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A holistic or comprehensive approach
A managerial or limited approach
First let us discuss the holistic or comprehensive approach.
Public administration consists of the most senior to the most junior officers involved in the implementation of government policies and orders. Along with this, public administration includes all the three branches of government. The Legislature approves the policies of the government, the Executive implements those policies and the Judiciary interprets the law and determines its validity. Thus, this view holds that all the three branches of government are related to administration.
A factor worth noting is that governance is a process. This functional process takes place at all levels like Union Government, Unit State Governments and Local Self-Governments. This process includes organizational matters, accountability of administration, recruitment of staff, training, promotion, finance, administration and behavior of staff etc. Thus, this view emphasizes that the scope of public administration is very broad. Next let us discuss the managerial or limited approach.
Luther Gulick is the main proponent of this approach. According to him, the scope of public administration is limited to seven administrative functions. Those functions are as follows-
Planning
organization
Staffing
Direction
Co-ordination
Reporting
Budgeting
This is also known as POSDCORB approach.
Coordinating the work of all departments, branch sub-departments to avoid redundancies and unnecessary expenses is to establish co-ordination. Reporting the entire work to the person in charge so that all the information from the report is given to the Executive Head. Funds are required for administrative work, and how to raise those funds, the administration has to prepare a budget. All these seven functions of administration are managerial in nature, hence this approach is called managerial approach.
Role of Public Administration
It seems that the success of the government today is based on the administrative system because the functions and role of public administration are important in today’s system. How important the role of public administration is, it is clear from the following points- •Implementation of public interest programs: Chartered officers perform the tasks of providing all the facilities needed by the people in their daily life, implementing public interest programs etc. Through them the government can reach out to the public and communicate with the public. The role of chartered officers is so important in the execution of day-to-day operations that in their absence all the work comes to a standstill.•Making and enforcing laws: The legislative branch of the government is responsible for making laws. The legislative body provides the administrative machinery with all the information required for making laws and laws can be made based on that information. After the Legislature enacts laws, the administrative machinery is responsible for implementing those laws.•Continuity of Government : Ministers are in power for five years, but the civil servants are permanent in nature. That is why no matter who is elected, no matter which political party comes to power, due to the bureaucracy of that department there is continuity in governance and policies. It is the chartered servants who collect the demands of the people and take those demands to decision making. It is the chartered servants who invent the interests of the people by taking into account the demands of the people and embodying those demands. But in today’s technical and complex nature of politics, since the government employees are aware of the science and technology of governance, many questions and problems are judged by the administrative employees.
It is because of the role of public administration that the importance of public administration has increased in the modern age. In the next article, let’s discuss the types of questions that may arise on the syllabus discussed so far and how to prepare for them.
Ketan Bhosle, Assistant Professor, Political Science
Today’s question
I have completed my engineering diploma. While working, I am pursuing graduation from Indian Institute of Industrial Engineering through distance education. Can I take the UPSC exam after taking this education? – Ganesh Shinde
Institutions offering distance education must also be approved by the Distance Education Bureau of the UGC. If the above institute is approved by UGC then you can give UPSC exam.
