
(B) Herbert Simon
(C) Fred Riggs
A (Correct Answer):
(D) Max Weber

Which of these is Not one of the Entrepreneurial Strategies given by Peter Drucker ?

(A) Fustest with the Mostest

(B) Cost leadership
(C) Creative Imitation
(D) Entrepreneurial Judo
B(Correct Answer); 4th
strategy- "ecological niche”
Which of these is Not correct about Entrepreneurship as given by Peter Drucker
A) Entrepreneurs create something new , something different
(B) they don’t do existing thing better, they do different thing
(C) It is intuitive; comes as personality trait.
(D) It can be learnt and practiced C(Correct Answer);
 Which one is not one of the the Hawthorne experiments
(A Relay assembly test room
(B) Survey for Human Attitude and Sentiments
(C) Gang boss experiment C (Correct Answer):
(D) The Bank Wiring Experiments

Which of these is Not correct about Experiments by Elton Mayo in Hawthorne plant ?
(A) It was carried out between 1924-32 ; led by Mayo, supported by Roethlisberger and Dickson in
the in the Hawthorne plant of Western Electrical Company near Chicago, USA
(B) Most of these experiments were failed to give any conclusive results but mayo used them to
propound his human relation theory.
(C) The fact that workers were aware of them being observed might have changed their attitude
and behaviour.
(D) None of the above.
D(Correct Answer)
Which of these is Not correct about Human relation approach as given by Elton Mayo?
A) Working condition- light, heat, break for rest, etc- may help increase productivity.
(B) Instead of behaving as ‘Economic Man’, worker, most of the time, behaves as ‘Social Man’
(C) purely economic incentives- wage rate, bonus, good working conditions- may not be the only
motivating factors
(D) Instead of treating worker as mere cog in the machine, the management should treat worker as A(Correct Answer);
unique individual embedded in his social settings both at the work place and at his home
 Which book helped in emergence of New Public Management( NPM)
(A ‘Re-inventing Government’ by Osborne and Gaebler
(B) ‘Creating Public Value’ by Mark Moore
(C) ‘New Public Management’ by Jan-Eric-Lane A (Correct Answer):
(D) ‘Origin and theoretical basis of New Public Management’ by Gernod Gruening

Which of these is Not correct about NPM?

(A) Market based approach, private sector management style in public administration
(B) Citizen as customer; Government as service provider to the citizen/customer
(C) Steer not row: Government to allow pvt sector provide services under regulation by
Government.
(D) Social equity
D(Correct Answer);
Which of these Buzzwords is Not associated with NPM?

(A) Competition
(B) Efficiency, Economy, Value for money
(C) Contracting out
(D) centralisation D(Correct Answer);
Who are pioneer in propounding New Public Service( NPS) Approach in Public Administration
(A Janet Denhart
(B) Robert B. Denhardt
(C) Both the above C (Correct Answer):
(D) Michael J. Sandel

Which of these is Not correct about New Public Service Approach?

(A) Public Administration to Serve rather than ‘Steer’

(B) Citizen as Citizen, not customer- engaged, participating in goal setting and their achievements
(C) Complex Accountability: Constitutional law, community values, political norms, professional
standards and ethics, and public interests
(D) All the above

D(Correct Answer);
Which of these Buzzwords is Not associated with NPM?

(A) Competition
(B) Efficiency, Economy, Value for money
(C) Contracting out
(D) centralisation D(Correct Answer);
Which is Not correct about the Governance approach?
(A Structures and processes by which agenda are set, decisions taken, policies are formulated and implemented
(B) Collaborative approach: It may involve multiple actors- Govt./state, private sector, NGOs/not for profit, MNCs,
Multilateral agencies, Civil Society, etc.
(C) The manner in which power is exercised in the management of country’s social and economic resources for
development.
(D) Governance and Government is same, can be used interchangeably C (Correct Answer):

Which of these report by an international organization brought good Governance on mainstream

of Public Administration discourse?
(A) 1992 report of World bank titled “Governance and Development”.
(B) 1996 report of UNDP, titled “Governance and Development”.
(C) Both the above
(D) 1994 report of IMF titled ‘ minimum Government: Maximum Government’.
A(Correct Answer);
Which of these is not one of the component of Good Governance?

(A) Rule of Law

(B) Transparent, Collaborative, Participative
(C) Efficiency, Economy, Value for money
C(Correct Answer);
(D) Social Equity and Inclusiveness
 Who authored the first text book on Public Administration ?
A. Herbert Simon
B. Dwight waldo C (Correct Answer): The book was ‘Introduction to the
C. L.D.White study of public administration’, by Leonard Dupee White
D. Henri Fayol in 1926

In Fayol’s 14 principles of Management, what is meant by ‘Unity of Command’?

(A) There must be only one superior to a subordinate

(B) There must not be more than one command structure in organization.
(C) Each employee should work for one unfired purpose of the organization.
(D) All the above.
A(Correct Answer);

Who coined the POSDCORB?

(A) Luther Gulick

(B) Lyndall Urwick
(C) Both the above
(D) None of the above A(Correct Answer);
Who among the following summarizes the themes of new public administration under five
heads relevance values social equity change and client focus?
(A) Frank Marini
(B) Dwight waldo Frank Marini wrote ‘Toward a New Public Administration:
(C) F.W. Taylor Minnowbrook Experiment’
(D) L.D.White A (Correct Answer)

Match the items in two column?

Stages in evolution of Public Administration Period
(A) Identity crisis 1938-47
(B) principles of administration 1927-37
(C) Era of challenge 1887-1926
(D) Politics-Administration Dichotomy 1948-70

Which one of the following is an incorrect ?

(A) 1st Minnowbrook conference helped bring NPA discourse D(Correct Answer);
nd
(B) 2 Minnowbrook conferences helped bring NPM discourse
(C)3rd Minnowbrook conferences was based on themes of NPS, Good Governance, Public
Administration in globalized world, etc
(D) All are correct
 THANKS FOR WATCHING!
PLZ SHARE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT

YOU CAN REACH TO ME

Website: POLSCHELP.IN

Email : DUPOLSCHELP2018@GMAIL.COM

Telegram Channel: https://t.me/polschelp

Twitter : @polschelp