Ethiopian Public

Administration and
Governance
Unit 1: Introduction to Public Administration

Chala Dechassa (Ph.D candidate in development studies)

Ethiopian Civil Service University (ECSU)

EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

Contents

public Administration

Evolution of Public Administration

What is public administration?
Politics and Public Administration
The Politics-Administration Dichotomy
The Characteristics of Public Administration
Pillars of Public Administration
The Distinction between Public and Private Administration
The Environment of Public Administration

Reflective questions

EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

Learning outcomes

After completing this unit, students will be able to:

Define public administration;
Identify the types, forms and systems of government;
Distinguish the characteristic feature of public and private
administration;
Distinguish the differences and similarities of politics and public
administration;
Understand the history of Ethiopian public administration;
Understand the institutional setting of public administration;
Explain the pillars of public administration;
Analyze the features of public administration in developed and
developing countries; and
Analyze the environment of public administration;

EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

Guiding Questions

What do you think will happen to public organizations if

public administrators are negligent about the environments
in which they operate?
List the qualities of a public administrator? Which of your
list must come first? Why?
What do you think are the challenges of continuous growth
in size and complexity of Government activities
What kind of tasks can be achieved more easily through
private administration, and what tasks can be achieved more
easily within public administration?
What do you think should public administrators do for better
management of public sector organizations?

EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

Evolution of Public Administration

The origin of public administration as an academic discipline is
traced to the publication in 1887 the study of public
administration by Woodrow Wilson.
While the art of administration has been practiced for centuries,
it has not widely written and documented until recent years.
professional attention to the field was almost entirely lacking
until the end of the 19th century.

EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

Evolution of Public Administration

The first systematic approach used was studying public administration though law,
which was devoted to the legal organization of public authorities, their legal forms
of action and the limits of their power.
Later on attention has been also given to administrative system primarily concerned
with the nature of administrative institutions and administrative functions.
Generally, the expansion of government function gave raise for public
administration as an activity to become highly diversified complex and specialized.
Rapid technological development created large scale social dislocation that made
state intervention imperative and desirable.
The scientific management movement gave great impetus to the study of public
administration.

EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

Evolution of Public Administration

The gradual evolution of the concept of welfare state was

decisively shifted the philosophy of state function everywhere
from traditional laissez faire to that of social welfare.
The welfare movement has tremendously enlarged the scope
of government functions and public administration has
become the chief instrument of social welfare.
The movement of administrative reform which took place in
the early years of the 19th century in USA to look for remedies
of the then problems encountering the civil service.

EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

1. Definitions

What is Public Administration?

EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

1. Definitions

Administration is
cooperative human effort
obvious part of a government

Public Administration
deals with the machinery and procedures of government activities
species of administration which operates within a specific political
setting
policy decisions made by the political decision makers are carried out

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1. Definitions
Definitions from the literature:
L.D White: Public administration is detailed and systematic
execution of public law. Every particular application of law is
an act of administration
D. Waldo: Public administration is the art and science of
management applied to the affairs of the State
H. Simon: By public administration is meant in common
usage the activities of the executive branches of the
National, State and Local Governments

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1. Definitions
Public Administration is what government does:
trash collection to space exploration
regulation of complex economies to help economies move
beyond subsistence farming
biomedical technologies to census taking
The Public aspect of public administration gives the
discipline a special character.
It can be looked at formally to mean government. So, public
administration is government administration, the focus being
specifically on public bureaucracy

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1. Definitions
Political

Legal

Managerial

Occupational

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1. Definitions
How can we define Public Administration from a political
perspective?
Political: Public Administration is
a phase in the policy-making cycle
implementing the public interest
doing collectively that which cannot be done so well
individually

EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

1. Definitions
How can we define
legal perspective?

Public Administration from a

Legal: Public administration is

created and bound by law

the law in action

the execution of a public law
every application of general law is an act of administration
Ethiopia: Constitution of 1994

regulation
rules and regulations
redistribution

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EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

1. Definitions
How can we define Public Administration from a
managerial perspective?
Managerial: Public administration is ...
a management specialty
middle management: Execution and Interpretation
an art and a science
judgment, panache and common sense
technical skills

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1. Definitions
How can we define
Public Administration from a
occupational perspective?

Occupational: Public administration is

an occupational category
whatever public employees do: All public employees are
administrators
public administration is a profession
body of academic and practical knowledge
measured by serving the needs of society
code of ethics / appropriate sanctions

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The definitions reveals that public administration has the following
important features.

Hence, Public Administration is about

decision making and planning
formulating objectives and goals
gaining public support and funds
directing and supervising employees
providing leadership
determining work methods and procedures
functions performed
supervisors

by

government

executives

and

EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

Contd
Public administration
is the action part of the government
is the means by which the purposes and goals of the
government are realized
is part of executive branch of government
is related with the activities of the state
carries out the public policies
realizes the aspirations of the people as formulated and
expressed in the laws

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Politics and Public Administration dichotomy

Woodrow Wilson, the father of modem public

administration, considered politics and administration as
separate processes and attempted to conceptually distinguish
between the two areas of study.
Frank Godnow, another exponent of the dichotomy approach
who observed that "politics has to do with policies or
expressions of state while administration has to do with the
execution of these policies".

This distinction is made between policy making(realm of politics)and

policy execution (realm of public administration)

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Dichotomy
politics and public administration are differentiated on the basis
of their institutional locations.

The location of politics is identified with the legislature and

the higher echelons of government where major policydecisions would be made.

the location of administration is identified with the executive

arm of government-the bureaucracy.

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Dichotomy-effect of politics on administration

Politics affects administration in different ways.
Administrative officials are subject to the overall control of the political executive
(cabinet and ministries and the legislature, Parliament). This greatly affects the
administrative process within public organizations.
They are also responsible for the administration of policies and the activities of
civil servants and other public officials working under their control.
Administrators constitute the civil servant and the administrative executive
branch. They are responsible for policy implementation. They report to the
political executives.
This means that the administration of the country is held accountable to the
electorate through its politically elected heads(Political executive vs
administrative executives)

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Difficulty to differentiate politics from administration

From the above points, we can see that public administrators should know the
relationship between politics and public administration.
Administrators are career officials (civil servants) and are not expected to be
involved in partisan politics or exercise their own individual political interest
within their office( professionals have to be free from politics).
Politicians, on the other hand, are interested in policy making and realizing the
interest of the electorate. They give the order to the administration and control
their work.
Therefore,

it is sometimes difficult to differentiate politics from administration.

policy implantation and policy formulation are highly interrelated

EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

Reflective questions
What are the major explanatory factors for the evolution of
public administration?
What is administration? What is public administration?
What are the differences and relationships between politics
and public administration?

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PA- can be seen from its

Role

Scope

Characteristics

Pillars

Environment

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Properties
What is the role of Public Administration?
Role of Public Administration
Basis of government
Instrument of change in the society
Plays vital role in the life of the people
Instrument for executing laws, policies and programs of the
state
Stabilizing force in the society
Instrument of national integration in a country

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Properties
What is the scope of Public Administration?

Scope of Public Administration

Executive branch of government
Formulation and implementation of public
policies
Human behavior, cooperative group effort
Production of public goods or services
Distinctive from private administration

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Properties
Public administration in terms of chxs
Characteristics of Public Administration
Serving the public
Based on law, rules and a regulation
Public inspection
Public censure or legislative commotion
Complexity and network of allied organizations
Responsibilities in terms of nation-building and shaping
the future society

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What are the pillars of Public Administration?

Pillars of Public Administration
Three Es or the three pillars of public administration: efficiency,
effectiveness and economy.
Efficiency refers to the utilization of resources and involves the
relationship between inputs and outputs.
Effectiveness deals with the extent to which the agency achieves the
goals or objectives of the organization or program.
Economy means acquiring resources at the lowest cost while
maintaining the objectives of the organization or agency (Akram
Kahn, 1988).
Many have argued that the fourth pillar stands for equity or social equity implementing law by interpretation and discretion
working in the system of democratic government
fairness, justice, and equality

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Major Concerns of the Discipline

Policy sensitivity it is identified by the innovative and timely policy formulation which necessitates a
new preparedness within the administrative set-up.
Implementation Capability -effective policy implementation is going to test the coping capacity of the
government in todays complex situations.
Shared understanding of social reality - in todays complex administrative world, construction of
administrative reality has to be based on understanding the diverse interests shared understanding of its
actors such as the women/men at the top, the middle managers, the employees and the citizens. The
centralized, insular bureaucracy does not fit in with the contemporaneous socio-administrative reality.
Administration as a learning experience -we cannot work with rusted principles of the past or the
administrative recipes of yesterday to solve current problem. Public administration in modern times has
to be proactive, more adaptable to changes, more open to new insights,innovative, risk-taking, and
often adventurous and has to be learning organization.
POSDCoRB, summed up by Gullick, denotes Planning, Organization, Staffing, Directing,
Coordinating reporting the Budgeting.

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The Environment of Public Administration

Public administration exists in a peculiar socio economic,
demographic, technological and political environment that
affects its behavior and performance.
Thus, public administration has always to keep on with close
scrutiny and be aware of what is going on or what exists in
both the internal and external environment.
THE ENVTS ARE
1. Internal environment:This may include the organization itself
and groups and individuals within the organization, the
material, financial, and other resources available for the
organization and so on.

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COND

2. External environment on the other hand is that, which is outside the control of the administration but
having major impact in shaping the features and determining the success or failures of the overall
objectives that public administration wants to achieve.

The external environment can be generalized as demographic, political, economic, natural, social,
technological and international forces, each of which reflected in many ways.

Politically, the type of government and the resultant constitution, policies, laws and directives; national
and international political trends and changes; bilateral and multilateral agreements and policies.

Demographically, the size, density, location (geography), age, sex, race, occupation and other statistical
elements of the population.

Economically, national economic trends and level of growth and development; the global market and
economic situation as well as the extent of mutual economic assistance and cooperation.

Naturally( e.g environmental issues such as pollution, energy shortages, wasting of natural resources.
Socially, population trends and changes; societal beliefs, values, attitudes, cultures, and lifestyles; public
expectations and demands;

Technologically, ability or access to use the type of technology (eg. such as in communication and
production).
Internationally, (E.g. Oil policies of OPEC practically influence the operations of much organization in
other countries which depend on oil as their main source of energy, multinational business firms.)

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Contd
Environment of Public Administration
Intense / pervasive political atmosphere
Widespread expectation of benefits
Resources are diffused and dispersed
Serious problem of coordination
Diffused Roles
In the full look angrily of the public eye

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Reflective questions
What are the major characteristics and pillars of public
administration?
What are the implications of these pillars and characteristics of
public administration for contemporary public administrators?

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The Distinction between Public and Private Administration

1. Purpose:
public administration is to serve the public; hence general welfare and, in specific cases,
public satisfactions are the ends that public administration must serve.
By contrast, business administration is basically oriented toward earning profit for the
business proprietors.
2.

law, rules and a regulation.

Public administration has to operate strictly according to law, rules and a regulation.
Adherence to law brings in a degree of rigidity of operation in the public sector. There
is always the fear of audit or accountability that acts as a constraint on performance.
On the contrary business administration is relatively free from such constraints
of law and regulations. There are of course general laws regulating business, but
individual business firms have considerable flexibility to adapt their operations to
changing situations

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Contd
3. Discrimination Or Partiality
In public administration, any show of discrimination or
partiality will evoke public fault or legislative disorder. Hence,
the administrators are to be very consistent and impartial in
their dealings with the public.

In business administration, discrimination is freely practiced

due to competitive demands.
Eg. Price discrimination, market segmentation

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Contd
4. Complexity
Public administration, especially at higher levels of
government, is exceedingly complex. There are many pulls
and pressures, many minds have to meet and discuss,
consultations go on in several rounds of meetings before
decisions are taken. Activities in one department have
consequence that spread over several other departments.
By contrast, business administration is, generally speaking,
much more well-knit and single minded in operation. There is
much less complexity in organization and operations. The
pressures are certainly almost non-existent.

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Contd
5. Environment
Public administration inevitably operates within political
environment. It is the political context of public administration
which makes it necessary for it to lie down and adhere to elaborate
rules and regulation and comply with time-consuming procedures.
Private administration decided the course of action on the basis
of cost-benefits analysis at least, this is the belief-but in public
administration the ultimate test is political.

This is how the government remains close to the

people and citizens get maximum satisfaction.

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Nature of functions - However, big and diversified, no private

organization can match public administration in the range, variety and
scale of function.
Accountability - There is noticeable emphasis on accountability in public
administration than in private administration. (follows from the political
environments subject to public control and scrutiny).
Efficiency - Public administration is less efficient than private
administration.
In the case of private administration, the criterion of efficiency is(It is
profit). On the other hand; it is difficult to evaluate efficiency in a
government organization(governmental organizations do not work for
profit So, the basic aim of governmental activities is not to maximize
profit, but to promote community welfare.
Legal safeguards - Public administration is less efficient than private
administration functions strictly in accordance with legal safeguards. This
implies that the government official, much more so than his private
counterpart, operate within a framework of general and specific laws
limiting his freedom of individual action.

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Contd

Service and cost - In public administration, there is an intimate relationship

between the service rendered and the cost of service charged from the public. Here
expenditure exceeds income.
On the other hand, in private administrative income often extras expenditure,
otherwise there would be no profit.
Consistency of treatment - Public administration should be consistent in procedure
and uniform in dealing with the public, Private administration can and very often
does practice discrimination in selling its services.
Anonymity (secrecy)- The public official bears the impress of anonymity. He acts
in his official capacity, and is protected from harm or criticism by the well-known
convention of ministerial responsibility for all his acts so performed.
External financial control - Public administration is subjected to external financial
control. It is the legislature that passes the acceptance, authorizing the executive
branch to spend money.
Monopoly - Many activities of public administration are monopolistic in nature;
and absence of competition has endowed it with many special features.

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Contd

Social prestige - It may be pointed out that the public administration carries,
perhaps, a great social prestige than his private counterpart. This is because of the
greater opportunity of serving the people that the public service offers.
Personnel practices - The personnel practices in the government are elaborate and
rigid, and are even designed to serve multiple goals, thereby adding to the
complexity of the task. In Ethiopia, for instance, the public personnel practices are
based on merit and treat disadvantaged sections in the society in a special manner.
On the other hand, private administration enjoys a much larger measure of
initiative and flexibility in regard to its personnel practices.
Wide publicity- Actions and deeds of public administration are exposed to the
public notice to a degree which people in private sector can never imagine to have.
The media is ever interested in getting even the smallest details about the public
officials. Public administrations verily operate within a glass house and its
activities are all open to the public.

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Summery of the differences P& PA

No

Criteria

Public Administration

Private Administration

Purpose

Serves the general public, welfare

Serves private owner, profit.

Mode of operation

According to the law, rules and regulation

Relatively free and flexible

to adopt

Control

Continuous gaze by public

Not so by the public but by

the owners

Public relations

Impartial and even handed (equal to all)

Openly discriminatory
(unequal)

Involvement

Complex, many pulls and pressures, many minds involved

Well-knit and single minded

operation

Politics

Needs political
administration

public

Needs less of that, profit is

at the heart of business
administration

direction,

at

the

core

of

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Reflective questions
What major criteria are used to make distinction between
public and private administration?
What are the external and internal factors that public
administrators should know?
Why is it important for public administrators to understand
and analyze the external and internal factors? Which one do
you think is more important? Why?

EPAG: Introduction to Public Administration

Thank you

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