PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION...Paper-I

             Public Administration is like a mirage, it appears easy from a distance to the new aspirants who are in the process of short listing optional subjects for CSE but if we see the general marking pattern in the subject for last 3 yrs, we can easily discover that marking  is like a cliff with few exceptional high scores with generally below average marking. Secondly, it is not necessary that high scores in Public Administration paper -1 are supplemented by equally good or near marks in paper 2. This may be due to different approach required to attempt these 2 papers at a gap of 2 hrs.

             The only benefit and perhaps the only reason for popularity of Public Administration is that everyone who looks at its syllabus at first go, feels a bit comfortable mainly due to its inter-disciplinary approach and broad subject-matter. Secondly, it also makes one comfortable in General Polity sections of GS and other administrative issues/problems. Third and perhaps the most important which is not generally accounted for, chiefly due to uncertainty of UPSC, is that it makes you comfortable when you undergo training after selection.

 Let me elaborate this in few lines…

             As Public Administration is mainly an uncomfortable mix of Political science and Management with parts of commerce, economics and psychology, so whether it’s a humanity graduate or a techie ,she/he finds himself in sync with few terminology of Public Administration and that is the one of reasons for people opting for it once they see the syllabus. But here lies a problem as every subject matter which Public Administration borrowed from other discipline is then coloured in its own administrative/discipline terminology and even approach for study of that matter like chapters on organizations, personnel administration or financial adm.

Even the core areas of Public  Administration like its Origin ,Comparative Public  Administration, Public Policy and Administrative Law and Accountability have  some generic content due to common terminology used by news dailies and media. So the caveat in public administration is that you will work as a generalist in services, you will study as generalist but make sure that while you write your mains Public Administration paper it should not be look like a generalist, it should appear that you are Mohit Bhattacharya or embodiment of  Dwight Waldo and you are bent to establish Public Administration as a discipline and have entire picture of Public Administration right from its Origin to Minnowbrook-4 ( hope that is held in 2028) clearly in your mind which you will only reveal only in front of UPSC Interview Board.

As far as references are concerned this is my personal reference list which I referred in my Mains 2010,2011 (still not very good marks) and 2012 (results awaited).

          Note:-  I Can’t remember how many hrs I spent in reading “must read” articles in journals/magazines which were “must skip” ones.

PAPER-1 :-Administrative Theory

1. Introduction:

Meaning, scope and significance of Public Administration ;Wilson’s vision of Public Administration

Evolution of the discipline and its present status; New Public Administration; Public Choice approach, Challenges of liberalization, Privatisation , Globalisation;Good Governance: concept and application; New Public Management.

                                              Vajiram and Ravi’s class notes and Nicholas henry is something a must read,even when “experts would advice that henry is outdated because this chapter relates to debate within discipline for its survival and henry has explained it in a coherent manner as it happened otherwise many get confuse about origin itself”. Secondly few lines and quotes are very powerful that you can experience it by reading only.VAJIRAM AND RAVI’S CLASS NOTES had covered this section in a very good manner .

2. Administrative Thought:

Scientific Management and Scientific Management movement; Classical Theory; Weber’s bureaucratic model – its critique and post-Weberian Developments; Dynamic Administration (Mary Parker Follett); Human Relations School (Elton Mayo and others); Functions of the Executive (C.I. Barnard); Simon’s decision-making theory; Participative Management (R. Likert, C. Argyris, D. McGregor).

                              

                                    "Administrative Thought" by Prasad and Prasad (there are 2 more authors) is a good read and 1st you read introduction which will give you necessary overview of thoughts/views of different experts/thinkers.it is advisable that while you read thinker always have a detailed syllabus  with you as linkages with syllabus can be seen with works of thinker then and there so as you can justify your generalist answer by specialists (thinkers) recommendations. In any case don’t miss F.W.Riggs and Marx as they are very important and comprehensively covered. Secondly, nobody knows that when can Marx have an entry in PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, so have an idea about his writings and thoughts. The ideas of Weber and Marx are sometimes diametrically opposite, like on bureaucracy,democracy etc.

                                     Secondly post-Weberian development is a section which can throw up surprises so be updated by Google bhagwan. VAJIRAM AND RAVI’S CLASS NOTES are also good and few parts like that on Simon and Bernard are very systematic.

3. Administrative Behaviour:

    Process and techniques of decision-making; Communication; Morale; Motivation Theories – content, process and contemporary; Theories of Leadership: Traditional and Modern.

                          The basics of this section can be prepared from any standard book like New Horizons of PA by Mohit Bhattacharya, and Vajiram and Ravi’s class notes.for value addition which becomes crucial seeing trends from last 2 yrs mains, it is advisable that relevant portions must be covered by Hershey and Blanchard’s book on organisational behaviour or stephen robbins . these have to be read selectively and its better if notes are made out of it along with some powerful quotes or  lines,so as to have a single point reference at the time of exam.along with this have an eye on recent articles/news items related to the topics covered.

4. Organisations:

Theories – systems, contingency; Structure and forms: Ministries and Departments, Corporations, Companies, Boards and Commissions; Ad hoc and advisory bodies; Headquarters and Field relationships; Regulatory Authorities; Public - Private Partnerships.

                        This is one of the most dynamic and fluid chapter in Public Administration as we can see that shape of organisations and their structure and reporting pattern is undergoing large scale changes both in India and otherwise so have a ready-recknor on news items and creation of such bodies like new Cabinet Committee,new forms of Organisations, Special Purpose Vehicles, their pros and cons, constitutional positions and coordination issues. Even in this year 2012 Mains many questions related to this Paper, and even an essay on PPP was from this section,so prepare it thoroughly as it is going to be a “game changer” in years to come plz read preface and intro.. Get in touch with website of MoF, Planning commission etc for new concepts and reports of various committees and website of PIB for report on PSE’s in india.

 Again Vajiram and Ravi’s class notes are good and references can be made from New Horizon’s of Public Administration and ARC-II's 13th report on Union Government.

5. Accountability and control:Concepts of accountability and control;

    Legislative, Executive and Judicial control over administration; Citizen and Administration; Role of media,                interest groups, voluntary organizations ; Civil society; Citizen’s Charters; Right to Information; Social audit.

             

            Beautifully covered by ARC-II 12th report on Citizen-Centric Administration  and in New Horizon’s of Public Administration.Few topics in it are comprehensively covered.Secondly website of DAR&PG is good for new updates and even for basic materials.sometimes editorials are very apt for this section like on social audit,civil society etc. Any standard text book or notes will do, what you have to add is by your own analysis and judgement which should be balanced and based on facts.

6. Administrative Law:

Meaning, scope and significance; Dicey on Administrative law; Delegated legislation; Administrative Tribunals.

            Any standard book or IGNOU notes and matter from internet like set-up in various nations like USA,FRANCE,UK etc, 

7. Comparative Public Administration:

Historical and sociological factors affecting administrative systems; Administration and politics in different countries; Current status of ComPublic Administrationrative Public Administration; Ecology and administration; Riggsian models and their critique.

           

                   Vajiram and Ravi’s class notes are comprehensive and Fred Riggs chapter of  Prasad and Prasad .also help can be sought from internet by selective reading of articles.

8. Development Dynamics:

Concept of development; Changing profile of development administration; ‘Antidevelopment thesis’; Bureaucracy and development; Strong state versus the market debate; Impact of liberalisation on administration in developing countries; Women and development - the self-help group movement.

                This is a chapter which is full of subjective opinions of theorists from various disciplines and is very dynamic and relies on recent reports like MDG's, World Bank, works of Amartya Sen among others.there are various sources to refer for and it is difficult to say which one is authentic,balanced and relevant so it creates ambiguity when you go through notes of Vajiram or Mohanty Sir's (SYNERGY). additional readings like Sen's India : DEVELOPMENT and PARTICIPATION is a good read. read this chapter in linkage with  CPA (chapter 7) and search for topics on book.google.co.in Also R.K.Arora's book on Developmnt administration is a good reference.

9. Personnel Administration:

Importance of human resource development; Recruitment, training, career advancement, position classification, discipline, performance appraisal, promotion, policy and service conditions; employer-employee relations, grievance redressal mechanism; Code of conduct; Administrative ethics.

                Beautifully covered by ARC-II  10th report on Personnel administration  and 4th report on Ethics in Governance. Apart from it any standard book had covered the basics of the topic in good manner because this forms important section of discipline.few topics in it are comprehensively covered.secondly website of DAR&PG is good for new initiatives. While studying the topics have a clear view in regard to opinions expressed by thinkers related to the topics like what Taylor, Fayol, Argyris  had to say about training etc or what Glehn Stahll had views about promotions and classification. Also reports of various international commissions like Nolan committee,Brownlow committee.

10. Public Policy:

Models of policy-making and their critique; Processes of conceptualization  planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and review and their limitations; State theories and public policy formulation.

            

                        Read Y.Dror’s chapter from "Administrative Thought”  by Prasad and Prasad. and IGNOU’s booklets on public policy. It is very good and presented in a lucid manner.

This section is highly scoring if answer to the question asked is replied using specific terminology and giving case studies in support of tit.secondly the no. of quesitons asked are on upward trend from this section.apart from it Vajiram and Ravi’s class notes notes are good.

 .11. Techniques of Administrative Improvement:

Organisation and methods, Work study and work management; e-governance and information technology; Management aid tools like network analysis, MIS, PERT, CPM.

             Beautifully covered by ARC-II report on e-governance.New Horizon’s of Public Administration has covered it in good manner as applicable to public administration as this section is purely of management and technical origin.internet can be used for other developments in this field like DSS etc.

12. Financial Administration:

Monetary and fiscal policies; Public borrowings and public debt Budgets - types and forms; Budgetary process; Financial accountability; Accounts and audit

            For basic portions any standard text book is suffice or class notes of Vajiram and Ravi’s. Budget and its process is of utmost important from this section which is adequately dealt in Nicholas Henry so it is advisable to go through it atleast once. IGNOU's is a good source for this topic and along with it the Hindu’s article on Monday are informative and useful  for this section.

              Apart from above, I would like to add that many would feel that ARC is for Paper -2 on Indian administration but on going full reading of report I found that there is adequate matter for theoretical concepts and their international experience,so it will be beneficial for it. Secondly, as far standard text books are concerned S.P.Naidu or Sharma & Sadana or Avasthi & Maheshwari are good.Fadia and Fadia is very voluminous and merely a descriptive book so I didn’t find it much efficient in reference to time invested.

              If any aspirant wants to have a glimpse of public administration very quickly then TMH’s Public Administration by Laxmikanth is reference to opt for as it sums up the whole subject in a crispy and concise manner giving a complete picture and also a useful source for administration in USA,UK,France and Japan which is beneficial in answer writing when we compare it with Indian structure.

As is applicable always,I point out that this is my opinion about the subject and what I referred to in exam and found useful.

            Hope that reactions (Social Audit) will help in improving the effectiveness of write-up.

A GUIDE