UNIVERSITY OF NAMIBIA

CENTRE OF EXTERNAL STUDIES

GOVERNMENT STUDIES

UNIT 01: THE NATURE ANS SCOPE OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

INTRODUCTION

• Do you follow political events in other countries?

• What is happening in Zimbabwe?
• As a govt. studies student, you are expected to be more political
conscious than ever before
• You are able to tell who is politician and who is not;
• Who is better politician than other;
• Most of us understand the issue of bribery and corruption;
• And how these have destroyed many government systems or even
countries

Politics is not something to be studied in classrooms alone. It happens all around us

all the time. Students need to read newspapers, visit parliament or local councils,
take a continuing interest in pressure groups, political parties and elections as well
as interest in paying attention to political analysis in the media and to
contemporary issues and controversies in general.

WHAT IS POLITICS?

• Peaceful resolution of conflict.

This implies that the alternative is some form of violent means of settling
differences; such as revolution, civil war or simply armed struggle, while in politics
the clash of ideas and interest is resolved through legal, organised methods which
have been agreed by which a state is governed.

• Politics concerns the resolution of conflicts by non-violent means;

• It necessarily involves a struggle for power and influence;
• In its fullest sense, it refers to the manner in which a state is organised and
run.

OBJECTIVES

➢ Define politics
➢ Define political science
➢ Briefly describe the historical development of political science
➢ Discuss the methods of political science
➢ Explain the importance of political science in issues of national development
UNIT 02: THE STATE AND CIVIL SOCIETY
There are two concepts in this unit that you should know and understand:

(a) What is state?

(b) What is a civil society?

ITNRODUCTION

• What is a state?
• Apart from dealing with the state, political science looks at the
relationship between the state and society over which it exercises
its authority or power or rule;
• Is the state natural or artificial institution?
• How does it come to be?
• How much power does it have vis-à-vis society?
• How does it relate with society?
• Can society control the action of the state?

WHAT IS A STATE?

The state refers to the permanent institutions which exercise sovereign power
within a defined territory. Sovereign power may be defined as the monopoly of the
right to enforce laws. These institutions are permanent in the sense that they do not
change when a new government is elected or when new political leaders replace
existing ones.

CHARECTERISTICS OR FEATURES OF THE STAT

• That a state has a clear geographically demarcated area

• A state has a permanent population
• the right to self-determination
• A state should be an independent political entity
• A state should enjoy international recognition
• A state has the monopoly of force
• A state promotes the common good of society
• The state is a continuous public power

All these explanations will bring us to the assignment question 1:

The organisation of the public domain has an important bearing on

political, social and economic processes and is itself affected and moulded
by these forces. On the analysis if Chazzan et al., state power in Africa
typically passes through three principal phases. Discuss each of the three
principal phases with reference to appropriate examples. (25)

Answer:

(a) Decision making structures. These include the executive arm of the
government ; the legislature and political parties.
(b) Decision enforcing institutions. These include bureaucracies, parastatals
organisation, the police and security forces.
(c) Decision mediating in bodies. These include courts, tribunals and
investigating commissions.

What is civil society?

• Civil Society is developed through ideas of individualism and the right of

individuals to liberty, privacy, property ownership and security needs.
• The term civil society has grown to mean all those that are outside the state.
• All those who have become powerless or disfranchised (deny rights);
• It includes groups such as the peasantry, workers, students ,intellectuals;
• And all those who feel that they have no access to the state.
• Civil society includes social groups such as business, labour, opposition
parties, churches, non-governmental agencies, nurses and the powerless
masses.
• The power of civil society lies in its capacity to resist, penetrate, and
neutralise the state with the aim of winning back its power and having equal
power to co-act in policy issues.

1. Do you think that civil society in Namibia has power to influence public
policy? Support your answer with examples

Answer

Human rights societies might influence public policy by crying out like the
abortion bill that has been put on hold because of opposition from
churches, amongst others.

2. What makes up civil society in Namibia? Can you list some examples of
social groups or organisations that help make up civil society in Namibia?

Answer

Organisations like human rights societies, opposition parties like RDP,

COD, DTA, etc.
OBJECTIVES

➢ Define the state

➢ Describe the characteristics of a state
➢ Outline the theories concerning the origin of the state
➢ Define “society” and “civil society”
➢ Discuss different types of states and how they relate with civil society.

UNIT 03: DEMOCRACY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

INTRODUCTION

(a)What is democracy and good governance?

(b) The political situation in Zimbabwe is a learning lesson. Is
democracy being practiced in Zimbabwe?
(c) Discuss the communication bill, outline the advantages and
disadvantages with respect to democracy
• We use the word democracy on daily basis both in government
and by ordinary citizens;
• The word has several meaning
• What is democracy as you understand it?

WHAT IS DEMOCRACY?

Democracy has several meanings, and this word democracy is constantly use on a
daily basis both in government and by ordinal citizens or people.

The word democracy comes from the Greek term demkratia, where “demos”
mean people and “kratos” means rule.

• Then democracy means rule by the people

• it is a particular form of government where the majority exercise political
control
• this means the majority should be given, as part of their undeniable right,
the chance to participate in mattes of governance
 • they should be consulted and be part of the policy decision machinery of
government;
• Government should be transparent, responsive and accountable.

Some scholars argue that democracy does not mean rule by the people. It
is more than that. It is a philosophy of human kind, a way of life, a set of
ideals and attitudes motivating and guiding the behaviour of members of
society towards one another, not only on their political life, but in their
economic, social and cultural relationships as well (Rodee, Anderson and
Christol,1957:83)

Rodee, Anderson and Christol (1957:85) indicate that a truly democratic

nation constantly strives for:

• The good life for all inhabitants

• The maximum of individuals liberty consistent with the general security,
order and welfare
• The widest possible opportunities for all to the end that men may become as
nearly equal as their native capacities will allow
• The fullest development of each human personality
• The active participation of the largest possible number of citizens in the
processes of government

Democracy is about representative government where political leaders are elected

through a competitive electoral process. The leaders should be accountable,
divergent (different) viewpoints should be tolerated, and basic civil rights should be
protected.

Let’s examine Lincoln characteristic about democracy, and see whether

they are applicable to Namibian situation:

Abraham Lincoln cited in McNaughton (1996:99) signify that democracy is as

government of the people, by the people, for the people:

• Government is chosen as a result of regular, free and fair elections in which

the whole adult population
• It is implied by this description that ballots are secret and that there are
adequate safeguards to ensure results are accurate;
• Such elections should be freely competitive.
• The rights and liberties of individuals must be protected, preferably in a
constitution. These rights should be enjoyed equally by all citizens.
 • A wide variety of beliefs should be tolerated, provided they do not threaten
the peace of the community and the existence of the state.
• There should be peaceful transition of power from one government to the
next. It is a vital principle of democracy that, should a government be
removed from power by popular vote, it should accept the popular decision,
step down peacefully from power and agree to obey those laws which may
be established by the victors; so too should the supporters of the defeated
government.
• The rule of law should prevail. In essence this implies that government must
be subject to its own laws, i.e. should not attempt to place itself above the
law and should not act in an arbitrary fashion. In addition all citizens should
be equal under the law and entitled to a fair trial by a judiciary which is
independent of government.
• Government must be limited, that is its powers should be exercised within
parameters laid down in a constitution.

Of course no single political regime could hope to meet such stringent conditions in
all respect and without some failings. Nevertheless, they do serve as a useful
yardstick against which we can assess the democratic credentials of any state.

Zim power deal: Lesson for Namibia

While it may seem remote, the situation in Zimbabwe holds important lessons on
political accommodation and tolerance for young democracies like Namibia, the key
lesson being that by refusing to accommodate the opposition in a constitutional
way, ruling parties can derail democracies and create conditions for often
unworkable hybrid governments.

Robert Mugabe’s government squeezed the opposition out of its democratic space
by systematically changing the constitution, abridging public freedoms, denying
them access to public media, banning public meetings, political rallies and
eventually stifling all forms of legitimate opposition.

The opposition MDC and other non-state player’s campaign for democracy in
Zimbabwe had no other option but to rally the international community to impose
sanctions on Zimbabwe’s key leaders and bring pressure to bear on the
Zimbabwean government to respect the rule of law and accommodate the
opposition. Mugabe might try to play the blame game, but his agreement to settle
with the MDC is itself an admission of failure.

In Namibia, we have observed very worrying incidents of political intolerance

across the political spectrum, from the grassroots to senior government officials,
and it is clear that is not healthy for our young democracy.

Mines and Energy Minister Erkki Nghimtina’s recent outbursts about his “SWAPO
money” directed at his nephew are a case in point. If we have ministers shooting at
their nephews, or any one for that matter for joining an opposition political party,
we have a long way to go in fostering tolerance of diversity and political maturity.

Recently, police had to be called in to escort Rally for Democracy and Progress
supporters after they clashed with SWAPO supporters in Tobias Hainyeko
constituency. Such incidents show lack of political maturity and are a threat to the
political stability of the country as a nation.

Our model of government is based in on a constitutional multi-party democracy and

demands a great deal of tolerance and respect for human rights and civil liberties.
Government should make it clear, as it did in the Nghimtina case, that there is no
room for political intolerance and intimidation.

Even the trees of Ohangwena have fallen victim to political tensions, with party
loyalist threatening to cut down a tree because one party had hoisted its flag and
conducted meetings under it. This kind of pettiness detracts from the goals of
national development.

Having witnessed Zimbabwe’s rise and fall as a democracy and economic prosperity
in the region, Namibia should take lessons from the factors that led to the undoing
of Zimbabwe’s story. What has happened in Zimbabwe, like what happened in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, is a deviation from multiparty democracy due to
repression and intolerance, and although we might pontificate and praise the
leaders for sacrificing their selfish ambitions, the wishes of the people in Zimbabwe
and the letter and spirit of their constitution have been disregarded. DEMOCRACY
IS NOT NEGOTIABLE.

Questions 1

Leftwich (1993) indicates that democratic good governance refers generally to a

political regime based on based on the model of a liberal democratic policy which
protects human and civil rights, combined with a competent, non corrupt
accountable administration.

Use the three defining factors of democratic good governance to justify whether or
not there is democratic good governance in Namibia. Support your answer with
examples:

Answer: With explanations

• The systemic factor

• the political factor
• the administrative factor

Question 2

What are the reasons that have led to the promotion of democratic good
governance?
Answer: with explanations

➢ The fall of the Soviet Union;

➢ The democratic wave sweeping across Africa
➢ The sweeping wave of democratic consciousness, self determination and neo-
liberalism in Europe in the 1980s
➢ The economic conditionalisties of the IMF and the World Bank

Question 3

What do you regard as the principle virtues of democracy? What are the dangers of
democracy? Motivate your answer.

Question 4

Within the machinery of government, why is the separation of powers considered to

be such an important liberal-democratic principle? In your answer refer to actual
cases which you are familiar with.

Discuss the assignment:

OBJECTIVES

➢ Define the concept of democracy

➢ Compare democracy with totalitarian and authoritarianism
➢ Outline the major characteristics of democracy
➢ Describe the fundamental institutions of democracy
➢ Provide examples of democratic regimes

UNIT 04: GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS

INTRODUCTION

Three important concepts: What is government, constitution, political

system?

• Governments exist everywhere

• However, the manner in which they are organised differ from place
to place
• Government structures depend very much on the nature of the
political system and the constitution that has been adopted
• Our government is a democratic system

(a) What is government?

Although the word government can refer to the act of the governing and often does
so, the Government itself is a more specific term. It applies to those elected
ministers who claim the authority to run the state which is described above.
Institutions are permanent; the government, on the other hand, is transient
(temporary).It represent a temporary majority thrown up in Parliament by the result
of the previous general election. By their votes the people give it a temporary
mandate (authority) to control the institutions of the state, pass laws and administer
services in accordance with the manifesto which it put before them at the election.

(b) What is Constitution?

As indicated above constitution offer sets of rules that help to define power
relationships and the operations of a state. Raney (1971:113) defines a constitution
as “...the whole body of fundamental rules, written and unwritten, legal
and extralegal, according to which a particular government operates” In
the same vein, strong (1972:10) defines a constitution as “...a collection of
principles according to which the power of government, the rights of the
government and the rights of the governed are related and mutually
adjusted.” Another simple definition is that offered by Chacek (1973:3). He
indicates that a constitution may be seen as a “...official blueprint for the use of
public power.” Fox and Mayer (1995:25) defined it as “...a framework of
government and the nature and extent of government authority.”

An analysis of these definitions reveals the following fundamentals about

constitution:

a) They define the operations of a state as a political institution.

b) They spell out power relations between those who rule and the ruled. Even
among those who rule, specific powers are allocated to different institutions
that make up the state, e.g. power of the legislature, judiciary and the
executive.
c) Constitutions should spell out the rights of governed so that they are not
left out of the equation of rule.
d) They are sets of prescriptions indicating how government should conduct
it’s ‘business’ and the institutions it should establish for such purposes.
e) They are documents that act as a guide for leadership. In certain countries
like the United Kingdom, there is no document entitled as such, but there are
several statutes that spell out the operation of government in specific areas.
The constitution is itself consistent with well-understood conventions,
customs and traditions that the Namibian people feel duty bound to adhere
to.
f) They describe existing institutions and provide the powers, functions and
relations among them (Blondel 1996; Sarton 1963; and Bogdanor, 1988).
However, we should understand from the onset that what constitutions prescribe,
may not actually be practised. Some governments deviate from constitutional
provisions in order to pursue agendas of political incumbents.

Blondel (1996:218) indicates that there are three broad principles on which
constitution is based: the principle of restraint; the principle of positive rights; and
the principle of egalitarian goals.

The principle of restraint: this is about the restriction placed on the executive so
that he could be tolerant, guard against abuse of power, and infringing upon the
rights of individuals. This is also known as constitutionalism where the “the power of
government should be limited so that the rights of man are formally protected from
abridgement by public officials or private individuals (Ranney, 1971:114). This
doctrine or fundamental principle strives for the ideal where the governors and
governed are all subject to the constitutional rules to prevent arbitrary exercise of
power (du Toit, 1996:73).

The principle of positive right: After the two world wars, it was imperative to
develop a set of positive rights to protect each state. These were regarded as logical
extensions of the liberation protection. They include social, economic and political
rights. These had to be entrenched in the constitution to protect individuals and the
centralizing tendency of the state.

The principle of egalitarian goals: this was overly emphasized by constitutions

of Marxsist states particularly the 1936 Constitution of the former Soviet Union
(USSR) (Blondel, 1995:218) Blondel further notes that the egalitarian principle
advocated for the equality of all and other fundamental individual freedomshave to
be subsumed within it. The demise of communism has however seen a decline in
the paramount of this principle.

It is also important to understand the following features of constitutions:

Constitutional supremacy: i.e. that a constitution spells out the basis of

government action and provides a background for the enactment of other laws.
Thus, a constitution is the supreme law of the state.

Constitutional rigidity: Because a constitution is supreme, it is inherently rigid. It

cannot be amended easily. Thus, the process of amendment is complex and
discourages many governments who would like to change it for their own self-
interest. Its rigidity is also plausible on legal grounds as the judiciary can only
defend and prosecute based on something that’s substantive and cannot be easily
changed. Significant to note however, is that such rigidity may be inconsistent with
social changes and may lead to delays while people debate on the constitutionality
of an action.

Constitutional changes: To change a constitution, government has to follow

certain specific procedures laid down within it. Sometimes changes have to be
made after a special majority in the legislature or only through a referendum or
both.

Thus, constitutional amendment can only be through:

• Referenda on a national level

• Referenda on a regional
• Decision by a special constitutional body
• Statutory provisions or
• Court judgements

(c) Defining Political System

Fundamentals of understanding the function of government is that they function

within a political system. This is so because governments are engaged in activities
where a substantial number of actors and agents interact to develop and implement
policies (Easton, 1953 and Blondel, 1995) the question is what is a political system?

A political system can be defined as a set of interactions among a substantial

number of elements intended to initiate, design and implement public policies.
These elements include presidents, cabinets, legislature, judicial bodies, political
parties, interest groups, bureaucrats and individual. The political system indicates
how resources are authoritatively allocated to society. Three important concepts
need to be clarified. These are authoritative, values and allocation.

• Allocation: indicates the process of distributing goods and services to

communities or members of society. This means that a political system is a
vehicle through which, those who rule can determine who gets what, when
and how.
• Values: this indicates the goods and services that the community wishes
to have or what those who rule decides to give the ruled. Thus, any allocative
actions should be consistent with what the people want or what they consider
to be good, desirable and appropriate for them.
• Authoritative: This indicates that a political system should have a group of
men and women who have the authority to allocate resource to society.
These are mostly politicians who have been voted into power by members of
society. This authority should ensure that there is obedience and compliance
by members of society.

The political system is influenced by its environment, both the national and
international environment. This includes all the factors within a given country and
outside it that can influence the operations of this system. These provide input to
the political system. Thus, the input phase is about the articulation of demands, i.e.
an activity where policy ideas are presented for discussion and subsequent
decision-making. The black box or governmental system or still, conversion box is in
charge of converting demands in into policy decisions. The output phase has three
distinct activities: rule implementation; rule making; rule adjudication.

It is significant that a political system helps us to answer certain fundamental

questions like who rules; in what way and for what purpose? In explaining these
questions, Blondel (1995:29) highlights the following:

• The first question is concerned with the degree to which those with
governmental authority allow people to participate in decision-making. This is
the essence of democracy.
• The second question is concerned with the means to the decision making
process, i.e. whether there is public discourse or open discussions or whether
these are curtailed in preference of centralised decision making.
• The third question is concerned with the ends, purpose or objectives of policy
decisions, i.e. what those who rule want to achieve or their fundamental
purpose.

The Namibian Constitution promulgates a multiparty democracy promoting

development in all spheres with fundamental rights and freedom, including but not
limited to, the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of
religion. The constitution lays down the division of power between the executive,
the legislature and the judiciary.

The executive body is headed by the president, assisted by Cabinet. The president
is elected by direct popular vote for a term of five years and can be re-elected for a
second term of office. Parliament has approved an amendment to the Constitution
to allow the first President of Namibia to serve a third term. Elections were held in
December, 1999, and President Sam Nujoma served a third term.

The bicameral legislature consist of the 78-member National Assembly, 72

members elected and six appointed by the president, for a term of five years, and
the 26 member National Council, consisting of two members from each
geographical region as defined by Act of Parliament. The National Council reviews
bills passed by the National Assembly and recommends legislation on matters of
regional concern. Members of the National Council are elected for six years from
members of the various Regional Council.

The judicial structure in Namibia parallels that of South Africa. In 1919, Roman-
Dutch law was declared the common law of the territory and remains so up till now.

By law all indigenous groups are able to participate equally in decisions affecting
their lands, cultures, traditions, and natural resources. Nevertheless, the Bushmen,
or San, and other indigenous people have been unable to exercise fully these rights
as a result of minimal access to education and economic opportunities under
colonial rule, coupled with their relative isolation in remote areas of the country.
After independence the standard legal workweek was reduced from 46-45 hours
with no more than 10 hours overtime per week. In addition, the law mandates 24
consecutive days of annual leave and at least 30 workdays of sick leave per year.
The constitution and the fair Labour Act of 1992 provides for the freedom of
association, including the freedom to form and join trade unions, the right to
bargain collectively or individually, and other basic safeguards in the work place.
Roughly half of the wage sector is organized to some degree, although less than 20
percent of full-time wage owners are organized.

Namibia is a first asylum country and continues to permit asylum seekers to enter
the country. Ninety percent of the more than 2,200 refugees and asylum seekers
presently at the Osire camp are from Angola. The rest are from the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and other African countries. Those
granted refugee status are permitted to work and attend school including the
University of Namibia.

Question

• How does civil society influence the political system in Namibia?

Answer

Society influence the political system in Namibia in the sense that it is

involved in many decisions taken by the government. Society is also
considered in the decision making process.

Question

The Constitutions of Namibia provides for separation of powers among the

executive, the legislative and the judiciary. This means that the
Constitution provides for checks and balances where institutions check
upon each other to avoid abuse of power.

Outline the powers, duties and functions of each one of the organs of the
state.

OBJECTIVES

➢ Define and describe different political systems

➢ Define a constitution and describe different types of constitutions
➢ Describe the three horizontal functional categories of government generally
and Namibia in particular

UNIT 05: REGIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

We need to bear in mind that Namibia is a unitary state: What does this
mean?

INTRODUCTION
 • Regional and local govt. entities are established to meet the
demands, needs and expectsions of people at local levels;
• They are entrusted with the responsibility of satisfying and
enhancing the quality of life of local communities through the
provision of basic services;
• While each national govt. exists to provide various goods and
services to the entire nation,
• It normally transfer some of its functions to regional and local govt.
institutions;
• Local govt. is better able to work with people at the grassroots level.

Local government concerns an area which is small enough that the inhabitants
consider themselves a community. This might be a group of villages, a town, a city
or part of a city, or a country.

Regional government would involve an area which is too big to be considered a

community, but does have some distinctive characteristics with which people can
identify. These differences might consist of the economic structure, geographical
features, culture or the pattern of settlement.

Namibia is a unitary state (Insert assg).Discuss

Exercises: Which theory do you consider to be illustrative of your local

govt?

Why do you say so?

OBJECTIVES

➢ Define the concepts:” regional government “, local government, governance,

and local authority
➢ Outline and discuss the rationale for the establishment of regional and local
government systems
➢ Explain the structures and functions of regional and local government
institutions
➢ Describe the nature of local government finance
➢ Compare the regional and local government systems of Namibia with other
countries.

Questions

(a)Discuss the changing nature of the relationship between central and

local government.
(b) “Local authorities should be free to spend how much they like, on
what policies they like, as long as they got support of local
electors.” Discuss.
UNIT 06: PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
INTRODUCTION

• PE have long been part of the public sector both in developed and
developing countries;
• At independence Namibian govt. faced with discourage task of
reactivating growth after a decade of essential stagnation;
• But growth alone was not enough
• Namibian national development objectives demanded growth of
employment;
• Establishing PE in order to improve distribution and fight poverty;
• These entities were viewed as instruments or vehicles for national
development;
• However, their history in these countries indicates that most of them
have not lived up to their expectations;
• This explains the change of thought by most political leaders who
now embrace privatisation as a way of addressing problems of poor
performance experienced by some of these entities.

OBJECTIVES

➢ Define public, enterprise and public enterprise

➢ Outline the reasons for having public enterprise
➢ Discuss the characteristics of public enterprises
➢ Enumerate and describe different types public enterprises
➢ Describe the organisational structure of public enterprises
➢ Highlight the need for commercialisation and privatisation of public
enterprises

Discuss the assignment!

Question 1

Describe in detail the reasons for establishing public enterprise.

Answer

• To enhance the economy

• Ideology reasons
• To ensure the provision of capital investment
• To streamline/ control economic activities of the private sector
• To provide products under a monopolistic condition.

Question 2

What are the main reasons for having Boards of Directors in Public Enterprises
Answer

The answer may differ from student to student:

• The Board have to comply with government policy;

• The acts provide the mechanism for dismissal of directors in cases of failure
to comply with government policy;
• Government appoints the majority of board members, thereby ensuring that
the influence of the government is maintained in the day to day.

UNIT 07: INTER-GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS

INTRODUCTION

• We all know that in Namibia we have a central government;

• Apart from this central authority, we have subsidiary authorities like
Regional Councils and Local Authorities;
• Local authorities include Municipal, Town and Village Councils;
• In addition to these authorities, we also have Traditional Councils
and Public Enterprises bodies like NamPower, NamWater, etc;
• All these government bodies are tasted with achieving a wide range
of govt. objectivise within their areas of jurisdiction.
• As a Public Administrator, you need to understand or know the
position the guidelines that govt. institutions use in their
relationship, the communication process they adopt;
• And all other cooperative efforts they establish in order to come up
with a well coordinated system showing unity of action in order in
trying to deliver goods and services to the people.

OBJECTIVES

➢ Define intergovernmental relations

➢ Differentiate between the approaches to intergovernmental relations
➢ Outline the rationale for intergovernmental relations
➢ State how the nature of the state influences intergovernmental relations
➢ Outline the three types of intergovernmental relations
➢ Apply intergovernmental relations to the Namibian situation.

Question: What do you understand by the term Intergovernmental

relations? Give example of situations where your ministry or hospital
relates with other government agencies. List and state the reason for such
relationship.

Intergovernmental relation can be defined as relations among various government

institutions or ministries. According to Fox and Meyer, intergovernmental relation
encompasses all complex and interdependent relation among various levels of
government. (Fox and Meyer: 1995:66)
The above means that with intergovernmental relations, two or more government
institutions enters into an agreement through which they can help each other or
they can team up to do something together.

For example, a few years back there was only one handyman at Rundu state
hospital who was responsible for carrying out all the minor repairs. All major repairs
were done by the ministry of work. And at this stage things haven’t change despite
the fact that the hospital managed to employ more handymen; all major repairs are
still being done by the same ministry.

The above mentioned state of affairs practically means that the ministry of health
has an agreement with the ministry of works. This is because the works ministry has
skilled employees, ranging from intensive training and experience.

Another scenario is that of the agreement between the Ministry of Defence and
Health. The ministry of defence recruits almost every year and the screening of all
the successful applicants are done at hospitals countrywide. The reason for this is
once again, skilled and qualified personnel. In addition, hospitals also have the
necessary machinery and equipment for X-ray screening and analysis of laboratory
samples (i.e. blood, urine for diabetes, hypertension and HIV/Aids). The ministry of
defence also have their own doctors and machinery (in short supply), so to save on
screening time they went into agreement with the MoHSS.

Discuss Elise & Erika assignment about unitary state.

UNIT 08: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN PERSPECTIVE

INTRODUCTION

• Public Administrator comes as a servant, to facilitate the ruler-ruled

relationship with a view to maintain order, peace and good
government;
• Public Administrator should be conscious of the fact that his/her
powers and authority are derived through the ballot paper from
political society who may demand an explanation of their choices
aimed at enhancing good life and happiness if they are not being
pursued in an effective manner.
• This show that Public Administration is part and parcel of the whole
governing process;
• Government cannot function without Public Administration;
• If it is not there, those who rule will not have anyone to send to the
people to collect taxes and make sure that these people abide by the
policies of the country.

OBJECTIVES
 ➢ Define administration and public administration
➢ Outline the nature and scope of public administration
➢ Identify and outline the role of public administrators
➢ Describe the reasons for studying public administration.

Question

Is Public Administration an art or science? Substantiate your answers.

Answer:

There is no one specific definition of public administration, but it will be narrowed

down based on definitions by three well known scholars: firstly, according to (Max,
1963), it is the organization of personnel practices and procedures essential for the
effectiveness to perform public functions allocated to the supervisory branch of
government. Secondly, it encompasses the evaluation, formulation, modification
and implementation of public policies as according to (Davis, 1974). Thirdly, it is
concerned with carrying out public policy decisions made by the authorities of a
political structure as defined by (Heady, 1955). Judging from three definitions it is
clear that public administration involves decisions by government on how things
should be carried out.

There are three primary reasons as to why a new public administration had to be
formed:

 Firstly, the poor performance of public administration during the 70’s and
80’s
 The new equation of government
 Managerialism

1. The poor performance of public administration

This has always been a major thorn in government civil service of the
developing world, who lack in accountability and performance as a whole.
Known for inefficiency and ineffectiveness, ruling has always been carried out
by corrupt and selfish interest groups at the expense of those communities
they serve, or suppose to serving. Lacking insight, service to communities
has always been in abandonment. Goods and services are provided
superficially and to the choice of the ruling elite in favour of their own
interests. This is what brought about the development of the new public
administration structure that would enhance performance and carry out
incorruptible practices of public organizations that would serve public
interests truthfully.

2. The new equation of government

 Due to under-performance, continued poverty and underdevelopment in
member states of the commonwealth, a communiqué was sent as a mode of
change of public service delivery by those states. One was held in Harare in
1991 and another in Cyprus 1993. The message was aimed at improving
democratic good governance in member states by building democracy, the
rule of law, human rights, independence of the judiciary, just and honest
governments. The idea of a new public administration was approved by the
commonwealth Secretary General in November 1995, an initiative of the
Commonwealth Heads of Governments. At that time, Chief Emeke Anyaoku,
Commonwealth Secretary General indicated certain changes that would bring
about improvements that would economically improve public service and
ensure customer needs were met. The new equation of government public
service would be irregular, varying as a driving tool for democratic good
governance and economic and competitive success.

The new Equation of government requirements are:

 Value-added production
 Open markets
 Dynamic enterprise
 Skilled workforce
 Public expectations of quality service
 Responsible public service

According to the Secretary General, civil service strengths would be judged by its
ability to support national success, inspiration toward employees by encouraging a
responsible work tradition, the response to customer needs and demands and the
fostering of people, systems and structures that will lead to brilliant service
provision to the general public (Commonwealth Secretariat, 1995:6).

3. The managerial ideology

The scholar Pollit (1990), fascinatingly argued managerialsm as an ideology
that is concrete and has immediate outcomes. It indicates that performance
of institutions can only be improved by adopting market driven strategies and
allowing managers the right to exercise their greatest judgment in the
transformation of public sectors towards success and excellence of the
highest order. Managerialism includes a set of beliefs, ideas and values; five
interior beliefs are:
 The route to social progress being the achievement of continual
increase in economically defined productivity.
 Information, technological hardware and organization technologies
that would increase productivity.
 A disciplined labour force in accordance with the productivity ideal that
will be able to apply these technologies for success.
 The professionalism and quality of managers who set the trend for any
business success.
  Thus for such success, managers must be given the right to do just
that, “manage”.

The important thing here is the fact that management is necessary for any
organization. It helps focus resources where benefits are greatest, eliminate waste
and keep accounts in check. It also provides clearance on goals and objectives while
keeping the employees motivated. For this kind of success, Pollit notes that
organizations which incorporate such ideals are more likely to succeed.

UNIT 09: THE DISTINCTIVES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (Read through)

OBJECTIVES

➢ Indicate the similarities and difference between:

a) Public administration and private administration
b) Administration and management
c) Public administration and public management and
d) Public management and business management.
➢ Distinguish between public administration and:
a) Political science
b) History
c) Law
d) Sociology
e) Economics and
f) Psychology

UNIT 10: THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION:

PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS PARADIGMS
INTRODUCTION: NPM

Discuss the assignment about NPM

OBJECTIVES

➢ Review the philosophical foundations of public administration

➢ Discuss the different paradigms that outline the development of public
administration
➢ Describe the New Public Management paradigm as a new concept that is
intended to guide modern bureaucracies.
UNIT 11: THEORIES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
INTRODUCTION
• Theories are very important tools that guide us in understanding
public administration;
• Guide us in what we do, give us basis for making arguments;
• In this unit we are interesting in tracing the development of these
theories cognisant of the fact they can be classified as management,
public administration or organisation theories;
• In fact, it is evident that these theories have been developed to
facilitate the running of organisation more than anything else.

FREDERICK TAYLOR (1856-1915)

Taylor’s interest in improving productivity started with his effort to improve

machinery, which lead to the construction of the largest steam hammer on the USA.
He later shifted from machine improvements to improve management systems. The
management technique that he perfected is known as scientific management or
simply, Taylorism. Based on his experience as a worker, he had a low opinion of
workers. He indicated that in any work situation there was a first class man who is
highly motivated and interested in working the best he can rather than engage in
time wasting escapades that would restrict productivity and an average man who
had a lackadaisical approach to work and hindered productivity in the organisation.
To Taylor, there is no doubt that the tendency of the average man is towards
working at a slow, easy gait and it’s only after a good deal of thought and
observation on his part as a result that he takes a more rapid pace. He further
clarified that, a first class man is likely to degenerate into an average man due to
poor incentives, peer pressure and poor management, if put together with an
average man.

Taylor’s manuscript for enhanced performance was for managers to adopt a

scientific approach when managing human resources. This scientific procedure
demanded the following from managers:

 Provide the employee with the best implements to perform specific tasks
 Analyse jobs and break them down into smaller or elementary units that can
performed repeatedly
 Study a workman performing each of these tasks at a time and use a
stopwatch to time his motions
 Discover and discard all unnecessary movements that are not connected with
the task
 Carry out an extrapolation exercise of the time and motion data to come up
with what can be considered as the best method of performing the task.
(Sheldrake 1996 as cited in Nsingo 2004:289)
Taylor’s studies provided managers with well researched invaluable information on
how long each job would take rather than relying on the rules-of-thumb methods. It
was intended that this theory would be universally accepted and would apply to all
situations. He contended that to rationalise the jobs, one has to start at the lowest
level of the organisation. Taylor also suggested principles that would serve as a
basis for managing organisation, which are; finding one best way for performing
each job, scientific selection of personnel, financial incentives and functional
foremanship. According to Taylor, work systems can be designed for attainment of
efficiency, and this is if workers follow these systems. Managers can introduce a
piece rate system that will use to pay workers in line with a job that has been done.
To Taylor, work performance depends on ability, industriousness and astuteness of
the manager. Managers should motivatetheir subordinates, private appropriate
leadership and control organisation proceedings in a manner that would lead to
efficiency. This, organisations need to train and develop the management skill base
of their managers. Taylor’s major contention was not to dehumanise and exploit the
worker but to address the quest of compliance within the organisations. He was
more concerned with how to get each worker performing task to the best of their
abilities. According to Taylor, compliance could only be realised by coming up with a
scientific study of jobs performed by workers and letting them discover the
meaningful steps, through simplifying tasks and narrowly defining jobs.

HENRY FAYOL (1841-1925)

This Frenchman has spent most of his time popularising his management theories.
In his major work of administration, he indicated that it was possible to devise a set
of principles of administration that would be universally applied to improve the
performance of management situation and would be enhance management
performance if applied appropriately in any organisation. These are;

 Division of work
 Discipline
 Unity of direction
 Unity of demand
 Authority and responsibility
 Subordination of the individuals interests to general interests
 Remuneration of personnel
 Centralisation
 Order
 Equity
 Initiative
 Esprit de corps or Unity in strength
 Scalar chain of command
 Stability and tenure of personnel
As it is reflecting in the principles, the underlining emphasis is organisation
efficiency, handling personnel properly and appropriate management action. Fayol
later developed “elements of management” that serves as integral part of
management functions:

Planning-Organising-Command-Coordination-Control

Fayol was more interested in the question of organisational design, although he also
touched the question of organisational compliance. This can be substantiated by his
advocacy of the 14 principles in which he proposed that an organisation would be
best be structured by a hierarchical structure. He termed this a scalar chain of
command whereby the line of authority flows from the top to the lowest rank.
Division of work and centralised structures are some of the principles that would
bring about increased output and make employees more effective. In terms of the
compliance, he proposed as a core tenet for the employee to obey and respect rules
that govern the organisation. He maintained that discipline and compliance would
be enhanced if there were a good relationship between management and the
workers. There should also be a judicious use of penalties for infarctions of the rules.
He emphasised the factors like collaborations and specialisation.

MAX WEBBER (1864-1920)

Max Webber was a professor, whose interest where in law, politics, economics,
history and sociology. He wrote extensively on authority and legitimacy though at
the time of his death, none of his work was available in English. He argued that
obedience was owed to the impersonal order established by law. Thus, the authority
that any individual possessed came from the appointment or office held and not
from essential personal attributes. In case of traditional authority by contrast,
obedience was owed to the actual person of the leader who occupies the
traditionally sanctioned position of authority and who is bound by tradition. Weber
also claimed that with charismatic authority, obedience sprang from the leaders
personal qualities that at their highest, would amount to the gift of grace. Weber
views that the legal authority was associated with the establishment of bureaucracy.

Bureaucracy was established by Weber as the most efficient means by which

organisations can achieve their ends. He referred to it as an “ideal form of
organisation”. Webber indicates that efficiency can only be achieved if organisations
are appropriately structured and managed in a manner that would lead to efficiency.
Organisations should have the following characteristics:

 Division of labour
 Hierarchy of authority and responsibility
 Merit employment
 Rules and regulations
 Impartiality or impersonality
  Promotion system based on seniority
 Discipline and control

In any organisation, administrative officials are not the owner of means of

production, because the privileges belong to the office or position. Individual
performance is regulated by rules covering the rights and duties of incumbents in
order to enhance compliance. Employees are given security through tenure and this
leads to commitment. The rules and regulations help to protect employees against
arbitrary actions of senior management. All personnel are career officials and work
for a fixed salary. This bureaucratic form of organisation was hailed as the best form
that can fit any dynamic environment. It enhances organisation response to its
environment because of its well defined job descriptions, predictable relationships
and operational procedures

OBJECTIVES

➢ Define a theory
➢ Describe the relationship between organisation theory and public
administration
➢ Provide a description of the different categories through which organisation
theory has evolved
➢ Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the different theories of
organisations as they apply to public administration.

UNIT 12: THE ENVIRONMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

INTRODUCTION
• On the national front, democratisation processes that are taking
place in Africa require public administrators to be accountable and
have a customer service orientation;
• Within the bureaucracy itself, there is an increasing need for public
administrators to create a conducive climate that would enable all
employees to work diligently in order to enhance the performance of
public sector institutions particularly in so far as efficiency, economy
and effectiveness are concerned.

OBJECTIVES

➢ Define the term environment

➢ Outline the characteristics of the public administration environment
➢ Explain the three categories of the environment
➢ Identify and explain the techniques that can be used for environmental
scanning
➢ Use systems theory to understand the public administration environment

Question
Briefly discuss any five factors that influence the environment and show how they
impinge (impose) on your organisation. Give examples in each case.