Role of Public

Administration in
Modern Society
JOY S. CASTILLO – MATSS II
OBJECTIVES:
Discuss the role of Public Administration in
modern society
Explain the new role of public
administration, executive leadership of public
administration and public administration role
in designing policy.
Identify and explain the different approaches
of Public Administration
 A government survive when it provides good public
administration. Public administration is good when the people
find in the government the full expression of popular will.
Therefore the role of public administration in society, since the
dawn of organized government, revolves around the concept
of public service. Because of this, there is a need to explore
the nature of its commitment in contemporary society,
particularly the Philippines society, which is a at a stage where
the pace of its social and economic development is so rapid
that in the formulation of its national policies it should be
synchronized with world events.
1.The New Role of Public Administration
2.Executive
Leadership’s Role of Public
Administration
3.Public Administration’s Role in
Designing Policy
The New Role of Public Administration
Gradually more involved itself in national development,
particularly in its economic and social sphere.
Attainment of economy and efficiency in the public service
to that of serving as change agent in the task of nation-
building.
Contributing in shaping of both the aspirations and
expectations of the people in its efforts to improve their
quality of life.
Richard A. Johnson, Fremont E. Kast and James E.
Rosenzweig express the common dilemma of the
administrators as follows:
The organization takes many of its values from the broader
socio-cultural environment. A basic premise is that the
organization as a sub-system of society must accomplish
certain goals which are determined by the broader system. The
organization performs a function for the society and if it is to
be successful in receiving inputs, it must conform to social
requirements.
Professor of public administration Arsenio P. Talingdan:
The ends of public administration are the ultimate
objectives of the State itself. Public administration
expands with the development of public interests. As the
administrative system grows and becomes more
complex, the role of public administration expands. The
public service is one of the principal pivots where
people try to attain the good life.
The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, in its
concept of national economy and patrimony
provides in Section 19 of Article XII that:
The State shall regulate or prohibit private
monopolies when the public interests so requires.
No combinations in restraint of trade or unfair
competition shall be allowed.
 Executive Leadership’s Role of Public
Administration
A public administrator is not expected to have any part in policy
decisions.
He is expected not to influence or intervene in the process of making
the original decision. He is not expected to make the subsequent
decision to carry it out either.
Hecan fill the gap in solving the administrative problems of policy-
implementation by involving himself in its policy-formulation.
The politicians need information, which only the vast and practical
experience of public administrators can adequately supply.
Classification of multi-function of government:
1.Functions peculiar to the state
2.Functions for which the state is well-adapted
3.Functions for which the state is ill-adapted
4.Functions which the state is incapable of
performing
1. Functions peculiar to the state:
a) Maintenance of order
b) Attainment of justice
c) Protection of a system of property rights
d) Formation of administrative and foreign policies
2. Functions for which the state is well-
adapted:
a) Conservation of natural resources
b) Control of monopoly
c) The maintenance of public services such as parks,
play grounds, schools, and museums
d) Preservation of health
3. Functions for which the state is ill-adapted:
These will vary with the conditions, but in
general they are functions which do not serve the
need of the entire community such as religion
and literary and artistic production and
evaluation.
4. Functions which the state is incapable of
performing:
a) Control of people's opinions
b)Regulation of morality.
 Public Administration’s Role in
Designing Policy
 Along with its role in legislative leadership, the bureaucracy of public
administration plays the major role in a given policy issue when a
vacuum exists in the area.
Policy-making is "the prerogative of the political or elected actors in
government. As pointed out by Avery Leicerson and Fritz Morstein
Marx:
The primary organ or policy sanction is the legislature. In the main, it
lays down policy in general terms. For purposes of effective government
such general policy is usually done by administrative policy formulation
as a means of giving more precise expression to statutory directions
addressed to the executive branch.
The public administrator, particularly the city
administrator, has a dual responsibility. James M.
Banovetz and his colleagues explain it in this manner:
He is responsible, on one hand, for the provision of
effective organizational leadership: his is the task of
running a "taut ship" in directing the programs and
workers under his supervision. He is responsible, on the
other hand, to the public which he serves: as a
government employee, he is required to act in a manner
which meets common expectations regarding responsive
and responsible government.
 This responsibility to the public involves two
components: imbuing the organization with the
spirit of service in the public interest and
embodying in all actions an interpretation of the
public will. Neither, of course, is it an easy task.
• Inthe process of nation-building, some nations adopted
the authoritarian form of government of the countries
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN). Editorial writer and columnist Apolonio
Batalla points out that:
Some form of authoritarianism exists in all the
members of the group, and if we look a bit beyond the
bloc we will see that it is only Japan that does not have
an authoritarian government.
• The character, nature, and scope of public
administration are constantly changing. On this, Dell
Gillette Hitchner and William Henry Harbold point
out that:
The extent, organization, and procedures of public
administration itself are closely influenced by the
nature of the objectives being pursued and the social
conditions prevailing. Since these are not constant,
neither are the forms of administration.
Significant questions the of role of PA in
modern society:
1. How do the government cope with the public service requirements
of the predominantly countryside population?
2. How can the educational system and the government bridge the
gap between their efforts for human resources development and the
citizens' demands on their public administration structures?
3. How can the government sustain its efforts of nation building
without building its indigenous government resources, of which
public administration is a vital part?
Approaches in Public Administration

Constitutional-legal Approach:

It studies public administration from the view point of law. It

lays emphasis on the constitutional structure of public
administration. Its preoccupation has been with power,
sovereign and subsidiary. It has been concerned with offices,
with the stated duties, limitations, prerogatives and disabilities
of officers and with the legal obligations and rights of citizens.
Structural-descriptive Approach:

This approach studies public administration in terms of its

structure. It emphasizes the study of POSDCORB (Planning,
Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting and
Budgeting) techniques of administration. It studies
administrative organizations, personnel management and
financial administration.
Institutional Approach:
 The Institutional approach tries to establish the linkages
between the study of public administration and the
institutions of government. Its focus is on the study of the
structure and functioning of separate institutions and
organizations of the state – such as the executive, the
legislature, the departments, government corporations,
boards and commissions.
Behavioral Approach:

This approach refers to the scientific study of human

beings in diverse administrative settings. The subject
matter of this approach is human behavior and it
derives all conclusions there from. It tries to understand
why officials and public employees act as they do.
System Approach:
• A system set as internet connected elements that
function together tandem to make up whole being. So,
a system approach administration is describe as a
system comprising subsystem, structure, people,
action and interaction that enable it (administration or
organization) to perform a certain function. Every
system influences its subsystem and is also influenced
by its subsystem.
Contingency Approach:
• Contingency approach is also known as situational
approach, is a concept in management stating that there
is no one university applicable set of management
principle (rules) by which to manage organization.
• Organization are individually different, face different
situations (contingency variables) and require different
ways of managing. Contingency approach remain less
common than change management approach.