Public Administration Lecture Notes PDF

Public Administration Dr. Mai Ghaith Elements of Public Administration The essential components of administration in any field, regardless of the area of operation or work. Can be broken down into 3 important groups. Administration can be successful if it is characterized by the following 3 fundam...

Public Administration Dr. Mai Ghaith Elements of Public Administration The essential components of administration in any field, regardless of the area of operation or work. Can be broken down into 3 important groups. Administration can be successful if it is characterized by the following 3 fundamental of effective administration: A) Good interrelationship between the executive body and the legislature regrading policy- and decision- making (in the case of private sector, effective relationship among the board of directors). B) Competency the chief executive and his assistants and subordinates to streamline the policies and decisions adopted by the legislature or board of directors , so that they are broken down into a series of action to undertaken. Elements of Public Administration C) Ability of the people in charge of operations in providing effective leadership to the rank and file so that they follow orders and carry out tasks that are laid down in the plans properly. Hence, it can be said that the elements of public administration compromise of 3 sets of considerations or hypotheses: 1) The first consideration pertains to the part played by the executive head in making decisions and policies, 2) The second to the interrelationship between the executive official and his immediate associates in the top structure of the administrative hierarchy, 3) And the third to interrelationship between the higher operating chiefs and all employees of progressively lower rank. New Public Administration - Public Administration is an integral part of the social, cultural and economic life of a nation and is a permanent force in its life. - The origin of new administration may be traced to the 1st Minnow brook conference held in 1986 under the patronage of Dwight Waldo. Note: It is possible for a state to exist without a legislature or an independent Judiciary, but no state can exist without a well-organized administration. Elements of New Public Administration The basic elements of new public administration, as described in the report of Delphi exercise conducted in 1972-1973 by Emmanuel Wald at the Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, New York, were as follows: 1) A softened normative approach. 2) Movement towards social technology. 3) Policy orientation. 4) Synchronization, i.e., the traditional breakdown of administrative activity into distinct functional components, such as planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting (POSDCORB). Features of New Public Administration 1. It was anti-positivist in more than one sense. It rejected the (i) traditional definitional of public administration as value-free. (ii) rationalist and determinative view of mankind and (iii) politics- administration dichotomy. 2. It was anti-bureaucratic and anti-hierarchical. 3. It was anti-mechanistic in its approach to organization problems rejecting overemphasis on the machine and the system. Features of New Public Administration New public administration displayed an intense concern for relevant societal problems. It stressed on ethics, values, innovations and social equality. It laid great emphasis on human relations, a creative approach to administration and social change. Characteristics of New Public Administration 1. It should increase orientation towards changing reality. 2. It should influence policies that can improve the quality of working life and it should also have competence to implement such policies. 3. It should be more oriented towards measuring the impact of laws on citizens rather than resting content with their mechanical application. 4. It should be more normative.