Public administration can be understood at
two different levels, first is the practice of public administration as action
arms of government and other is the theory of public administration as an
academic discipline.
Public Administration as a Practice
As a practice public administration is government
in action, whatever govt. does through the machinery of large number of
officials, organization, rules and regulation all are the part of public
administration. The official working such as ministries, govt. department,
public enterprises, are called as public administrators.
The core of the practice part of public
administration is its bureaucratic setup. The multiple level of the officials
from local level to the state and central govt., who are related to each other
in an informal and hierarchical structure and who work passionately with their regulation
constitutes the bureaucratic set up of the govt. Since the time people started
living under the state, public administration emerged to manage the affairs of
the state.
Public Administration as Theory
As far the theory of public administration
is concerned, it means study of how the affairs of govt. through its
bureaucratic setup are carried out. The theory of public administration also
includes hypothesizing and theory building in the field of public
administration.
In a nutshell, we may say that as practice,
public administration is management of affairs of government by an
organizational structure which act on behalf of the people, attempt to solve
vague complex societal problem by taking collective decision to achieve the common
good.
The public in public administration denotes
public spiritedness, public accountability, public participation, public interest,
public access, public scrutiny, etc. Hence, public administration is
accessible, transparent and accountable to public at large.
As a field of academic study, it means
understanding the practice of public administration, developing the theory of public
administration and helping practice of public administration to best fulfil the
aspiration of society and people.
Some of the most famous definitions in the field of public administration; -
1. "Public administration is a detailed and
systematic application of law. Every particular application of law is an act of
administration" - Woodrow Wilson
2. "Public administration is the action part of government, the means by which the purpose and goal of the government are realized" - Corson & Harris
3. "By public administration it means, in common usage the activity of the executive branches of the national, state and local government” - Herbert Simone
From these definitions it is clear that public administration denotes the executive organ of the state, that is the government.
It is through public administration that
the government carries out its day-to-day affairs and also formulates and
implements public policies to solve societal problems.
Written By - Shivam Jha
Edited By - Tushna Choksey
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