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Q. For Weber, bureaucracy emerged as a neutral , hierarchically organized , efficient and inevitable in contemporary society  15 M

Weber conceptualized theory of bureaucracy in 19^thcentury german society which was going through a political chaos. He considered bureaucracy as a legal rational authority capable of delivering a stable administration. Weber considered following as important characteristics of bureaucracy

1.       Hierarchy

2.       Rule orientation

3.       Impersonality

4.       Role specificity

5.       Neutrality

6.       Anonymity

Hierarchically structured organization facilitated in clear definition of roles and responsibilities for various positions in an organization. Neutrality ensured that decisions were made on an objective and rational basis. It insulated bureaucracy from political executive. Bureaucracy with these characteristics delivered stable and efficient administration in germany. Soon it was adopted by various countries. Hence bureaucracy emerged as an inevitable and efficient form of administration in 19^thcentury.

        However over a period of time, the evils of bureaucracy like goal displacement, stratus quoist orientation emerged. This led to rise of post bureaucratic organizations to address the deficiencies in bureaucratic organizations. However certain features of bureaucracy like impersonality, anonymity are still relevant to 21^stcentury society

Public administration thinkers compilation

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Public administration answers 5

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Q. We are moving away from government , and we are moving towards the governance . Such organisations can be coordinated through various multi organizational arrangements 20 marks

Public administration as a field of study has so far traversed 4 paradigms . in 21^st century, public administration is traversing through paradigm of public administration  as well as apradigm of governance.

            Following the attack on world trade center in 2001, the states relaised that state minimalism under NPM was no moe a viable option. This gave an impetus towards governance. Governance involves cooperative arrangements and contractual agreements that control citizens and public service delivery. On other hand, government involves control over citizens and public service delivery by state institutions

            Governance calls for networking of state with market and civil society. Since 1990s , there has been a gradual shift from government to governance. Governance empowers people and allows for participative decision making and meets needs of people . It transforms inward looking government organisations into outward looking , dynamic and networked government organisations

            In this era of governance, various tasks are performed in coordination and collaboration with multiple organisations. For example , in case of NREGA, state disburses funds to panchayats who spend it on rural works and civil society audits the expenses. Hence governance has made it possible for state, local government and civil society to coordinate and serve the people .

Public administration answers 4

Socialism is still relevant. Comment

Socialism in english means a political theory that advocates state ownership of industry. However as a concept it has taken different forms in different parts of world. Russia adopted industrial socialism, China  adopted agrarian socialism and India adopted a socialist pattern of society.

                Socialism was added to preamble by 42^nd amendment act. The directive principles uphold values of socialism . Between 1948 to 1991 India took several measures to fulfill the socialistic objectives like

a)      Nationalisation of banks

b)      Abolition of privy purses

c)       Removal of right to property as a fundamental right

d)      Land reforms

e)      Expansion of public sector

In 1991, India undertook several reforms in form of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. Since thn there has been a gradual rollback of state and expansion of market.

        Since then there has been a gradual decline in socialism. Many have questioned the relevance of socialism in present day. However as supreme court rightly pointed out , socialism in India aims to end poverty, ignorance and inequality. These are problems which still torment India. We need to hold on to our socialistic ideals and take necessary steps to tackle these maladies. State still for a large section of downtrodden is the sole service provider and bread winner.  Hence in this era of growing capitalism, socialism is of more relevance than ever before

Please join this new initiative

i see a growing number of visitors to this blog which is a good sign.

I request all of you to please participate actively through comments, queries etc

I had planned to put up one question and answer on public administration everyday for all of them to get an idea of how to write an answer and also to know where i was going wrong. But i was disappointed to see a poor response.

Please visit the following link and give feedback for the answers. You can also post your answer for same question in comments.

public administration mains prep

Public administration answers 3

Taylor’s scientific management ignored social and psychological factors 

20 marks 2007

Scientific management qwas proposed by taylor in early 20^th century. Its objective was to increase

productivity of industries in US. He found that the reasons for low productivity were mainly

unscientificways of work. Hence he proposed a science of work based on time , work and motion study.

He proposed the following steps to build a science of work

a)      Develop science of work

b)      Scientifically select and train worker

c)       Bring together science of work and scientifically trained worker

d)      Divide work and responsibility between worker and management

He also proposed a carrot and stick concept of motivation. He considered money as the only motivating factor. This led to treatment of worker as a cog in wheel. Taylor failed to take into consideration the human elements in the organisation. Hence his theory was criticised as a mechanistic theory and a physiological organisational theory. In such an organisation , a worker loses his creativity and becomes apathetic to the job. All these led to increased stress on worker which inturn affected his family life. Later , behavouralists brought in human dimensions into the organisation to address the problem

Public administration answers

hi all,
thanks for regularly visiting my blog
One of my optional for mains is public administration.
In mains, more than depth of knowledge, its answer presentation that matters

I will try posting a Q&A on public administration everyday. request members to read it and give feedback so that i can improve my answer writing skills.

You can also post your answers in comments to same question

Public administration hitherto an art developed into a science.comment 20 Marks(200 words)

In early 20th century, scholars of classical theory sought to make public administration , hitherto an art, into a science.
             The great depression in 1930 led US president Franklin Roosevelt to setup an administrative commiittee on industrial relations. This committee recommended to develop a science of administration in order to make administration rational and predictable.
              Science of administration was built through principles which were developed based on experiments on humans. Classical scholars focused on building an organisational structure comprising of procedures, rules, regulations, principles etc. They believed that lack of design was cruel and wasteful. A structured organisation facilitated in rational decision making and replaced chaos with a conflict free soft organisation
              All these made public administration predictable, rational and programmable. hence gulick said that public administration hitherto an art developed into a science.
              However the universal validity of science of administration was criticised by robert dahl who said that administrationw as culture bound. Public administration could be developed as a science based on a comparative study.  The principles were criticsed by simon who said that occurred in contradicting pairs just like proverbs and lacked practicality.
             Classical theorists focus on structure led to neglect of human dimension in an organisation. hence it came to be known as physiological organisation theory.
             Hence classical theorists attempt to build a science of administration failed.