ADS 404

INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION

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 Learning outcomes;

 At the end of the course, student

should be able to;
› Explain the current concepts and issues in
public administration.
› Write on the importance of ethics in public
administration.
› Discuss through oral presentation the
challenges of Public Administration in a
representative democracy.

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 Introduction

According to Waldo(1955) – 2 usages of

Public Administration (P.A)
› A field of practice
› An academic field of study

 What is public administration (PA)?

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 Definition
 Wilson (1887)
› Is detailed and systematic execution of public
law.
 Waldo (1955)
› Is the organization and management of men
and materials to achieve the purpose of the
government.
 Caiden (1971)
› That part of public domain that concern with
the administrative aspects of resolution of
public issues.
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 Rosenbloom (1989)
› PA is the action part of the government.
› The use of managerial, political and legal
theory and process to fulfil legislative,
executive and judicial government
mandates for the provision of regulatory
and service functions for the society as a
whole of a segment of it’

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 Public Administration and
society
 It positioned PA as something ‘in
between’ the authority that make
decisions (state) and the people that are
to be administered (society) (Rutgers,
2010)
 Promotes an understanding on the
relationship between the government and
the society it governs.
 PA accompanying the society from ‘birth
to death’
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 Politics and administration
dichotomy
 A concept initiated by Woodrow Wilson
through his seminal article ‘ The study of
Administration’ in 1887 distinctively
separate politics and administration.
 Wilson was concerned on the corrupting &
politicizing interference of political parties in
administrative affairs
 Wilson (1966) explained the division as such;
› ‘the broad plans of the governmental action is
not administrative but the detailed execution is’

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 Politics and administration
 Goodnow (1900) explained that ‘politics
has to do with policies and the expression
of the state will’ while administration ‘ has
to do with the execution of the policies’.
 L.D White (1926) stated that politics
should not intrude administration where
the mission of administration is on
economy and efficiency.

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 To distinguish between administrative and
political (legal) actions and between
administrative and political functions
(Rutgers, 2010)
 Administration entails huge discretion that
bring together technical expertise and
administrative efficiency (Frederickson,
2012).
 It was assumed that the line between
policy/politics and administration was a
‘firewall’ (Frederickson et al, 2012).
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 Policy and administration
 When the government addresses a
problem, it will legislate a law, create
regulations and made decisions on action
to be taken.
 Issues such as ???
 The administration deals with what is to
be done, how, when and where it should
be done.
 Administration is the process where policy
and decision is implemented.
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 Public administration vs
private administration
Criteria Public organization Private
organization
Ownership Government Owner, shareholders,
stakeholders
Objectives/ Measure Serve public Profit
of performance
Resources Taxes Owners money &
loans
Accountability Superior & publics Owner & shareholders
Size & complexity Huge & general Narrow & specialized

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 Role of public
administration
 Prime mover of the states development
 Arrange, formulate and implement
plans and programs for state
 Implement government policies
 Manage and balance the public needs
 Governing the society (Rohr, 1998)
 ‘Run the country’ at a certain extent
(Heywood, 2007)

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 PA history in Malaysia
 Malaysian system of administration
inherited the modern western bureaucracy
from the British which includes
administrative characteristics and cultural
values (Abdullah Sanusi et al, 2003).
 Timeline;
› The sultanate era
› The British era
› After independence
› The new millennium
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 A key premise in the Westminster
system of government is public
administration’s advice to the
government is objective and impartial
and canvasses a wide range of view
and options that may otherwise not be
heard (Briggs, 2009)

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 Administrative reforms

 The artificial inducement of

administrative transformation against
resistance (Caiden,1969)
 A conscious, well-considered change
that is carried out in a public sector
organization or system for the purpose
of improving its structure, operation or
the quality of its work force (Gow,
2012)
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 Objective of reforms

 To enhance and increase the quality of

public services and deliver such goals
and services to the citizens in an
economical, efficient and effective way
(Caiden 1969)

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 What to reform?
 Public sector productivity
 Merit based performance (KPI)
 Systemic corruption
 Red tapes
 Work culture
 Work priority
 Distribution of resources
 Administrative processes
 Profitable services
 Coordination of services
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 Administrative reforms in
Malaysia
 Reinventing the government
 Total Quality Management (TQM)
 Privatization
 Malaysia Incorporated
 De-bureaucratization
 Re-organization
 Public-private partnership
 Ethics
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