Published by: Divyanshu Nayak 
“Administer is an English word, which is originated from the Latin
word ‘ad’ and ‘ministrare’. It means to serve or to manage.
Administration means management of affairs, public or private.”
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Public Administration as an independent Subject of social science
has a recent origin. Traditionally Public Administration was considered
as a part of political science. But in the modern age, the nature of
state-under went change and it became from police stale to social
service state. As a consequence, the Public Administration,
irrespective of the nature of the political system, has become the
dominant factor of life. The modern political system is essentially
‘bureaucratic’ and characterised by the rule of officials. Hence
modern democracy has been described as ‘executive democracy’
or ‘bureaucratic democracy’. The administrative branch, described
as civil service or bureaucracy is the most significant component of
governmental machinery of the stat
1.2 : SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINSTRATION
Following are the three important perspectives about the scope of
Public Adminstration.
- Narrow perspective or POSDCORB perspective.
- Broad perspective or subject matter view.
- Prevailing view.
1.3 : Narrow perspective or POSDCORB perspective
Luther Gullick is the main exponent of this perspective. According
to him the scope of public administration is narrow or limited. It is
also regarded as POSDCORB view. It insist that the Public
The administration is concerned only with those aspects of
administration which are related to the executive branch and its
seven types of administrative functions.
These seven types of functions which show the scope of Public
administration is as follows –- ‘P’ stands for planning
- ‘O’ stands for organization
- ‘S’ stands for staffing.
- ‘D’ stands for Directing.
- ‘Co.’ stands for Co-ordination.
- ‘R’ stands for Reporting
- ‘B’ stands for Budgeting
- ‘P’ stands for Planning –
Planning is the first step of Public Administration. i.e. working out
the broad outline of the things that need to be done. - ‘O’ stands for the organization –
It means the establishment of the formal structure of authority through
which the work is sub-divided, arranged and co-ordinated for the
defined objective. - ‘S’ stands for staffing –
It means the recruitment and training of the staff and maintenance
of favourable conditions of work for the staff. - ‘D’ stands for Directing –
It means the continuous task of making decisions and embodying
them in specific and general orders and instructions, and thus
guiding the enterprise. - ‘Co’ stands for Co-ordination –
It means interrelating the various parts of the organization such as
branches, divisions, sections of the work and elimination of
overlapping. - ‘R’ stands for Reporting –
It means informing the authority to whom the executive is
responsible as to what is going on. - ‘B’ stands for Budgeting –
It means accounting, fiscal planning and control.
POSDCORB Perspective about the Scope of Public Administration
is limited and narrow. It stressed on the tools of Public
Administration. It does not show the substance of administration. It
is a technique-oriented perspective, not a subject-oriented.
A) Public Administration covers all three
branches of the government. Legislative, Executive and Judicial
and their interrelationship. The legislative organ makes the laws,
The executive organ of the government implements the laws. and
The judicial organ of the government interprets the laws. There is
an interrelationship between these three organs.
B) Scope of Public Administration is like a cooperative group. It
consists of all from class one officer to class four employees.
C) Public Administration is a part of the political process. It has an
important role in the formulation of public policy at all levels, from
national to grassroots. It is closely associated with numerous private
groups and individuals in providing services to the community. It
has been influenced in recent years by the human relations
approach.
1.5 : Role and Importance of Public Adminstration –
In today’s modern state and in developing countries functions and
role of Public Administration is very important. The role and
importance of Public Administration are as follows.
1. It is the basis of government.
2. It is the instrument of change in society.
3. It plays a vital role in the life of the people.
4. It is an instrument for executing laws, policies, programmes of
the state.
5. It is a stabilising force in society as it provides continuity.
6. It is an instrument of national integration in the developing countries
which are facing class wars.
- It is the basis of Government –
It is possible for a state to exist without a legislature or judiciary, but
not even the most backward state can do without administrative
machinery. The modern state cannot confine its field of activities to
merely maintenance of law and order, the dispensation of Justice,
collection of revenue and taxes and participation in welfare
activities. The modern welfare state is expected to provide more
and more services and amenities to the people. Public
Administration is the machinery used by the state to place itself in a
position to make plans and programmes that can be carried out.
- It is the instrument of change in society –
Public Administration is regarded as an instrument of change and is
expected to accelerate the process of development. In our country,
the government has undertaken the task of levelling down the
economic inequalities, spreading education among all abolishing
untouchability securing equality of status, rights of women and
effective and all-round economic and industrial development. The
the burden of carrying out these social changes in a planned and
orderly way rests upon the Public Administration of the country. The
the success of Indian democracy will depend not only on the wisdom of the legislature but more on the capability and sense of purpose on
the part of the Administration.
- It plays a vital role in the life of the people –
Today every aspect of human life come within the range of Public
Administration. Various departments of government such as
education, social welfare, food, agriculture, health, sanitation,
transport, communication etc. are run by the Department of Public
Administration. Thus Public Administration is rendering various types
of services to the people from birth to death of an individual.
- It is a stabilizing force in the society as it provides continuity
Public Administration is carried on by the civil servants who are the
permanent executives. Political executives i.e. ministers may come
and go, systems of government or constitutions may undergo
change but administration goes on forever. Hence, Public Administration is a great stabilising force in society. It is a preserver of the society and its culture.
- It is an instrument of national integration in the developing
countries which are facing class wars –
Conclusion –
The success of the government is dependent on the ability of public
administration. The future of civilized government rests upon the
ability, to develop a service and philosophy and practice of
adminstration competent to discharge the Public functions of
civilized society.
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