How to Prepare Public Administration

Q. What is the basic reason for ?Public

Administration? becoming so popular among the
aspirants of Civil Services and State Services ?
Ans. The basic reason lies in the interdisciplinary nature and
non-technical content of the subject matter. The subject has
lot of practical significance and this makes it more
interesting and understandable even to those students, who
are completely newcomers in the field of Public
Administration. At the same time every candidate has some
basic knowledge of what administrative system is. Public
Administration is pragmatic in nature dealing also with
Indian Administrative System, which facilitates the success
of candidates at each and every stage of examination, that
is, Preliminary, Mains and Interview. As compared to other
social sciences, humanities, Public Administration is more
dependable and manageable within a specified time period
subject to the condition that a systematic approach is
adopted during the course of preparation to meet the
requirements of the examination.
Q. 2. Which is the most suited combination of the
optional subject with Public Administration?
Ans. In view of the combined range of syllabus and limited
span of time at the disposal of the candidate, Anthropology,
despite its revised syllabus, can be the most appropriate
choice. An analysis of the success rate of different subjects?
combination at the Civil Services main examination is
indicative of the above mentioned fact. At the same time the
duration between the examination of the two subjects i.e.
Public Administration and Anthropology is substantial. With
same logic, Geography too can be another choice.
However, in accordance with your own interest and aptitude
preference can be made for any other prescribed subjects.

Q. 3. What are the basic requirements for preparing

Public Administration in Preliminary Examination ?
Ans. (a) A cursory glance at the syllabus brings out the fact
that it is segmented into ten major topics but it has a
reasonable amount of coherence. The first seven topics
mainly relate to structure process and behaviour of Public
Administration and the remaining three are specific to Indian
Administration. The interrelationship of various topics
requires a comprehensive and integrated knowledge of the
subject.
(b) Memorization of facts is important but not an end in
itself. Since the Preliminary examination is meant to test a
candidate?s clear understanding; the understanding of basic
concepts and the fundamental aspects of the subject is a
prerequisite to success.
(c) Since the syllabus is non-detailed, it is of utmost
importance to take care of the related aspects of the subtopics mentioned in the syllabus.
(d) The application of knowledge, information and
understanding are equally important. This can be developed
by practising questions only after completion of the syllabus.
(e) While solving the questions, keep a record of
performance and specific problem areas which require
greater concentration and more in- depth study.
Q. 4. What is optimum time required to prepare the
Preliminary syllabus?
Ans. With a systematic plan of action the time required for
success- oriented preparation is about two and a half to
three months. Two weeks preceding the date of examination
should be exclusively devoted to revision work.

Q. 5. How to systematically prepare the topic ?

Comparative Public Administration? prescribed in
Preliminary syllabus.
Ans. While going through the subject matter, always take
care of varying references in the context of other countries,
more particularly France, USA, UK and erstwhile USSR. Try
to develop an attitude of comparative analysis of various
administrative ideologies, institutions, concepts and
fundamentals.
Q. 6. What is the best way to understand the
contributions of the thinkers in a right perspective?
Ans. (a) Learn basic theories and techniques of
Managements relevant to the subject matter of Public
Administration. This is important because most of the
thinkers have been primarily concerned with developing
theories to improve the management of private sector.
First of all, try to understand the essential ingredients of any
theory and also understand the contemporary socio-ecopolitical conditions prevailing at the time of the
crystallization of the theories.
After this, the second step should be to understand the
contributions of respective thinkers under specific theories.
Q. 8. While preparing the subject, to what extent one
has to be familiar with Political Science.
Ans. Public Administration is an offshoot of Political Science,
but has its own ?locus? and ?focus?. At the same time the
functioning of administrative system has direct influence of
prevailing political system. Both these factors make it
desirable that there should be fundamental understanding of
political ideologies and institutions. It has to be kept in mind
that a proper grasp of theories governing political ideologies
and institutions is must. In this respect NCERT books (class
XI-XII) prescribed for Political Science can be useful.

Q. 9. What specific suggestions you can offer to

prepare the Mains with Public Administration?
Ans. (a) The syllabus comprises of two papers, but it is
never desirable to prepare the two papers separately. The
integrated approach to the completion of syllabus is always
desirable. This saves time and provides in-depth
understanding of the subject matter in a realistic manner.
(b) The main examination is generally considered to be
highly subjective in nature. But through objective
preparation the zone of subjectivity can be reduced to a
great extent.
(c) Conceptual topics, like Theories of Administration,
Administrative Behaviour, Comparative and Development
Administration, require extra effort but are scoring at the
same time.
(d) Comments, statements and observations by eminent
thinkers, scholars and administrators should be analysed
with due emphasis to grasp their substantive meaning.
Q. 10. How to take care of the current perspective in
second paper of the Mains? syllabus?
Ans. The very nature of the second paper demands
familiarity with political and administrative issues of
contemporary relevance. For this, develop a habit of regular
study of newspapers, magazines, and newsletters published
from Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA).
Q11. The syllabus of Public Administration has not be
revised for quite some time. It is going to have a
bearing on my score?
Ans. The policy of UPSC probably has been to discourage the

popularity of an optional either by revision of its syllabus or

put a change on the scoring pattern. As a corollary, Public
Administration may suffer slightly.
Q. 12. What should be the best way to present
answers in the examination ?
Ans. On completion of the textual readings, writing practice
is must. Try to attempt the answers in an orderly, effective
and exact expression, combined with due economy of words.
In comment type questions your attempt should be to
answer well within the prescribed limits. For medium and
major questions the answers should be written in about 300
and 500-700 words respectively.
To conclude, it can be suggested that the consultation of
authentic standard reference books is crucial in the successoriented preparation of Public Administration. The growing
popularity of the subject should not lead to an impression
that satisfactory performance is possible on the basis of
general readings and superficial knowledge. This statement
is not to discoverage the aspirants but to acquaint the
prospective candidates with the hard realties which one has
to accept in the right earnest. Wishing you all best.
Q. 13. Please suggest some essential readings to
prepare Public Administration.
Ans. Since the preparation of Preliminary & Main
examinations requires different orientations, the suggested
readings for the two is being illustrated under separate
heading.

Book List
Preliminary Examination

Basic
1. Introduction to the Study of Public Administration ?L.D.
White
2. Public Administration ?A.R. Tyagi
3. Public Administration in Theory and Practice
?M.P. Sharma & B.L. Sadana
4. Administrative Thinkers ?Prasad & Prasad
5. Public Administration ?Avasthi & Maheshwari
6. Public Administration ?Mohit Bhattacharya
Specific Topics
1. Financial Administration : Financial Administration in India
? M.J.K. Thavaraj
2. Comparative Administration : Public Administration : A
Comparative Perspective (Topic No. 5 & 6) ?Ferrel Heady
3. Administrative Behaviour : Administrative Behaviour (In
press) ?Rajiv Ranjan Singh
4. Indian Administration ?Avasthi & Avasthi
5. Constitution of India ?D.D. Basu.
Relevant Topics : 1. Union Executive 2. State Executive 3.
Centre-State Relations 4. Public Services & Public Service
Commission 5. Rights & Liabilities of Civil Servants.
Mains Examination
Paper I ::: Basic
1. Introduction to the study of Public Administration ?L.D.
White
2. Public Administration ?Mohit Bhattacharya
3. Administrative Thinkers ?Prasad & Prasad
4. Public Administration ?A.R. Tyagi
5. Public Administration ?C.P. Bhambri
Specific Topics
1. Basic premises : Modern Public Administration ?Nigro &
Nigro

2. Vaid?s Fundamentals of Public Admninistrative Series

(Ashtam Prakashan)
(i) Principles of Organisation and Comparative
Public Administration
(ii) Administrative Behaviour
3. Personnel Administration : Public Personnel Administration
?O. Glenn. Stahl
4. Administrative Law : Administrative Law ?M.P. Jain
5. Comparative and Development Administration :
Comparative Public Administration ?R.K. Arora
6. Public Policy : Public Policy ?R.K. Sapru
Paper II ::: Basic
1. Constitution of India ?D.D. Basu
2. Indian Administration ?Avasthi & Avasthi
3. Administrative Reform Commission (ARC) Report on
(a)Machinery of Planning
(b)Centre-state relationships
(c)Financial Administration
(d)State Administration
(e)District Administration
4. Public Administration ?A.R. Tyagi
5. Issues in Indian Administration ?R.B. Jain
6. Special volumes of Indian Journal of Public Administration
Specific Topics :
1. Evolution of Indian Administration : NCERT Books (Class
XI & XII) on Indian History : Administrative portion.
2. Centre-State Relations : A brief reference to Sarkaria
Commission Report.
3. Public Undertakings : Principles and Practices of Public
Enterprise Management?Laxmi Narayan
4. Control of Public Expenditure : Financial Administration in
India?M.J.K. Thavaraj
5. State Administration : State Administration?J.D. Shukla
6. District Administration : District Administration?S.S. Khera
7. Local Administration : Local Government in India?S.R.

Maheshwari
8. Administration for Welfare : Social Welfare
Administration?D. Paul Choudhary
Annual Report of Department of Justice & Empowerment
Note:?Consult IGNOU Materials