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Glossary
| Term (EN) | Definition | Exam Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| Public Administration | Art and science of managing public affairs and implementing government policy | Core definition |
| POSDCORB | Gulick's acronym: Planning, Organising, Staffing, Directing, Co-ordinating, Reporting, Budgeting | Scope of PA |
| Politics–Admin Dichotomy | Wilson/Goodnow view that politics sets policy; administration executes it | PA nature |
| Bureaucracy (Weber) | Ideal-type organisation: hierarchy, written rules, impersonality, merit selection | Classical phase |
| Hawthorne Effect | Worker productivity rises when they know they are being observed; Mayo 1927–32 | Human relations |
| Bounded Rationality | Simon's concept: decision-makers have limited information, time, and cognitive capacity | Behavioural phase |
| New Public Administration (NPA) | Post-1968 movement demanding social equity, relevance, values in PA | Minnowbrook, Frederickson |
| Social Equity | Frederickson's NPA demand: PA must actively reduce inequality | NPA core value |
| New Public Management (NPM) | Market-oriented reform movement in PA; Hood 1991; privatisation, performance measurement | NPM 10-mark Q |
| Reinventing Government | Osborne & Gaebler (1992) — government should steer, not row; entrepreneurial spirit | NPM popularisation |
| Value for Money (VFM) | NPM principle: public services should be economical, efficient, and effective | NPM doctrine |
| Good Governance | UNDP 1997: 8 dimensions — participation, transparency, accountability, rule of law, etc. | 10-mark Q |
| New Public Service (NPS) | Denhardts 2003: serve not steer; democratic values over market efficiency | NPS 5/10-mark Q |
| Participation | One of UNDP's 8 governance dimensions — all citizens have voice | Good governance |
| Transparency | Freely available government information; RTI Act 2005 in India | Good governance |
| Accountability | Government answerable to people; legislative, judicial, and social audit | Good governance |
| E-governance | Use of ICT to deliver government services efficiently; DigiLocker, UMANG, GeM | Governance reform |
| RTI Act 2005 | Right to Information — citizens can demand government information | Transparency |
| 2nd ARC | 2005–09, Veerappa Moily — 15 reports on governance, ethics, e-governance | India governance reform |
| Jan Soochna Portal | Rajasthan's transparency initiative — 100+ scheme data publicly accessible | Rajasthan example |
| e-Mitra | Rajasthan's single-window service delivery platform | Rajasthan e-governance |
| PPP Model | Public-Private Partnership — NPM-inspired service delivery mechanism | NPM India |
| Social Audit | Community-based audit of government programmes; MGNREGS model | NPS/accountability |
| MKSS | Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan — Aruna Roy — pioneered RTI through Jan Sunwai | India RTI movement |
| Lokpal | Anti-corruption ombudsman at national level; Lokpal Act 2013 | Accountability institution |
Sources: Woodrow Wilson (1887); Luther Gulick (1937) Papers on the Science of Administration; Herbert Simon (1947) Administrative Behavior; Dwight Waldo (1955); Frank Marini (1971) Toward a New Public Administration; Christopher Hood (1991) Public Administration; Osborne & Gaebler (1992) Reinventing Government; UNDP (1997) Good Governance; Janet & Robert Denhardt (2003) The New Public Service; 2nd ARC Reports (2005–09); RPSC Mains PYQ 2013–2023.