INTRODUCTION:Institutions of State, Individualism

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Introduction To PublicAdministrationMGT111

LESSON 01

INTRODUCTION

Thecourse on Public Administration/Managementhas followingobjectives:

Understand the concept of public administration/ management/organization

Understand the evolution of the concept of public administration and its importance

Understand the role of government

Understand the role and core functions of public manager

Understand the structure of government /organizations

Create understanding about the skills required by the publicmanager in impartingduties

Understand the changing role of government androle of publicmanagers.

Importance of Course: Thecourse on public administration/management is important as every citizen

mustunderstand the functioning of government. Besides, whether one works in private or public

organization, or one is doing ones ownbusiness or whatever the profession, this course is useful as it helps

understandorganizations and theirfunctioning. It also helps us understand the environment in which we

areworking.

Introduction: definitions, concepts & setting

At the end of lecture the students should be able to understanding:

· The meaning of PA

· The practice of public administration (PA)

· Public administration as a subject of study

· Definition of Public administration

· Public administration, democracy and rights of citizens

The Meaning

Theword `administration' has been derived from Latin words `ad' = to and `ministiare' = serveand

`Public' =people or citizens

Thus the word administration means to execute the policy of government to servepublic.

Management is also defined as Cooperative humanendeavour to achieve given goals.Traditionally

management is also defined as Management = POSDCORB which stands for Planning, Organizing,

Staffing, Directing, Coordination, Reporting, Budgeting.

In general administration and managementare usedinterchangeably.

PublicAdministration

A public administration as a practice is as old as the human civilization.When human beingsstarted

living in society in an organized way they started the practice of administration, because they started to live

cooperatively in society. It is said that when a man tried to left a stoneand was unable to do so alone and

was helped by another man, the practice of `management/administration began.

EgyptianPyramids (1491BC)

Youmust have seen Egyptianpyramids and must havethought how

suchhuge structure was built.The construction of Egyptian pyramids in 1491

is an example of practice of administration, as it involved cooperative effort

of thousands of people.

Mohenjodaro and Harrapa

In Pakistan Mohenjodaro and Harrapa civilizations are a magnificent example of practice of

administration. The two cities hadwell planned roads, granary,wells and walls around the city to protect it.

Suchplanning of city shows that the rulers managed the city well.

Introduction To PublicAdministrationMGT111

So we can say that public administration as a practice is old as civilization But Public

Administration as a discipline to be taught in formal educationalinstitution, started after WorldWar I

(1914), in USA and then in Europe. The emergence of public administration as discipline in USA and

Europewas due to the changing role of government. The Great Depression in USA and Europebrought

largescale unemployment and lowwages, and falling demandfor goods. It was feltthat in these

circumstances the government should invest to provide jobs.Thus, the role of government wasseen as

prime mover in economy.

WhyPublic Administration ReceivedImpetus as A Subject?

Followingwere the reasons for the emergence of public administration as a subject:-

1. Expanding welfare role(distributive) of the government

2. The emergence of privatesector and regulatory role, of government

3. The need for increased efficiency in the Organization

4. Development of Science andTechnology

5. Better management of public mattersthrough training in USA

Definition of Public Administration

Now we will look at variousdefinitions of public administration to better comprehend the concept:

"Publicadministration.... is the action part of government, the means by which the purposesand

goals of government are realized".

`Public administration as a field is mainly concernedwith the means for implementing political

values..."

"Theprocess of public administration consists of the actions involved in effecting the intent or

desire of a government. It is thus the continuously active,`business' part of government, concerned

withcarrying out the law, as made by legislative bodies (or otherauthoritative agents)and

interpreted by the courts, through the processes of organization and management."

It is a cooperative group effort in a publicsetting;

It covers all the threebranches --- executive,legislative, and judicial -- and

their interrelationships;

Allthese definitions explain us different dimension of the subjects.These definitions mightconfuse

us and we might say thatthere is really no suchsubject as "public administration,"but rather thatpublic

administration means different things to differentobservers and lacks a significant common theoretical or

applied meaning, or we might saythat public administration is everywhere:-

Buttwo things definitely emergefrom the above definition.These are:-

1. The study of public administration overlaps a number of other disciplines,including political

science, sociology, economics, psychology, andbusiness administration. and

2. Public administration is the use of managerial,political, and legaltheories and processes to

fulfill the goals of government (welfare of public).

(Institutions)

(Citizens)

(Government)

Introduction To PublicAdministrationMGT111

Now before we further proceed to understandpublic administration we need to understand certain

conceptslike and state and government. The diagram showsthat citizens of any countryare user of services

andprovider of services.

Institutions of State

Theinstitutions of state are as follows:-

Legislature:Parliament (National andProvincial Assemblies) makeslaws for the organization

Judiciary:(Supreme Court & ProvincialCourts) - and SessionCourts) interpretlaws

Executive ( National, Provincial) implementslaws

TheMinistries, Division, Departments/Directorates are the organizationsthat function under the

executive to implement law. For example the police department has the responsibility to maintain peace &

order

Government

Government is process of governing. It is the use of power derived from the law that is

made/approve by the legislature. It is means, methods,manner, or system of governingsociety and

organization.

The government of Islamic Republic of Pakistan derivesits systems and methodsfrom the

Constitution(1973). Article 90-99 of the Constitution gives provisionfor Rules of Business. TheRules of

Business1973 provide. The roles, responsibilities and function of government organizations (ministries,

departmentsetc)

What is Democracy

When we talk of state and government it is important to mention that what form of government

Pakistanhas. Pakistan is a parliamentaryDemocracy. The worddemocracy is a Greek wordwhere "demos"

mean people and "Krates" meansauthority.

Values of Democracy

Democracieshave certain values andthese are:-

Individualism

Equality

Liberty

Individualism

Individualismmeans that the dignity andintegrity of individual is of supreme importance. It

suggeststhat achieving the fullestpotential of each individual is the best measure of the success of political

systemand government

Equality

Allnormal individuals are equal in their talents but alsoeach individual has an equalclaim to life,

libertyand the pursuit to happiness

Liberty

Citizens should have the right to the maximumopportunity to select ownpurpose in life and

choosemeans to accomplish these.The citizen should be facilitated rather than hindered in their pursuit to

a meaningful life.

Concepts

Thestudents must understand the following concepts:-

Organization:

Thestructure and framework created to perform certain

functions to achieve goals.

Management:

Cooperative human effort to achievegoals

Process:

a systematic mechanism to complete an activity

Introduction To PublicAdministrationMGT111

Efficiency:

Efficiency = Output: Efficiency relates to maximization of goals

Input example: 10 → output = 2 = efficient

4 → input

10 = 1.66 = lessefficient.

Government:

A government is the process of governing, it comprise

organization, system, rules etc.

State:

As State has territorialjurisdiction, it has people andinstitutions.

Democracy:

Democracy is a form of government in which people has

authorityand right to elect theirrepresentative.

Democraticvalues:

Democratic values are life, liberty & individualism.

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