WHAT IS PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION?
Report By:
Ariane Joy P. Coronel
A Very Difficult Question
The field of public administration and the discipline of
Public Administration has always been challenged due
to its inherent complexity and dynamism within an
ever contested volatile environment.

Let us go through its development to be enlightened and

have a more or less clear idea of Public Administration
and public administration.
I. Development of the Study and
Understanding the Profession
De Tocqueville’s Contribution
Alexis Charles Henry Clevel De Tocqueville, a young
French magistrate, was the first to challenge the study
of public administration, particularly in America.
He recognized the need for a more serious study of
Public Administration.
The Progressive Movement: Wilson
and the Politics-Administration
Dichotomy
Patronage System (Spoils System) –
common practice in American public
administration.
Progressive Movement was born out of
dissatisfaction in the system at hand.
Civil Service and Professionalization
Pendleton Act of 1883 laid the foundation
of the merit system
The Progressive Movement: Wilson
and the Politics-Administration
Dichotomy
Woodrow Wilson – pioneered the
development of the dichotomy of
public administration.
“the field of administration is a field of business,
and must be removed from the hurry and strife of
politics”
Other scholars:
Leonard White
Frank Goodnow
The Science of Public Adminstration and
the Scientific Management Movement

The scientific approach emerged in

the belief that Public
Administration cannot be studied or
operationalized simply on the basis
of the dichotomy of politics and
administration.
The Science of Public Adminstration and
the Scientific Management Movement

Proponents:
Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick
(POSDCORB)
P - Planning
O- Organizing
S - Staffing
D- Directing
Co- Coordinating
R- Reporting
B- Budgeting
The Science of Public Adminstration and
the Scientific Management Movement

Proponents:
William F. Willoughby –
managerial functions
Frederick W. Taylor – problematic
of wastage and inefficiency
C.H. Garland – need to systematize
knowledge in admin. studies
The Science of Public Adminstration and
the Scientific Management Movement

Other Proponents:
F. Merson
Luther Gulick
Cyril Renwick
Marshall E. Dimock
John Pfiffner
Harvey Walker
Critique of the Scientific Management
Principles

Robert Dahl
Impossibility of excluding normative
considerations from administrative
inquiries
Concern for studying certain aspects of
human behaviour
Relevance to the social setting of
scientific methods
Critique of the Scientific Management
Principles

Herbert Simon
Systems approach
there is no “one best way” approach to Public
Administration
Other proponents:
 Wallace Sayre
 J.M. Gaus
 Nicholas Henry
 H. Stein
 Frederick Mosher
Dwight Waldo
Diversity of the Field of Public
Administration

Psychological Perspective
Behavioural Dynamics
Sociological Perspective
Bureaucratic behaviour and
performance
Organization Development Approach
Behavioural Science Knowledge and Public
Choice Model
Kuhn Influence and the Scientific
Revolution

Thomas Kuhn
Anatomy of changes in moods and contours
in scientific inquiries
Paradigms
constellation of values , beliefs and
perceptions of empirical reality, which,
together with a body of theory based upon the
foregoing, is used by a group of scientists, and
by applying a distinctive methodology, to
interpret the nature of some aspect of the
Public Administration as a Discipline in
Search of a Subject Matter
Vincent Ostrom
The practice of public administration depends on
the knowledge its members profess.
Fred Riggs
The changing environment of the world attracted
very difficult dilemmas in public administration.
Dwight Waldo
The changing social arena and the scientific
revolution are factors affecting the volatile
environment of Public Administration
The New Public Administration (NPA) Movement
and the Focus on Public Policy Analysis

Dwight Waldo urged a

reorientation of the discipline
towards policy issues and concerns
of a broader nature.
The NPA movement values the
following:
Relevance
Equity
Responsiveness
The New Public Administration (NPA) Movement
and the Focus on Public Policy Analysis

This shift of focus allowed the

field to gain more footing on the
problematic of policy making.
There is a thrust that public
administration must assume a
bigger responsibility in the
implementation of policies.
II. Traditional and Emerging
Assumptions of Public
Administration
 ASSUMPTIONS OF THE TRADITIONAL PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
Dichotomy between politics and administration
Administrative neutrality
Efficiency and productivity
Centralization and control
Cross-cultural comparison
Maintenance of functions
Comprehensive-rational planning
Reactive problem solving, change and learning
Dichotomy between facts and values
Emphasis on influence of special interest groups
Emphasis on expert’s role in policy analysis
Vertical coordination and authority relation
Organizational growth with affluent resources
Information accumulation
ASSUMPTIONS OF THE EMERGING PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
Inter-relationship of politics and administration
Ethical responsibility
Effectiveness in problem-solving
Decentralization and participation
Cross-cultural domestic comparison
Re-designing of functions and tasks
Participative social planning
Proactive problem solving, change and learning
Critical examination of facts and values
Emphasis on pluralistic and participatory
democracy
Emphasis on citizen participation in community
problem solving
Horizontal collaboration and human networking
Achieving excellence with limited resources
Information sharing and networking
III. Approaches to the Study of
Public Administration
1. Constitutional-Legal
Point of view of the constitution,
legislative enactments, the
administrative code, executive
pronouncements, and court
decisions.
Stresses the normative and the
political more than the
organizational and the structural
2. Structural-Descriptive
Views the government
through the standpoint of
organizational structure,
functions, techniques and
procedures.
The structure is seen as a
device for public
administration.
3. Institutional
Emphasizes formal relationships
among the three branches of
government on the basis of
separation of powers theory and the
ways of keeping public
administration responsible to the
elected branch and the public as
clientele.
4. Behavioural
 Stresses the importance
of the behaviour of
individuals within the
organization in a specific
context.
5. System
Concern for management techniques
developed as a result of the desire to
improve governmental service
delivery
There is an implied happy ordering of
components and the integration of
functions to achieve organizational
goals.
6. Contingency
 There is a belief that
organization and management
of an organization should zero
in on the situation because
there is no “best type” of
organization structure.
IV. The Scope of Philippine Public
Administration
Governmental activities undertaken to
protect society as a whole.
Governmental activities designed to
provide economic assistance to economic
and social groups.
Governmental activities undertaken in the
exercise of proprietary and corporate
powers.
Governmental activities undertaken to
regulate business, trade and manufacturing.
Types of Government Programs:
External – foreign affairs activities
Regulatory – regulate operation of business enterprises
domestic or foreign capital
banking activities
practice of profession
quality control of products
standards specification
price control
public convenience certification.
Service – activities directly administered by
government and directly affect individuals and groups.
Types of Government Programs:
Development – designed to direct socio-
economic transformation efforts to build
self-reliant communities and develop
geographic areas and regions through the
formation of development bodies and
authorities.
Grants-in-Aid – undertaken by government
with subsidy funds, partly or wholly, from
external sources.
V. The Environment of Public
Administration
Philippine Context
There has to be a focus on the
milieu or the context within which
the principles of public
administration has to be applied.
Factors Affecting the Practice of
Public Administration
CULTURE
It is the composite or learned
behaviours, attitudes, beliefs, ideals,
and values held by a particular society.
A responsive public administration
needs to address and adjust to the type
and level of development of society.
CULTURE
Filipino culture is basically characterized
by
o strong family linkages
o an accepted rural-urban dichotomy
o pronounced disparity of income and wealth
o unemployment and underemployment
o almost complete reliance upon government
for dispensation of essential services
Administrative Policies
Filipino culture is basically characterized
by
o strong family linkages
o an accepted rural-urban dichotomy
o pronounced disparity of income and wealth
o unemployment and underemployment
o almost complete reliance upon government
for dispensation of essential services
Administrative Policies
The success or failure of public
administration depends upon proper
organization of the administrative units and
utilization of resources.
o Red Tape may characterize some areas of
our bureaucratic institutions wherein there is
rigid conformity to formal rules which can
be considered as redundant and may hinder
or prevent action or decision making.
Demography
The relation of population to public
administration generally involves the
implications and effects of size, density,
composition, distribution and movement of
people.
oGrowth of population
oUnregulated population movement
oUrbanization
oEthnical divides
Ideology
The belief system of
individuals, groups, social
classes, government and the
entire nation.
oPaternalism
oPadrino System (Patronage)
Social and Physical Technology
Technology is generally
perceived as the sum total of
all mechanisms and
methodologies employed to
ensure convenience and
comfort of man and of society.
Social and Physical Technology
Social Devices
Government
Corporate Business
Labour Unions
Church
Technical Assistance
Social and Physical Technology
Technological Advances
Automation
Communications Revolution
Transportation Problem
Build-Operate-Transfer
Scheme
Politics
Dichotomy of Politics and
Administration
versus
Inter-relationship of
Politics and Administration
Public-Private Partnership
Interdependency of the
public sector and the
private sector.