1.

The study of Administration should start from the base of management rather
than the foundation of law. Explain. (CSE 2010/200 marks)

A1. The study of administration should start from the base of management is process
view of public administration. It symbolically represent all the management technique like
planning, organizing, staffing etc, especially managerial tools and techniques. The study
of these tools and techniques in operations is public administration.
Since govt in action is a phenomena which deals with authoritative allocation of values.
The allocation of values comes from the foundation of law i.e. constitution. The various
tools have their respective rationale in the background of public policy in which it is being
used. So public ad should also include the public policy. These views have been
emphasized by subject matter view of pub ad.This created identity crisis.
But public policy is almost in every area. It makes p.a. immensely multidisciplinary. Thus
core of study of p.a. is tools & techniques not the public policy.So study of pub ad should
not start from the foundation of law.

From its inception,public administration has been in confusion over its status.its parent
discipline was political science its glamorous avatar is management and throughout it
has been struggling to find its place in between these two extremes.

A2. Public administration being the executive arm of the government's philosophy and
ideology, is indeed closer to management than law.

The classical thinkers emphasized on politico-administration dichotomy. They tried to

develop the discipline as a value free science to manage government's policies.
Administrators were given a set of principles, like Fayol's fourteen principle or
PODSCORB, from purely management point of view so that the administrators could
easily organize, co-ordinate and manage under the light of policy decisions given to
them by their political bosses. The principle of anonymity and neutrality stems from
these basic seeds of management in the discipline.

Later CPA developed in order to understand the administration environment of the third
world so as to guide them to better manage the financial aid and economic and
development prospects brought as assistance by the first world. The NPA though
emphasized on values of administration but is also concerned about effective delivery of
public goods and services.

The recent development of NPM & PCT is the resurgence of the importance of
management principles in Public Administration by realistically evaluating existing
institutions and including citizens for service delivery.

In the light of above arguments we can conclude that the base of administration is
management and not law.
A3. LD White 1926 highlighted the above statement in the preface to his book in an era
where there was a strict dichotomy observed between Administration and Political
science and that Administration was seen as mere execution of rules. During the
transition between Paradigm I that advocated the above stated premise to the IInd
paradigm of Principles, LD White published his book on Introduction to the Study of PA
which emphasized that administration must be free from all political controls and that the
study must develop a scientific base that makes it value free with missions of efficiency
and economy.
It led to an era with focus on management principles which made a valid cause for a
separate discipline. A later argument emerged that dichotomy was a necessary condition
to ensure efficiency and would further reinforce the dichotomy. Hence, the above stated
statement paved the path for the IInd paradigm where Scholars like Willoughby, Gullick
and Urwick elaborated on the principles of management as the base of administration
rather than on the foundation of law.

2. Public and private administration are not two distinct identities rather they are
species of same genus, administration. Critically Examine.

A1. The above statement is the reiteration of Fayol's idea that Administration is
Administration, nothing public about it. Though on the managerial front Public and Pvt
administration appears to be same due to similar activities like POSDCoRB etc. but the
background on which they operate is different.

Public Administration unlike Pvt. Administration. is common WEAL Administration. It

operates on the background of the state's philosophy of Public interest or Welfare of
people. Profit maximization and economy are only secondary goals. Further, Pub Ad. is
expected to be carried in extreme legalistic framework with much larger public scrutiny
whereas Pvt. Administration is much more flexible and has lesser accountability.

Moreover, the issue of free rider (those people who consume public goods but evade
responsibility towards it) , Individual incompetence in market. & externalities & spill over
can only be manged by Public Ad. as they have the legitimacy to use coercion and
persuasion both. Also, in terms of MOORE, Pvt. Ad. if at all has public value, that too is a
means for greater end of profit maximization whereas Public Ad. has public value as its
end.

But, Public and Pvt. ad. also have similarities which is quite visible in neo liberal era
where the concept of nationalization and Privatization have strengthened the belief that
they operate on similar lines. Thus, the differences and similarities have to be seen in
term of degree and not absolute form