Classical and Contemporary Theories and Concepts of Public

Organization

Historical roots of Public administration in Pakistan

Week 4
20 April 22
Ref: Chapter 2: Administrative Theories in Public Administration in
Globalizing World: Theories and Practices by Bidyut Chakrabarty and
Prakash Chand
 Today’s agenda
• Classical and Contemporary Theories and Concepts of Public
Organization;
• Traditional Public Administration;
• New Public Administration;
• New Public Management;
• Governance Approach to Public Administration;
• New Public Service.

• Public Administration in Pakistan - Historical Perspective

 Theories in Public Administration
• Classical Organization Theory

• Scientific Management Theory

• Bureaucratic Theory

• Human Relation Theory

Managerial Approach to Public
Administration
PA is an executive function which is similar to that of
management of any large public/private organization.

1. Traditional PA: It has 3 values (3Es)

 Economy
 Efficiency (Division of labour)
 Effectiveness (No political influence/fairness)
 Managerial Approach to Public
Administration
2. New Public Administration: it has 2 value;
 Cost effectiveness.
 Responsiveness to citizens.
Prominent Theorists: Woodrow Wilson
• Woodrow Wilson (1856 – 1924) was an American
politician and academic. Known as father of public
administration.
 Prominent Theorists: Henri Fayol
• Henri Fayol (1841 –1925) was a French mining engineer,
mining executive, author and director of mines who
developed a general theory of business administration.

• His theory “specialization promotes efficiency of the

workforce and increases productivity.”
 Prominent Theorists: Frederick Winslow Taylor
• Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856 – 1915) was an American
mechanical engineer.

• He was widely known for his methods to improve industrial

efficiency. In The Principles of Scientific Management, he
proposed that by optimizing and simplifying jobs,
productivity would increase.
 Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management

1. Using scientific methods to determine and standardize the

one best way of doing a job (replace Rule of Thumb).

2. A clear division of tasks and responsibilities.

3. High pay for high-performing employees.

4. A hierarchy of authority and strict surveillance of

employees.
 Prominent Theorist: Max Weber
• Maximilian Karl Emil Weber  (1864 – 1920) was a
German sociologist, historian, and political economist,
who is regarded among the most important theorists on
the development of modern Western society.
 Weber’s Bureaucratic Model
• Bureaucracy is based on the general principle of precisely
defined and organized across-the-board competencies of
the various offices which are underpinned by rules, laws, or
administrative regulations.
 Weber’s Bureaucratic Model
• Bureaucratic administration in the Public and Private Sector share 3
characteristics:
1. A rigid division of labor is established that clearly identifies regular tasks
and duties.
2. Regulations describe firmly established chains of command and the
duties and capacity to coerce others to comply.
3. Hiring people with particular, certified qualifications supports regular and
continuous execution of the assigned duties.
 Weber’s Bureaucratic Principles
• Specialized roles.

• Merit based recruitment.

• Uniform principles of placement, promotion, and transfer.

• Systematic career/salary structure.

• Hierarchy, responsibility and accountability

 Weber’s Bureaucratic Principles
• Subjection of official conduct to strict rules of discipline and
control.

• Supremacy of rules.

• Political neutrality.
New Public Administration (NPA)
 New Public Administration (NPA)
• During 1960s, US society faced a number of problems.

• There were intellectual questions on county’s efficacy of

political and administrative system.
 New Public Administration (NPA)
• As a result of a number conferences, publications of books
(e.g, Public Administration in a time of turbulence),
concept of NPA emerged.

• It argued that PA should be “sensitive and concerned for

societal problems.”
 Four Themes of NPA
1. Relevance: Traditional PA was more concerned with
efficiency and economy, which as per NPA is less
concerned with contemporary issues. It suggested radical
change in the curriculum to include realities of public life.
 Four Themes of NPA
2. Values: NPA rejected value-neutral position and suggested
the cause of disadvantaged section of the society should be
explicitly stated.

3. Social Equity: Pub administrators should be empathetic

to the needs of under-privileged segment of the society.

4. Change: Actively work for social change.

New Public Management (NPM)
 New Public Management (NPM)
• Concept of NPM was introduced during 1980s.

• Many stakeholders, such as the media, the public, and

private corporations questioned the role of the state due to
its failure in various areas.
 New Public Management (NPM)
• Traditional PA is associated with the implementation
of rules and procedures whereas business
administration is associated with achievements and
performance.
 New Public Management (NPM)
• The rise of the public choice theory that explains social
phenomena from individual freedom and preferences in
the UK and in the US reiterated the need for a drastic
reform of public services.
 New Public Management (NPM)
• These include in education due to worsening academic
outcomes; in public safety because of rising crime and
violence; and in agriculture etc.
 New Public Management (NPM)
• There was an increasing academic and public criticism of
bureaucracy. Bureaucrats, maximize their departmental budgets
and increase regulation as a way to legitimize their role; politicians
succumb to interest groups to be re-elected, which results in a
crowding effect of the public sector at the expense of he private
sector.

• Media demand for transparency was another factor.

 New Public Management (NPM)
• NPM entails decentralization of decisions within public
service, incentivization or economic motivations to
enhance public sector efficiency, and desegregation or
splitting large bureaucracies into smaller more
manageable entities.
 New Public Management (NPM)
• NPM intended to use market forces to serve public
needs.

• NPM seeks to incorporate the principles of private

management in PA. It takes what and why from public
administration and how from business management.
 Main Features of NPM
• Emphasis on adoption of managerial practices of private
sector in Public Administration.

• Promotion of competition within public sector.

 Main Features of NPM
• Priority of results over procedures.

• Formulation of explicit standards of performance

measurement.

• A shift from policy to management.

• Parsimony in allocation of resources.

Contemporary Theories and Concepts
of Public Administration
• During 20th century, mainstream model of public
administration was articulated by writers as Woodrow
Wilson, Max Weber, Fayol, Taylor.

• PA in the 21st century is undergoing dramatic change,

especially in advanced economies, but also in many parts
of the developing world.
Governance Approach to Public
Administration
• Connotation of Government is:
• the activity or process of governing;
• a condition of ordered rule;
• those people charged with the duty of governing;
• the manner, method or system by which a particular
society is governed.
 Governance Approach to Public Administration
• Connotation of Governance is:
• the minimal state.
• as corporate governance.
• as the new public management.
• as good governance.
 Good Governance
• an efficient public service;

• an independent judicial system and legal framework to

enforce contracts;

• the accountable administration of public funds;

 Good Governance
• an independent public auditor, responsible to a representative
legislature;

• respect for the law and human rights at all levels of

government;

• a pluralistic institutional structure, and

• a free press.
New Public Management
 New Public Management

• The New Public Management has championed a vision

of public managers as the entrepreneurs of a new,
leaner, and increasingly privatized government,
emulating not only the practices but also the values of
business.
New Public Service
 New Public Service
New Public Service is a movement built on work in
democratic citizenship, community and civil society, and
organizational humanism and discourse theory.

Prominent proponents of New Public Service are Robert

Denhardt and Janet Denhardt.
 New Public Service
New Public Service suggests that the primary role of the
public servant is to help citizens articulate and meet their
shared interests rather than to attempt to control or steer
society.
 Roots of the New Public Service
Contemporary precursors of the New Public
Service are as under:
• Theory of Democratic Citizenship.
• Models of Community and Civil Society.
• Organizational Humanism and Discourse Theory.
 Theory of Democratic Citizenship

• Public administrators should see citizens as citizens

(rather than merely as voters, clients, or customers);

• they should share authority and reduce control, and;

• they should trust in the efficacy of collaboration.

 Theory of Democratic Citizenship

• Moreover, in contrast to managerialist calls for greater

efficiency, public managers seek greater responsiveness
and a corresponding increase in citizens’ trust.

• This perspective directly undergirds the New Public

Service.
 Models of Community and Civil Society

• Democratic tradition depends on the existence of

engaged citizens, active in all sorts of groups,
associations, and governmental units. Collectively, these
small groups constitute a “civil society” in which people
need to work out their personal interests in the context
of community concerns.
 Models of Community and Civil Society

• Government can play an important and critical role in

creating, facilitating, and supporting these connections
between citizens and their communities.
 Organizational Humanism and Discourse
Theory
• Public organizations should be less dominated by issues of authority and
control and more attentive to the needs and concerns of employees
inside public organizations as well as those outside, especially clients and
citizens.

• Governance must be based on sincere and open discourse among all

parties, including citizens and administrators.
New Public Management versus New Public Service

• The NPM has championed a vision of public managers as the

entrepreneurs of a new, leaner, and increasingly privatized
government, emulating not only the practices but also the
values of business. “steer rather than row”

• Proponents of the NPM have developed their arguments

largely through contrasts with the old public administration.
New Public Management versus New Public Service
• New Public Service, is a movement built on work in democratic
citizenship, community and civil society, and organizational
humanism and discourse theory. “Serving rather than
Steering”

• In New Public Service, the primary role of the public servant is

to help citizens articulate and meet their shared interests
rather than to attempt to control or steer society.
Practical lessons suggested by New Public Service
1. Serve, rather than steer. An increasingly important role of the public
servant is to help citizens articulate and meet their shared interests, rather
than to attempt to control or steer society in new directions.

2. The public interest is the aim, not the by-product. Public administrators
must contribute to building a collective, shared notion of the public
interest. The goal is not to find quick solutions driven by individual choices.
Rather, it is the creation of shared interests and shared responsibility.
 Practical lessons suggested by New Public Service
3. Think strategically, act democratically. Policies and programs meeting public needs
can be most effectively and responsibly achieved through collective efforts and
collaborative processes. Government should consider long term interest and be sensitive
to the voices of citizens.

4. Serve citizens, not customers. The public interest results from a dialogue about shared

values, rather than the aggregation of individual self-interests. Therefore, public servants

do not merely respond to the demands of “customers,” but focus on building

relationships of trust and collaboration with and among citizens.

 Practical lessons suggested by New Public Service
5. Accountability isn’t simple. Public servants should be attentive to more
than the market; they should also attend to statutory and constitutional law,
community values, political norms, professional standards, and citizen
interests.

6. Value people, not just productivity. Public organizations and the networks
in which they participate are more likely to succeed in the long run if they are
operated through processes of collaboration and shared leadership based on
respect for all people.
 Practical lessons suggested by New Public Service
7. Value citizenship and public service above entrepreneurship. The public
interest is better advanced by public servants and citizens committed to
making meaningful contributions to society rather than by entrepreneurial
managers acting as if public money were their own.
 Comparison: Old Pub Adm, New Pub Mgmt & New Pub Svc
Old Pub Adm New Pub Mgmt New Pub Svc

Primary theoretical and Political theory, social and Economic theory, more Democratic theory, varied
epistemological foundation political commentary sophisticated dialogue based approaches to knowledge
on positivist social science including positive, interpretive
and critical
Prevailing rationality and Synoptic rationality Technical and economic Strategic or formal rationality,
associated models of “administrative man” rationality, “economic man” multiple tests of rationality
human behaviour or the self interested decision (political, economic and
maker organizational)
Conception of pub interest Pub interest is politically Pub interest represents the Public interest is the result of a
defined and expressed in aggregation of individual dialogues about shared values
law interests
To whom are pub servants Clients and constituents Customers Citizens
responsive

Role of govt Rowing (designing and Steering (acting as a catalyst Serving (negotiating and
implementing policies to unleash market forces) brokering interests among
focusing on politically citizens and community groups,
defined objective creating shared values)
 Comparison: Old Pub Adm, New Pub Mgmt & New Pub Svc
Old Pub Adm New Pub Mgmt New Pub Svc

Mechanisms for Administering programs through Creating mechanisms and Building coalitions of public,
achieving policy existing government agencies incentive structures to nonprofit, and private agencies
objectives achieve policy objectives to meet mutually agreed upon
through private and needs
nonprofit agencies
Approach to Hierarchical—administrators are Market-driven—the Multifaceted—public servants
accountability responsible to democratically accumulation of self-interests must attend to law, community
elected political leaders will result in outcomes values, political norms,
desired by broad groups of professional standards, and
citizens (or customers) citizen interests
Limited discretion allowed Wide latitude to meet Discretion needed but
Administrative administrative official entrepreneurial goals constrained and accountable
discretion
Assumed organizational Bureaucratic organizations Decentralized public Collaborative structures with
structure marked by top-down authority organizations with primary leadership shared internally
within agencies and control or control remaining within the and externally
regulation of clients agency
Assumed motivational Pay and benefits, civil-service Entrepreneurial spirit, Public service, desire to
basis of public servants protections ideological desire to reduce contribute to society
and administrators size of government
History of Public Administration in
Pakistan
 Evolution of Public Administration in
India
• In 1872 the East India Company started administering the revenue collection
and regulating the civil service in three states of Indian sub-continent.

• To educate, train and shape early lives of locally recruited public

administrators, Fort William College was established in 1800 in Calcutta.

• However, just after six years in 1806 The Company decided to establish
another superior college called Haileybury in England and restricted the role
of Fort William to train in oriental languages only.
Thomas Babington Macaulay’s education philosophy for
Colonial Administrators (1835)
“We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters
between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in
blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect.
To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country,
to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from western
nomenclature, and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying
knowledge to the great mass of the population.”
Evolution of Public Administration in India
• Public administrators (civil servants) were not accountable to any
elected body or people‘s representative but direct servants of the
Crown.

• Public administrators (civil servants) were ‘political bureaucracy’ not

only maintaining the administration of the district, but also taking
decisions on a variety of political, social, economic and judicial issues.
Performance of British Indian Civil Service
• In 1700, India was one of the richest countries of the world with 27% share in
global economy; in 1800, it was 23%.

• British Indian Civil Service was loyal to British Crown and highly exploitative
for locals.

• Drained India with high taxes during 200 years rule.

• Indian economy was reduced to 3% of global economy, 90% population living

below poverty line, literacy rate of 17%.

• Economic growth rate from 1900-1947 was 0.001%.

Performance of British Indian Civil Service
• In Bengal famine of 1943, nearly 4.3 million Indians died; Churchill
government’s exploitative policies.

• Muslims were least represented in government service, e.g; in Bengal

representation of Muslims was:
Department Hindu Muslim
Asst Govt Engineers 14 0
Public Works 24 1
Accounts 50 0

• First university in the sub continent was established in Calcutta in 1858.

• 250 students graduated in 1865; only 12 were Muslims.

 History of Public Administration in Pakistan
In 1947 Pakistan inherited this steel-frame of the British Administrative
system, which was adopted by Pakistan with minor adjustments.
The Indian Civil Services (ICS) cadre was renamed the Pakistan
Administrative Service (PAS) in 1947 and from 1950 it is known as Civil
Services of Pakistan (CSP).
Pakistan‘s inherited of a weak and inexperienced political leadership to
run the affairs of the new state. The British trained and organised civil
service started performing their role immediately.
History of Public Administration in
Pakistan
• At partition, only 157 officers (including 95 Muslims) from the total
number of 1,157 ICS officers decided to join services in Pakistan.

• The main reason for such a low Muslims representation in the ICS was
their traditional anti western education stance, which kept them
handicapped from joining the ICS. (In 1835, when British introduced
modern education, 8000 Ulema said no to this western education).
 Quaid e Azam’s guiding principles for the civil servants
(1948)
“The services are the backbone of the state. Governments are formed, Governments are
defeated, Prime Ministers come and go, Ministers come and go, but you stay on and
therefore there is a very great responsibility placed on your shoulders. You should have no
hand in supporting any political party or leader. This is not your business. Whichever
government is formed according to the constitution, and whoever happens to be the Prime
Minister coming into power in the ordinary constitutional course, your duty is only to serve
that government loyally and faithfully, but at the same time, to fearlessly maintaining your
high reputation, your prestige, your honour and the integrity of your service.
Cont…
 Quaid e Azam’s guiding principles for the civil
servants (1948) ….Cont

I wish also to take the opportunity of impressing upon our leaders and
politicians in the same way, that if they ever try to interfere with you and bring
political pressure to bear upon you, which leads to nothing but corruption,
bribery and nepotism - which is a horrible disease and for which not only your
province but others, too, are suffering - if they try to interfere with you in this
way, I say they are doing nothing but disservice to Pakistan.”
 History of Public Administration in
Pakistan
• There was expansion in departments. To make up deficiency of the officers, in
1952 strong exceptions to candidates‘ education and suitability were provided to
make them eligible for joining the public service of Pakistan.

• Civil servants got involved in corruption; e.g. in 1952 case was registered against
1,134 persons, including 735 civil servants on the charges of Hoarding and Black-
marketing.

• For the first time, the prestige and clean character of Pakistan civil service was
tarnished in a desire of joining the rich class of the Pakistani society.
 History of Public Administration in Pakistan
• Since then the state bureaucracy has not been able to regain respect in the eyes of
common citizens and it is considered to be an ineffective, unresponsive and corrupt
institution.

• Again, in 1969 again, 303 class-I (including very senior) gazetted officers were suspended
by then President on the charges of corruption, misuse of power and misconduct.

• In the country‘s post split scenario of 1971 some 1,300 civil servants were compulsorily
retired by the then Prime Minister Mr. Z. A. Bhutto, who blamed bureaucracy for the
country‘s many ills.
Z. A. Bhutto about Pakistan’s Bureaucracy
“No institution in the country has so lowered the quality of our national
life as to what is called Naukarshahi [bureaucratic rule]. It has done so
by imposing a caste system on our society. It has created a class of
Brahmins‘ or mandarins, unrivalled in its snobbery and arrogance,
insulated from life of the people and incapable of identifying itself with
them.”
 History of Public Administration in Pakistan
• He initiated the first ever comprehensive reforms of the PPS in 1973 and
thereafter a number of attempts were made by various governments to
bring improvements.

• However, instead of improving, the situation kept on deteriorating and

PPS became an alleged source of red-tape, corruption and financial
burden.
 History of Public Administration in
Pakistan
• Pakistan‘s civil servants are widely seen as unresponsive, corrupt and the
bureaucratic procedures are cumbersome and exploitative.

• Almost all the Governments since its independence have recognised this
and various scattered attempts have been made in to improve the
performance of the public sector as Governments greatly relies on their
executing hand for the conversion of their policies into action.
History of Public Administration in
Pakistan
• More than 20 studies have been made on administrative reform by
different government committees and commissions.

• These reports proposed a number of actions to makes changes to the

country‘s administrative system.

• Most of these attempts remained on the shelves owing to frequent

switchovers between political setups or military takeovers i.e political
instability (controlled chaos).
 History of Public Administration in Pakistan
• 1948-1971 formation period of just after independence: during which the focus
remained largely on the establishment of basic government departments and
their governing rules to run the affairs of the country.

• 1973-1990 consolidation period in the country‘s post split scenario.

• 1990- onwards NPM-inspired reforms have been initiated by various

governments to recover Pakistan from deep-rooted fiscal problems and improve
its public sector functioning, but no substantial achievement could be made.
 History of Public Administration in
Pakistan
• From the year 2000 the Military led government in Pakistan, with the
assistance of International developing partners, paid special attention to
modernise its public sector under the agenda of good governance.

• These institutional reforms were arguably aimed at accelerating growth

and poverty reduction, particularly in the areas of tax administration;
financial management, procurement, and devolution of power to local
governments.
 History of Public Administration in
Pakistan
• Since its inception in 1947, Pakistan has made successive but unproductive attempts
to reform its public sector.

• The espoused aim of these reforms has been to create a more responsive,
transparent, efficient and affordable public sector; so as to improve the quality of
services and strengthen the national economy.

• The weaknesses or failures of traditional state bureaucracy such as its monopolistic

nature, unmanageable size, managerial inefficiency, public inaccessibility, economic
inertia and self serving agenda are the most common explanations.
 Questions?

Clarifications?