MPA-011
State, Society and Public Administration
Assignment Code: MPA-011/Asst/TMA/2010-11

This Assignment consists of Section – I and Section - II. There are five questions in each
section. You have to answer a total of five questions in about 500 words each, selecting
at least two questions from each section. Each question carries 20 marks.

SECTION – I

Q.1) Examine the views of Max Weber on society-administration relationship 20

Q.2) ‘The Liberal and Marxist perspectives are very important in understanding
the nature of the State’. Explain 20
Q.3) Discuss Gandhi’s views on ‘Swaraj’ model of polity. 20
Q.4) ‘Institutional Devices to improve administration are of particular relevance for
developing countries’. Elucidate. 20
Q.5) Write a note on ‘participation’ as a changing norm of social equity. 20

Section – II

Q.6) Analyze the role of bureaucracy in policy formulation. 20

Q.7) Examine the significance and characteristics of good governance. 20
Q.8) What are the different ways of bringing about legislative reforms? 20
Q.9) ‘The relevance of civil society for ‘governance’ and ‘development’ cannot be
underplayed’. Discuss. 20
Q.10) Bring out the different obstacles to ethical accountability. 20

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SOLUTIONS
SECTION – I

Ans. 1 MAX WEBER ON SOCIETY- ADMINISTRATION RELATIONSHIP

Max Weber’s ideas on `bureaucracy' need to be placed in the larger framework of his
writings on the economic and political structure of society. He traced the impact of
religious views on the growth of capitalism and dwelt on the relationship between
industrialisation and organisational structure. His thoughts on bureaucracy evolved out
of the larger considerations of socio-historical forces that led to the growth of complex
organisations. Thus, Weber's ideas on bureaucracy form an integral part of a macro
view of history and social theory.

A developing economy is able to produce a surplus of food and commodities, and this
surplus forms the basis of payment of salaries to the members of the civil service.
Increasing need for public revenue compels the State to develop a rational system of
public finance. To quote Weber, “A stable system of taxation is the precondition for the
permanent existence of bureaucratic administration.” The developed post-subsistence
economy may not automatically lead to the emergence of bureaucratic administration,
as the rulers in the newly emerging States may still continue to use privilege as a matter
of policy and distribute public services on the basis of personal whim and traditional
status. The bourgeoisie wanted security of their newly acquired wealth and property.
Stable economy could be guaranteed by stable administration. To the newly emerging
middle class, bureaucratic administration with its emphasis on uniform and stable rules
and regulations was therefore almost a godsent.

In Weber's view, a second prerequisite of bureaucratic growth was the demand of a

larger middle class for the benefits of mass democracy, especially for social and
economic equality. Bureaucratic development, as Weber observed, was closely
associated with the negation of the practice of according special privileges. To quote
Weber, “Bureaucracy inevitably accompanies modern mass democracy.... This results

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from the characteristic principle of bureaucracy: the abstract regularity of the execution
of authority, which is a result of the demand for 'equality' before the law, and the
principled rejection of doing business, 'from case to case'.”

It was Weber's contention that Capitalism and bureaucratic administration were

bolstered up by the psychology of work generated by 16th century religious radicalism.
Early Monasticism of the Catholic faith laid stress upon a Pope and priests to act as
spiritual policemen and to forgive sins. By contrast, the anxiety of worrying about one's
fate here on earth, Weber observed, caused the Puritans to work too hard, to devote
themselves to a worldly asceticism and to pursue their worldly vocations religiously. The
Reformation thus created a spiritual climate for the blossoming of bureaucracy.

Weber identified three types of legitimation, each corresponding to a particular type of

domination.
Charismatic: Charisma literally means gift of grace. By virtue of possession of
charisma or an exceptional quality, a hero or a leader casts a spell over his followers,
who accept his domination because of their faith in the person. In such type of
domination, the administrative apparatus is very loose and unstable. It usually consists
of the most faithful followers or disciples who play the role of the intermediary between
the leader and the followers.
Traditional: The legitimation in this form comes from the belief in the goodness of the
past, in the appropriateness of traditional ways of doing things. This kind of patrimonial
authority receives ready obedience because of a peculiar faith in traditional status and
personal loyalty to the dominant person. The administrative apparatus in this kind of
domination would consist of the personal retainers, servants and relatives. Under feudal
system, the feudal lords, interposed between the king and the people, constituted the
administrative apparatus.
Legal: Legitimation of legal type of domination is based on the belief in the rightness of
law. People obey the laws because they believe that these are enacted by a proper,
objective procedure. The typical administrative apparatus corresponding to this kind of
domination is bureaucracy. The position of the bureaucrat, his relations with the ruler,

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the ruled and his colleagues are regulated by impersonal rules. These rules delineate in
a rational way the hierarchy, the rights and duties of every position and the methods of
recruitment, promotion and other conditions of service.
Thus, one notices two major thrusts in Weber’s writings that have consequences for
society-administration relationship. These are:
a) An analysis of social conditions leading to the emergence of `bureaucracy’; and
b) A theory of domination (or social authority) that explains the gradual societal
acceptance of bureaucratic authority.

Ans. 2 Gandhi’s model of polity – ‘Swaraj’

Gandhian perspective on the theory of State can be best reasoned on the basis of a
model that he aspired for independent India. This polity, the model polity, was
embedded in ‘Swaraj’. Self-governance or self-rule at a general level carried the
meaning of ‘Swaraj’. Thus Swaraj was a collective goal of the Indians as well as their
individual goal; and it did not necessarily mean an alternative State that is some kind of
a reformed structure against the structure of the modern State.

1. Guiding Principles
• Since non-violence was the bedrock of Gandhian ideology it was obvious that polity
would be firmly rooted in it
• The autonomy of the individual was equally important. Hence recovery of moral and
social powers, surrendered to the State under colonial dispensation, was another primal
requirement
• The new polity was expected to build up courage, and a sense of power among its
people
• It was also expected of the new polity to honour the diversity of Indian society by
fostering strong and vibrant local communities
• Regeneration of Indian culture was another important requirement
• The new polity was urgently required to end ethnic and religious strife and establish
national unity

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• The new polity would be constituted by self-governing local communities organised in

the form of a central government but not creating a centralised structure of authority.

2. Functional Doctrine
The functional doctrine of new polity was provided by the famous village republics of
Gandhian conception. These ‘republics’ were made up of small regenerated and well-
organised village communities that were also self-determining in nature. The village
communities were supposed to manage their affairs through panchayats elected
annually by every literate adult. In Gandhi’s opinion, the literacy requirement was not
unduly harsh. He advocated a form of political power, where the citizens could
legitimately be asked to acquire a minimum educational qualification. The village
panchayat in the mode of republic were to have legislative, executive and judicial
powers. In so far as police powers were concerned, these republics were expected to
exercise a moral authority and the weight of public opinion to bring order and ensure
harmony.
Gandhi wrote in Harijan (1 September, 1940). “The police of my conception will,
however, be of a wholly different pattern from the present-day force. Its ranks will be
composed for believers in non-violence. They will be servants, not masters, of the
people. The people will instinctively render them every help, and through mutual co-
operation they will easily deal with the ever-decreasing disturbances. The police force
will have some kind of arms, but they will be rarely used, if at all. In fact the policemen
will be reformers.”

3. Understanding ‘Swaraj’
The guiding principles and functional doctrine of Gandhian polity described above
together constitute Gandhi’s ‘Swaraj’ the most forthright exposition of which is in ‘Hind
Swaraj’. It is emphasised that Gandhi’s Statements on ‘Swaraj’ are not couched in
coded or esoteric language. But this great merit of Gandhi’s language does not screen
from view of a complex theoretical proposition enshrined in his writing – ‘Hind Swaraj’ in
our case.

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The political philosophy of Gandhi rests primarily on the concept of ‘Swaraj’. In the
opinion of several scholars ‘Swaraj’ is a more basic concept than non-violence since
non-violence is only a means to ‘Swaraj’ whereas ‘Swaraj’ is an individual’s State of
being (Cf Parel, 2000). We find Gandhi invoking the concept of ‘Swaraj’ in varied
senses in different situations. We can summarise this into the following categories:
• ‘Swaraj’ carrying the context of independence of the country from alien rule
• Assertion of the political freedom of the individual
• Assurance of the economic freedom of the individual, and
• Attainment of spiritual freedom or autonomy of the individual.

An important element of his notion of sovereign independence related directly with the
character of the new polity. The manner in which the national movement was organised
in India before Gandhi’s entry in the movement suggested that the principal objective of
the movement was gaining an administrative control of the country. The pitfalls of this
position had been more than clear to Gandhi even before he had come to India to
actually participate in the movement. He had written in Hind Swaraj: “In effect it means
this: that we want English rule without the Englishman. You want the tiger’s nature, but
not the tiger; that is to say, you would make India English, and, when it becomes
English, it will be called not Hindustan but Englistan. This is not the Swaraj that I want”.
The image of sovereign independent India for Gandhi approximated the picture of
village republics It certainly was rooted in India tradition and had only meaningful things
to assimilate from outside. In his editorial to Young India in 1931 (10 September).

Ans. 5 CHANGING NORM OF PARTICIPATION

Participation in the governance processes is the new ‘mantra’. Old concept of
democracy revolves around direct participation by the citizens in policymaking. This kind
of participation is quite old and almost a classic one. Participation in modern times is
indirect and takes place through representation. The modern form of indirect and
representative democracy is based on people’s participation. However, the findings of
behavioural political scientists have found the participation levels to be faulty and half-

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hearted one. According to the Elitists, only few influential exercise participation and
power in the so-called representative democracy. The Pluralists speak of involvement of
varied groups and organisations in participatory democracy. Therefore, the new norms
of participation are to insure the involvement of the people from all the classes,
especially from the weaker sections and minorities. The advocates of participatory
democracy lay stress upon the availability of opportunity to all subaltern sections. Not
only is percentage of participation important but representativeness is also deemed
necessary.

Participation merges into ‘empowerment’, when considered in terms of opportunities for

the rural poor to engage in political processes to enhance their control over society’s
resources. In India, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments have paved new
ways for political parties and citizens to participate in the democratic process of the
country. The Asoka Mehta Committee had also suggested the need for participation of
political parties in order to make them more accountable and link them with the political
process at the higher level. In the changing context, the political parties can work more
significantly as agents of political participation. Simultaneously, the subaltern, backward,
poor, disadvantaged, and women have got opportunities to participate in the
governance process.

Political parties are compelled to utilise their machineries cautiously, and responsively
whereas the weaker sections of the society have been given a chance to fully
participate in decision making process at the rural level. The latest data with regards to
the panchayat elections show that representation of weaker sections in rural
governance is increasing. An important contributory factor that has led to increased
citizens’ participation is the perceived failure of bureaucracy to meet policy needs,
especially in the rural areas. Another assertion is that rural people now know more
about policy needs at the grass roots level than the professional administrators do.

Participation is vital for good and effective governance. The latter part of the 20th
century has shown a growing concern towards enlarging the role of citizens in the

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process of decision-making. Political leadership has come to feel the need for it in view
of the citizens’ apathy towards public administration. The traditional institutional means
available to the people have proved to be inadequate and insufficient in impacting on
the issues of public policies. There could be many reasons for this like poor planning
and execution, specialised nature of administration, and alienation of people from
governance.
Decision-making matters demand a greater role for citizens because of their diminished
trust in public administration. Equally significant is the realisation in the society that
decision-making without citizens’ participation is bound to be ineffective and
unsuccessful. People’s participation in public administration is a part of the larger
process, emphasising on the values of representation, responsiveness and
accountability to the people of the country. This ordains that people be provided with
planned means for participating in both the policy making and policy implementing
processes in public administration.

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SECTION - II
Ans. 7
SIGNIFICANCE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE
Good governance aims at achieving much more than efficient management of economic
and financial resources or public services. It is a broad reform strategy to make
government more open, responsive, accountable, democratic, as well as strengthen
institutions of civil society and regulate private sector. Good Governance is a
combination of efficiency concerns of public management and accountability concerns
of governance. Good Governance as a prerequisite for promoting people-centred
development is assuming importance.

Good Governance aims at:

• Improving the quality of life of citizens
• Enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of administration
• Establishing the legitimacy and credibility of institutions
• Securing freedom of information and expression
• Providing citizen-friendly and citizen-caring administration
• Ensuring accountability
• Using Information Technology-based services to improve citizen-government interface
• Improving/enhancing the productivity of employees; and
• Promoting organisational pluralism – State, market and civil society organisations for
governance.
Good Governance, hence, relates to the quality of governance through attributes such
as participation, empowerment, accountability, equity and justice. Adherence and
promotion of these attributes provides avenues to the citizens, especially the poor and
the marginalised to articulate their interests, to exercise their rights and improve their
living standards. Good Governance includes the capacity to formulate and implement
sound policies by the government with due respect for citizens. From this framework,
governance can be construed as consisting of six different elements. These are (1)
Voice and accountability, which includes civil liberties and freedom of the press, (2)
Political stability, (3) Government effectiveness which includes the quality of policy

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making, and public service delivery, (4) Quality of regulations, (5) Rule of law, which
includes protection of property rights and an independent judiciary, and (6) Control of
corruption (Jain, 2004).

CHARACTERISTICS
Good governance relates to enhancing the quality of governance through
empowerment, participation, accountability, equity and justice. Without transparent and
accountable institutions and the capacity to develop the policies and laws to enable a
country to manage its markets and its political life in an open but just way, development
is not sustainable (Brown, 2000).
Researchers, policy makers, international institutions have attempted to conceptualise
the concept of governance and identify its basic characteristics. These include:

Participation: This is considered to be the core of Good Governance. Governments

aiming to ensure the requisite freedom to the citizens in order to participate in the
decision-making process, articulate and represent their interests, which get reflected in
policies and programmes.
Rule of Law: Governance does not imply arbitrary use of authority. Any type of
governance to be effective needs to be supplemented by a fair legal framework. This
should be supported by appropriate enforcement machinery, independent judiciary,
which instills confidence in the people.

Transparency: This is based on the premise of free flow of information and its
accessibility to those affected by the decisions taken in the governance process.
People, especially shall be in a position to understand as well as monitor governmental
and other sectors’ activities, on the basis of information that is accessible to them within
reasonable limits.
Responsiveness: The earlier governance mechanisms lacked in their approach of
bringing all the stakeholders in their ambit. In the present times, the emphasis is more
on institutions being responsive to the needs of all those who are going to be affected
by their actions.

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Equity: Since governance structures and mechanisms aim at participation, they have to
promote equity. A society’s well-being and development depends on ensuring that all
the members have a stake and role in it and are not excluded from the mainstream
activities.
Effectiveness and Efficiency: Good Governance and, NPM need to aim at effectiveness
and efficiency in usage of resources in consonance with the societal needs and
demands. Result-orientation needs to be the key concern.

Accountability: This occupies a central place in Good Governance. The norm of

accountability has to ensure answerability as well as proper enforcement of correct
procedure in case of violation of certain laid down norms. Not only the public
institutions, but also the private sector and the civil society organisations need to be
accountable to the public at large and to the other related institutions and stakeholders.

Ans. 8
LEGISLATIVE REFORMS
Certain pertinent issues connected with the legislative system in India and the
measures that can be taken to reform it. These reforms aim at making legislators
professional and more accountable, and the whole system responsive to the people of
the country. Criminalisation of politics is playing havoc with the governance processes.
Hence, reforms are necessary to break the strong nexus that exists between the
politicians and criminals. We find members with criminal antecedents entering the
election fray and getting elected to the legislative bodies. Some reforms could be
initiated to change the scenario. These are:

State Funding of Political Parties

State funding of political parties and elections is a significant step in the direction of
reforms. This can weaken the nexus between electoral expenditure and criminalisation
of politics. It has to be accompanied by a proper maintenance of accounts of the party

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funds and their systematic audits. Khandwalla (1999) points out that state funding to the
registered political parties can be in the form of maintenance subsidy and electioneering
expenditure. The funds may cover establishment costs, costs of grass roots work,
training of cadre, media costs, and costs of organising meetings and rallies. Funds may
be provided through Election Commission. It is required of the political parties that they
maintain accounts, get them audited, and file the audited accounts with the Election
Commission, so that they are then open to public scrutiny. It is also necessary that
political parties elect party office bearers in a democratic and transparent manner, and
put up their election candidates in the same way. They have also to disclose donations
and contributions received. All this will restrict criminalisation and provide for greater
financial transparency and intra-party democracy.

Representative Legislature
The legislature as the supreme policy making body is expected to represent the
interests of the people. The legislators sometimes do not reflect the preferences of the
people. The one who is elected may not even have a majority when the contest is multi-
cornered. Even if a candidate gets a majority, the representation is faulty because a
very visible minority still goes underrepresented (ibid.). Sometimes the party getting
two-thirds majority may not represent the votes of various states, regions, and
communities. It may just have the majority from particular places and particular
communities. Thus, when such a party forms a government, and tries to bring changes,
then democracy gets respected only in letter, and not in spirit.

Stable Coalitions
The Indian political scene is presently characterised by coalition governments.
Coalitions are formed in a situation when no party gets a full majority to form the
government single-handedly. Hence, different political parties get together form groups
in order to weave a coalition government. But, this formation sometimes gives rise to
instability in the government. The members of the coalition have their individual
ideologies and self-interests, which often clash with each other. The leader of the
government has to work more towards pacifying and appeasing the allies, than focusing

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on the development policies. In case, where the interests of the allies are not met, the
allies withdraw their support from the coalition. This results usually in the falling of the
government.
To stabilise coalitions, all defections and splits should be avoided. For this purpose, all
grey areas of Anti-defection Act should be removed. In case any party pulls out of the
coalition without genuine reason, legal action should be taken. The coalition should
work on the basis of consensus and mutual consultation. Coalition government should
draw up a Common Minimum Programme and every member should work towards it in
the larger interest. We have now the example of National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
that has completed its full term as coalition. Perhaps this could set an example for future
coalition governments.
Khandwalla (op.cit.) suggests that there should be a system of recognition and reward
for the politicians who show achievements. Those who are punctual in meetings, and
attendance, those who render effective suggestions, and those who work efficiently,
should be duly appreciated. Equally, there should be some disincentives for those not
attending the House regularly. Fines should be imposed for misconduct. There can be a
panel of senior legislators, jurists, and citizens to perform a qualitative audit of the work
of Legislative Committees.

Responsive Parliamentary Procedures

The National Commission headed by former Chief Justice M. N. Venkatachaliah, that
was set up in 2000 to review the working of the Indian Constitution. It came up with
several recommendations to improve the working of the legislature, executive and
judiciary. It observed a decline in the quantity and quality of the work done by the
Parliament and state legislatures. The number of days on which the houses sit to
transact legislative and other business has come down very significantly. It drew
attention to the falling standards of debate, and discussion, frequent adjournments,
erosion of moral authority and unseemly incidents. It suggested that the Parliament has
a decisive role to play if it wishes to continue as a representative, responsible, and
responsive institution to the citizens. Parliament can play this historic role only if it
consciously reforms its procedures and prioritises its work methods.

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The Vohra Committee commonly know as the Ethics Committee also came up with
many suggestions to reform the governmental institutions. It expressed its serious
concern over the increasing trend of disorderly proceedings in the legislature. Behaviour
of some of the members inside the House leads to interruptions of its proceedings. The
unruly behaviour of some of the members put an avoidable financial burden on the
national exchequer, which our economy can ill-afford. The Committee called upon the
leaders of the political parties to cooperate effectively with the presiding officers of the
legislature in enforcing discipline. They should enthuse their members to faithfully
adhere to the norms of discipline and decorous behaviour in the House.

Strong Committee System

The National Commission recommended the strengthening of the Committee System of
the Parliament. The most important of Committees of the Parliament are the
Departmental Standing Committees. They are set up to provide the Parliament with the
wherewithal to handle complex economic and social issues with competence and
sophistication. It is in these Committees that the demands for grants of the ministries
and departments can be examined in depth in an atmosphere of objectivity and freedom
from partisan passions. It is here that the legislative proposals of the government can
be scrutinised to ensure their consistency with the policy objectives and their suitability
to serve the societal goals. But, more energy and effort would have to go into the task of
making these Committees work. Given the enormous importance of these Committees
for the effective functioning of the Parliament, it is obvious that conscious, coordinated
and sustained reforms of the Committee system need to be taken up.

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