Aspirant Academy

Public Administration

Key Points at a Glance

Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope, Significance; Evolution; New Public Administration (NPA); New Public Management (NPM); Good Governance; New Public Service (NPS)

Paper III · Unit 2 Section 1 of 13 0 PYQs 24 min
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Key Points at a Glance

  1. Public Administration is the implementation of government policy and the management of public affairs. Woodrow Wilson's 1887 essay "The Study of Administration" is the founding document of PA as a discipline.

  2. PA's nature is debated: it is interdisciplinary (draws from political science, law, management, sociology, economics); it straddles art and science; and the politics–administration dichotomy (Wilson, Goodnow) held that administration is separate from politics — later rejected by scholars like Paul Appleby (1945).

  3. Scope of PA: Two major views — (a) POSDCORB (Luther Gulick, 1937): Planning, Organising, Staffing, Directing, Co-ordinating, Reporting, Budgeting; (b) Subject matter view (J.M. Pfiffner): PA encompasses all public sector activities — policy, finance, personnel, materials, law.

  4. Significance of PA in modern state: It implements welfare programmes, delivers services, maintains law and order, regulates the economy, and provides continuity and expertise when governments change.

  5. Evolution of PA passed through 5 phases: (1) Classical era — Wilson, Taylor, Weber (1880–1930s); (2) Human Relations era — Mayo, Barnard (1930s–40s); (3) Behavioural era — Simon, Dahl (1950s–60s); (4) New Public Administration — Minnowbrook (1968); (5) New Public Management / Good Governance (1980s–present).

  6. New Public Administration (NPA) emerged from the Minnowbrook Conference, 1968 (convened by Dwight Waldo). Key demands: social equity, relevance, values, change, and client-centrism. Frank Marini edited Toward a New Public Administration: The Minnowbrook Perspective (1971).

  7. New Public Management (NPM) — emerged in UK, USA, Australia (1980s–90s) under Thatcher and Reagan. Christopher Hood coined "NPM" in his 1991 article. Core ideas: market mechanisms, privatisation, performance measurement, managerialism, customer orientation, value for money.

  8. Good Governance — UNDP (1997) and World Bank identify 8 dimensions: participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, consensus orientation, equity, effectiveness/efficiency, accountability. India's 2nd ARC (2005–09) focused on good governance; Rajasthan's Jan Soochna Portal and e-mitra are examples.

  9. New Public Service (NPS) — proposed by Janet and Robert Denhardt (2003 book The New Public Service: Serving, Not Steering). NPS rejects NPM's market model; argues public administrators should serve citizens (not customers), uphold democratic values, honour the public interest, and build community.

  10. Difference — Traditional PA vs NPA vs NPM vs NPS: Traditional PA (Wilson) = rule-bound efficiency; NPA = equity + relevance; NPM = market + competition; NPS = service + democratic citizenship. Each was a reaction to the perceived failures of the previous paradigm.