|}mtemporary

Debates in
Public
Admimstration

rn ,'K|’
US ■

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Acknowledgments Lx

About the Editor xi

Contributors xiii

1. INTRODUCTION 1
— Alka Dhameja

2 UNDERSTANDING ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY:

A Perspective 23
— Pardeep Sahni

3 PUBLIC POLICY DISCOURSE: The Inter-Subjective

and Symbolic Dimensions of Administration 42
— Kenneth N. Hansen

4. UNDERSTANDING THE DIMENSIONS OF

UNCERTAINTY IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 58
— Jeffery A. Weber

5. PUBLIC CHOICE THEORY: Government in

the New Right Perspective 71
— Mohit Bhattacharya

6 CONSENT, CONSTITUTIONS AND CONTRACTS:

The Public Choice Perspective on the State 79
— Saugato Sen

7. SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE CHANGING

COMPLEXION OF THE STATE 98
— Anurag Joshi

8. CHANGING TRENDS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION:

I he Globalization Context 110
Mohammad Mohabbat Khan
v

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 ContenU_
^vronrTION OF A MODERN PUBLIC
Contenta
124
_ Eran Vigoda 21 THE FAILURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL REFORMS:
A Tragic Story of Indian Administration 276
MARKETING PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION:
— G. Harugopcil
10 Sew Public Management Approach
144
_ Amila Singh 22. VALUES AND INSTITUTIONS FOR HONEST
AND ‘PEOPLE-ORIENTED’ ADMINISTRATION:
11 GOOD GOVERNANCE: A Conceptual Analysis
167 Towards a Synthesis of Western and
_ And Dutta Mishra Indian Approaches 290
— Pranab Banerji
12 GOOD GOVERNANCE: Issues of Responsiveness
and Decentralization 23. FROM LEGAL-RATIONAL TO MORAL-LEGAL-
167
— Chaitali Pal RATIONAL BUREAUCRACY: A Case Study of a
Civil Servant 300
13 DECENTRALIZATION: Concept, Characteristics — P M Sowjanya and G. Haragopal
and Constraints 178
— Sweta Mishra 24. RIGHT TO INFORMATION: A Key to Accountable
and Transparent Administration 312
14. WOMEN, SOCIETY AND THE STATE: Some — Jaytilak Guha Roy
Reflections on the State’s Approach towards
Women’s Empowerment in Society 25. THE CITIZEN’S CHARTER INITIATIVE:
— Debal K SinghaRoy Pronouncement of a Paradigm Shift in
Bureaucracy-Client Interface 322
15 LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND HUMAN — Arvind K. Sharma
RIGHTS
— AS. Narang 26 EMERGENCE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS:
The Globalization Context 331
16. PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF CORPORATE — Alka Dhameja
GOVERNANCE
— ft Sofya Raju 27. CREATING ALTERNATIVE INSTITUTIONAL
ARRANGEMENTS: Role of User-group
Self-initiatives 352
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK-
Issues and Challenges — Madhushree Sekher
Vma Medury
Index ,7T

18 .w? 0F CORJ>ORATE GOVERNANCE-

f°r the Government
h K Awn and Tanjul Saxena

^^NTsrLTmtyERNANCE ON PUBLIC
— Sachin Chouidhry 255

2°- A NATION ONUNF- p u.-

U>e Digital Age ' “b lc Administration in
— Sanjay Jaju 268

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 Introduction

— Alka Dhameja

Public administration as a pertinent area of social sciences is in

search of a renewed identity in the form of theoretical bases,
conceptual clarity and contextual applicability. The intellectual crisis
in public administration that was trumpeted more than three decades
ago reverberates till date. It is not as if the growth of the discipline
has not encompassed any innovative and enriching development
concepts, approaches and viewpoints, the problem pertains to their
fleeting influences and half-baked solutions in context of the basic
issues in administration. The new paradigms in public administration
do not look at the discipline from a fresh perspective but merely
rehash the old concepts. There is a marked continuity in the
administrative approaches with the past. Each new development in
the discipline, even while critiquing an old concept, simply builds on
the same. Incrementalism is what appears to be at the very basis of
the growth of the discipline.
Contemporary concepts of New Public Management, reinventing
government and entrepreneurial government emphasize the internal
organization, while reassessing some of the classical scientific
principles. In fact, this is why these have been called ‘New-Taylorism’.
They once again bring the politics-administration dichotomy to the
forefront. Even though the NPM stresses decentralization, devolution
and deconcentration, it actually perpetuates centralization and control
through the strategies it advocates. The development of the discipline
is, thus, characterized by failed, semi-developed and recycled narra¬
tives, which are not able to provide any epistemological parameters
for meeting the growing challenges and impact of globalization.

PARTIAL narratives in public administration

The crucial phases in the growth of public administration have been
ermed as ‘partial narratives of public administration’ (White and
1

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 i Public Administration

__Introduction JHE
Adams 1994). Prominent among these are the dichotomy between
toZ ’and administration, the tone of which was set by Woodrow
Waldo (1980) has demonstrated that efficiency and economy cannot be
W bon m 1887, and was reiterated by scholars hke Frank Goodnow
treated as values in operational sense because they do not provide
The dichotomy, which is more imaginary than real treats public
sufficient direction for public administrative actions to be useful in
administration and politics as two distinct spheres. Public admini8.
practice.
trat.on is simply regarded as bureaucracy heedless to the fact that
Another partial narrative in public administration relates to the
bureaucracy as a particular organizational form is not only found in
accent on the theory-informs-practice viewpoint, as in administration,
the government, but also in private and third-sector organizations.
scientific theory is clearly not the language of practice. Theory
Public administration comprises legislature as well as judiciary but
building in public administration has often been found to be unrelated
somehow the implementation or executive aspect of administration
to practice. It has been written in a language that serves as a code
has been overemphasized in this perspective. of communication for academicians (White and Adams, op. cit.). A
Scientific study and practice of public administration, which weaving of field-oriented efforts, community based resourcefulness,
cannot alone explain the magnitude of public administration, could rural and micro-level research; and local narratives seem to have been
also be considered a partial narrative. The advocacy of a science of missing in order to provide a theoretical foundation with a wider
administration is again attributed to Woodrow Wilson. The changes in applicability.
public administration can be best perceived as changes in public Woodrow Wilson’s leaning towards private or business
organizations as propounded by the classical thinkers who have talked administration and his early initiative in the direction of comparative
in terms of scientific principles in intra-organizational functioning. study of administration are also narratives that could not make
These classical approaches to public administration have drawn a lot sufficient impact. He stated that administration is business-like and
of flak from the human relations, behavioural and socio-psychological does not involve itself in questions of politics. As far as comparative
theorists. public administration approach of Wilson goes, he recognized that
Herbert Simon created a clamorous stir by denouncing the lessons from other countries would have to be filtered through a
scientific principles of administration as mere proverbs for their lack cultural lens of the person seeking to learn from lessons and
of empirical validity. Simon has brought the perspective of logical borrowing the techniques (Bhattacharya, 2001).
positivism into the folds of administration and put decision-making at The comparative administration perspective in the post-
its very heart. He has conceived relative concepts of bounded Wilsonian phase, however, has not been a widely researched area of
rationality and satisficing decisions. Later thinkers in this field have public administration. Apart from the methodological trajectories
come up with the muddling through, mixed scanning and garbage can ascribed mainly to Ferrel Heady and Fred Riggs, who have taken the
approaches to decision-making. There have even been approaches perspective that bureaucracies are subsystems within the political,
bordering on irrationality. economic and social context of a particular nation, not much literature

The partial narrative of the value-fact dichotomy reduces public is available on comparative public administration (Welch and Wong,
1998). This approach received a jolt when Comparative Adminis¬
administration to an applied area rather than a normative theoretical
tration Group was wound up in 1973, putting an end to a systematic
paradigm. In agreement with the politics-administration dichotomy,
quest for theory and its application.
this approach has been condemned by scholars such as Robert Dahl
Even though Fred Riggs has given a new typology to the study of
who have called for the inclusion of normative considerations in public
development administration in the Third World by undertaking a
administration. There has been a resurgence of values in post-
comparative analysis of developing countries, this is another approach
behavioural era in political science. It is, however, the emergence of
that could not be built upon. The development administration model
e philosophy of neo-liberalism that has provided a powerful base for
has been criticized as ideological and eurocentric. Later theories such
siting of public administration in public interest philosophy of John
as the dependency theory of development coined by Gunder Frank
w and Robert Nozick. The theorists in public administration, as
have looked at bureaucratic behaviour in class terms; whereas the
aa een observed, have defined administrative competence and
traditional development administration has treated bureaucracy as an
lD ^enns ec°nomic efficiency coupled with managerial control outcome of organizational structure and hence manipulable. Bill
intpr<>B+Ve Public bureaucracy itself as captured by special Warren has ascribed the obstacles in capitalist development to
and itf L^gCner^y they have tended to ignore 'public interest internal contradictions in the Third World. The developing countries,
(Wamslev concePt« relevant to administrative behaviour however, have not been able to develop a paradigm of development
y> al. 1992). In his attack of the classical theorists, Dwight administration that could address their very own specific issues.

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 ^_Introduction
Public Administration

perspectives have shifted the attention to the analysis of the impact of

r ct M.nnowbrook Conference that set an agenda for New environment on organizations. For rebuilding rigorous modes of
The first M ( in 1968 is also termed as an impoveri- inquiry amidst the ruins of post-positivism, the systems theory is an
Pubhc Admins _t
has attempted to experiment with modified available source of infrastructure. It has facilitated the contingency
shed narrahv , forms in its search for change-able and situational view of organizations, which marks a departure from
bureaucratic values> equity and change in public the traditional ‘one best way of doing a job’ approach. The basis for a
Tw^Tation Decentralization, devolution, termination, projects, new paradigm of applied social inquiry is an advanced systems
contracts evaluation, organizational development, responsibility, perspective. This approach has highlighted many advantages such as
expansion, confrontation; and direct involvement are all essent.ally removing disciplinary blinders, recognizing the limits of logical
counter bureaucratic notions that characterize NPA._It has once again positivism, reconciling the role of individual choice and institutional
tried to bring political science and public administration together freedom, appreciating an evolutionary character of systems; and
(Bhattacharya 1999). It has included an emphasis on rejecting the encouraging the maintenance of rigorous methodologies (Daneke,
value-neutral position of administration, encouraging citizens’ partici¬ 1994).
pation in policy-making, making the study of public administration New findings in the area of comparative administration are
more relevant to practitioners and citizens, and to some extent, noteworthy. B. Guy Peters (1992) has observed that to think about
comparative public administration as somehow distinct from public
putting aside positivism.
The second Minnowbrook Conference held in 1988 agreed that administration in general, is to be trapped in the ‘stamps, flags and
problems facing public administrators are interconnected and called coins’ school of comparative public administration. Comparisons need
for an interdisciplinary perspective It has exuded pragmatism and not simply be across geographical entities, it is equally useful to make
confirmed the inevitability of government as a tool of strengthening comparisons across time. He has stressed the need for a contingency
society. Yet, it has been more a cerebral than a radical exercise that approach to organization that has unfortunately been ignored by
failed to initiate a paradigm switch (ibid.). Reexamination of public academic analysts of public administration. The contingency approach
adminis-tration themes and images using the concept of gender as a has attempted to match the characteristics of the environment of the
narrative is still emerging. Issues such as environment, human rights, organization and the mode of production within the organization to
ethical values; and social equity and justice have also been included in the most appropriate structures. The theory has argued that
the reexamination exercise, but these are still at a nascent stage. organizations performing different functions and operating in different
Dwight Waldo has pointed out that as an acceptable model of environments should be designed differently.
governance, orthodoxy is dead. His comment could be taken as the The public policy approach has also been a major breakthrough
dividing line between traditional classical approaches and the advent in the growth of public administration. It is concerned with govern¬
of human relations, socio-psychological and system models. Orthodoxy ment behaviour with regard to formulation and implementation of
was an enduring prescription of neutral public administration ascribed policies. The policy science perspective has given the much needed
to Wilson, Taylor and Weber. Now, the strict chain of command- methodology and scientific tenor to policy-making and analysis.
hierarchy has been challenged by developments in Total Quality According to Yehezkel Dror, policy science could be partly described as
Management movement, reinventing government and participatory the discipline in search for knowledge on nature of policy, policy
decision-making. In the field of public administration, two alternative issues and policy-making. He has insisted on extra-rational infor¬
models contend to displace the old approaches: constitutionalism or mation to enrich policy analysis. The institutional, group, elite,

neo-institutionalism and communitarianism or civicism (Fox and rational, game and incremental models have consolidated the area of
Miller, 1995). public policy perspective. Policy studies have been the meeting point
for experts in political science and public administration.
The most significant organization paradigm has, however, been
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE THEORY AND Weber’s bureaucracy. The post-Weberian analyses of bureaucracy have
PRACTICE OF THE DISCIPLINE either been endorsements of Weber or simply refutations of his legal
rational typology. The Marxist and relative autonomy approaches to
Jostling for a space in the deluge of underdeveloped narratives, there the state have come up with strong critiques of Weberian bureaucracy.
are certain predominant paradigms in public administration, which Claus Offe has discussed bureaucracy as causing of effects rather than
rnmlC0I1S!ll<*atei* .its ^eory and practice. The approaches of following of rules. Dennis F. Thompson has stated that the values of
the Kto ^ 10n’ mo^va^on ^d leadership have added extensively to
ra ure in public administration. The systems and new systems

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 Cnutfinonrary Debatesj
. atinn and individuality stand opposed to nective underlying all theories of government, be it public choice,
democracy, equality, Part,C'P, mDersonality of modern bureaucracy, PffS list corporatist or bureaucratic. The pluralist democracy model
hierarchy, specialisation ana p cratization and democratization of h ^assumes the presence of multiple, diverse and competing interest
Habermas has talked of deb ^ communication. Warren Bennis thfl s in governance, the corporatist model that talks of the need for
administration through tre the eclipse of bureaucracy in 8roup jc socjai order and new communitarian approach that seeks
has even gone to the extern in H system re ^ ailing institutions by changing people’s values, attitudes
favour of temporary work sys e • influence on the W T behaviour are three major approaches, which have come to
The public choice approac^has^a has ^ ^
aD(l ence public administration in the face of state minimalism and
way the public bureaucr qjr s^y^ ratjonal bureaucracy. The ihe rise of third sector and market that are being projected as viable
to explode the > myth ^ maximizers and budget
bureaucrats have bee g , choice while choosing among jilternatives.^ationai reforms in the past have been studied within the
maximizers, always “Te process, reinforced the r mpwork of traditional administration, now these look toward NPM,
preferences. However.theapproach has, mt^ P ^ and
reengineering, reinventing and reconstructing the public sector. These
stereotypes of pu i seriously underestimated the capacity of approaches are essentially revisiting the management paradigm
that the theorists and practitioners in pubhc administration have been

the role o^social norms and participatory human behaviour in trying hard to discard. Instead of leaning towards politics, public
organizations. The role of bureaucracy in pohcy-making and the ^ministration is borrowing more from management science. The
draamics of budget process are too complex and subtle to be "ristn and managerism in the guise of NPM and corporate
represented adequately by the rather simplistic public choice analysis governance have been the most popular alternative viewpoints on the
(Peters 1989). Notwithstanding the hoard of criticism, the supposed y state and government. These tend to consider pubhc sector agencies
abstract and non-altruistic concept of public choice has at least been as facing the same managerial and service delivery tasks as
able to attack the very basis of government and look for alternative organizations would in the private sector.
paradigms of bureaucracy. It has revealed that pubhc interest is The shifting perspectives in public administration are the result
always at odds with bureaucratic interest. of its attempts to adapt to the socio-economic and political pressures^
The contemporary paradigm of public administration, as we have The paradigmatic growth of the discipline has suffered on account of
seen, is New Public Management (NPM), which is essentially a insufficient research in many crucial areas. Much of the research m
bureaucracy taming model. It is a normative reconceptualization of public administration does not culminate in hypothesis testing, nor
public administration in which concepts such as high quality services, does it result in conclusions that would contribute to an existing body
increased autonomy, performance measurement, informal coordination of knowledge following the logic of scientific inquiry- Research is more
and innovation bring a totally new blending of approaches to public problem-oriented or practice-oriented rather than theory-oriented
management. It is a very vast concept, based on a number of schools (White and Adams, op. cit.). Post-positivist philosophers have identi¬
of thought and theoretical perspectives—public choice, strategic fied three modes of social research namely explanatory, interpretive
planning, re-engineering, corporate culture, and quality of service. The and critical (White, 1994). The research in the areas that build,
promoters of the NPM have strived to redefine the role of the state extend or modify a theory, model or hypothesis, areas that discuss or
and reduce its size, eliminate the deficit, balance public expenditure, illustrate broad issues, trends or ideas in public administration as
clear away red tape, remove obstacles to effective management and well as areas that highlight survey problems or questions of
focus the attention of pubhc administration on client satisfaction
professional practice is wanting on many counts (Daneke, op. cit.).
(Charih and Rouillard, 1997).
The basic concerns of public administration still revolve around
structure of public organizations, processes of administration, bureau¬

WHAT AILS THE PARADIGMATIC GROWTH OF cratic behaviour and organisation-environment interaction. The issues
related to the relationship between public administration, state,
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION?
market and non-state groups have not been sufficiently analyzed or
The poly-paradigmatic status of public admin stration has somehow applied. Traditional bureaucracy has also demonstrated a capacity for
not been able to come up with the much needed situation-specific stability, but research in coping ability and adaptability of traditional
theory of public administration for the Third World. Peter Self (1985) administration is lacking. It has been pointed out that bureaucracy is
rightly points out that there is an inherent idealistic and realistic one area that needs to be subjected to geographical and temporal

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 temporary Debates m Public^urustr^-
for the generic public management approach to governance.
analysis Any research in bureaucracy should be based on the survey T^hhc administration has at its core more than generic management;
analysis, /iny , -ttitudes behaviour, structure and
■■ governance. The contention that public administration has a
°f teames'fPeters *1992) It’must transcend Weber’s definition that
^ Vmate role in governance must rest on more than competence to
"zes of^d Regulations as important yardsticks. This
^ an age in a political context (Bhattacharya, 1999).
aspect has also been overlooked by the researchers. m This makes the political economy approach to administration,
There has been no systematic debate on methodologies and
V h discusses the relationship between political and economic power
issues in the discipline of public administration The more serious
W society even more pertinent as both the economic and political
problem relates to the fact that even though the western theories
If ensions to decision-making and resource allocation are analyzed
stand challenged by the Third World scholars, no alternative
d government performance gets intertwined with structural
indigenous theories are being developed (Haragopal, 1997). Whatever
^lationships. The plus point of economic theory of politics is that it
is there in the form of conceptual and implementation growth of
has been able to inject more realism into the debate on state’s
public administration appears to be borrowed, imitated and applied
conomic role as the normative concern of markets has shifted from
out of context. The socio-economic, cultural and political milieu of
market failures to government failures {ibid.). Public administration is
public administration is not a part of research, especially in the Third
not a ‘single lonely organization’ in governance (Peters, 1989). Our
World countries. As has been observed, the tendency to ignore and
social and political theories still assume that there are no power
downplay history and context is not unique to public administration.
centres except government. As Peter Self (op. cit.) has observed,
This impoverished historical consciousness is found across the
‘behind questions of methodology, there lurks still the classical
professions and academic disciplines and more broadly, is deeply
question of the relationship between the individual and collectivity.
embedded in the culture at large (Adams, 1994).
Critical theory is another relevant perspective to the analysis of
public organizations, as it defines the role of theory as a contradiction-
TOWARDS A NEW PERSPECTIVE revealing tool. The purpose of critical theory is to reveal the tension
that exists in society, between natural human sharing and the
Contemporary public administration cannot sustain itself in a limitations imposed on a human being by social conditions. The
political, economic and social vacuum. Ideally, administrative theory critical approach to public organizations needs to be put to use in
should be well-developed to guide application; converse is equally order to look at organizations from a new perspective. The critical
true. There is a need for a theory that can easily relate its underlying theory seems to suggest an alternative style of public management
philosophic and social ideas to the ground reality. Theory building
that would strive not merely for control, but rather for assisting
must help the discipline to cope with change. In the changing
individuals and clients in finding out and pursuing their own intrinsic
scenario, public administration will have to undertake serious
developmental needs as well as values, even though it may run
introspective rethinking. The nature of the discipline needs to be
counter to dominant bureaucratic values of rule bound control and
redefined and its domain clearly demarcated.
rationality (Bhattacharya, 1997). The concepts of forward mapping
Administrative theory has to be a vital part of the state theory.
and backward mapping are of immense significance for implemen¬
The changing complexion of administration has to be contemplated in
tation research, which should receive due attention.
the context of the changing nature of state. The Marxist analysis of
The arguments of several post-modern theorists pose a threat to
state theory should receive its due attention from public
all forms of knowledge development and use. If public administration
administration researchers. Though the Marxists have regarded the
can be thought of as a subculture within a larger society, it must
state as a stooge of capitalist order, the neo-Marxists have looked at it
examine its own post-modern condition. Theoretical pluralism in
from a relative autonomy point of view. The neo-Marxists like Ralph
public administration need not be looked down upon. To search for
Miliband, Nicolas Poulantzas, and critical sociologists like Jurgen
one grand overarching theory goes against the post-modernist
Habermas and Claus Offe have called for autonomous state action
rejection of grand narratives. Problem is with the way modernity is
under conditions of capitalism. A systematic analysis of this
conceived, generally within the categories of industrial and developed
perspective could provide an insight into state’s role in order to
counter the state minimalism debate. society, which distorts all attempts at a ‘social mapping1, especially in
the developing countries (Kumar, 1995). This contention needs serious
The sphere of public governance has some unique distinguishing
features like Constitutional framework, Fundamental Rights, reflection and analysis.
legislative surveillance and accountability. There is no institutional Authentic discourse, as has been put forth by many scholars, is

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 Contemporary D'hote* in Public Administration
Information Act have become the essentials of effective governance
the best hope for a democratic theory of governance that takes into The objective should be to look for alternatives to governance that will
account post-modern conditions. Discourse theory is an accurate model provide for goods and services, influence policy-making, protect rights
as it describes events that can be observed and normative in the sense and liberties and at the same time work in collaboration with the
that it provides criteria for assessing authentic discourse. Discourse state and the market.
theory is a way to highlight the importance of the quality of policy The influx of information technology (IT) is bringing the world
deliberation. Against this backdrop, an innovative and contextual closer. With the growth in the IT sector, spotlight on e-goveraance
paradigm is needed that could provide a framework for present day and rise of technostructures, there has been an emergence of
public administration. knowledge society. Organization has become a social technology.
Knowledge society would therefore need the social sector and the
social sector would need the volunteer. As knowledge workers need a
CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES FACING PUBLIC
sphere in which they can act as citizens and create a community,
ADMINISTRATION knowledge society has to be a society of three sectors, public sector of
government, private sector of business and the social sector (Drucker,
Public Administration, in the present scenario, is reeling under
complex challenges and pressures in the face of the changing trends 1994).
in liberalization, privatization and globalization. Globalization is best Reiterating L.D. White’s observation, Waldo points out “Public
thought of as a multi-dimensional phenomenon involving domains of administration will have an important role in the future. It joins two
activity and interaction that include the economic, political, techno¬ major forces, government and administrative technology. Together
logical, military, legal, cultural and environmental (Held, 2000). they have been an integral part of the enterprise of civilization. They
Global capitalism has led to the generation of super-state governing will not disappear until and unless, civilization disappears through
agencies that are supplementing if not supplanting the territorial decay or deconstruction or through transformation into a new human
states. Due to globalization, on the one hand, public administration condition.” (quoted in Rosenbloom and Kravchuk, 2000). Public
seems to be moving more towards protection of citizens’ rights, administration has to prepare itself to face the new challenges of
accountability, ethical values, research and training. On the other globalization and the pressures of Bretton Woods Institutions. It must
hand, globalization is also leading to shrinking of public space, attempt to transform itself into a humanistic and egalitarian
violation of human rights and commodification of citizens (Farazmand administration.
1999). The discipline of public administration must reinvent itself in the
The globalization debate has mooted volatile issues on the wake of new researches in the area, specific socio-cultural applied
boundaries of the state, market and civil society. Emphasis has shifted field work, and national and international pressures. It must attune
to good governance, humane governance and corporate governance as itself to the changing face of information technology, ecology and
the framework of administrative analysis. The concepts of work, environment, administrative capability, gender sensitivity and
authority and organization are changing. The accent on participation, participatory development. It must also address contemporary issues
transparency, responsiveness, efficiency, ethical behaviour and KP\Je0ry building, nature of state, reconstruction of public sector,
decentralization is urging the scholars to revamp administrative “M, good governance, corporate governance, and humane gover-
I“d/Tf*' 40 meet new The ground reality nmice. The role of values and ethics in governance, organizational
Leaned i6 CanDOt and 8hould not recede from the vital re onns, responsive administration, decentralization, participatory
«eas in order to hold on to the objectives of social justice, equity and resource management, creation of alternative institutions of

ssLaa x**" il“s™ ■ ?0V^r^lance such as the civil society organizations also need to be
oo ed into. This book makes an attempt to grapple with some of
are T* ?. Privat‘zation, delegation and divestment ese pertinent areas. The objective is to highlight more than one
PrlDer8tT betWeen State- P™ate “<J non-state deb8 tpC^VG 0n GaCk contemPorary theme in order to generate a
values, accountability "and t trmg m nece88aG’ *oice, standards, . * Given the wide range of current issues, the book confines
planning and Panchayati Raj reve^Tumt Expenence of d“tr?5t gj ? t0. more relevant themes against the backdrop of
participatory decision-mat; ®Vj 8 “at necessary political will, zation and its impact on administration.
lead to political decentr r*’ economic decentralization could
such as Instlrent8
* accountability
uoaayuktas, Central Vigilance CommUsion and Right to

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 ContemporaryDebatesj , Public Administration
Introduction d
, „f the Chapters is as follows:
The Summary of tne ' the epistemological and metaphysical dimensions of uncertainty
_ , nk is divided into 27 Chapters, including this chapter on cusses ^ (|u, importance of taking recourse to uncertainty in
The book i 2, Understanding Administrative Theory: A as w. 0f crisis through use of concepts such as satisficing soli tions,
Introductio . rolling, as it curtain raises the evolution of situation chaos theory and bounded uncertainty.
SS theory^ down the ages. Pardeep Sahn, in this chapter b0Un Public choice theory is another significant theory of public
mtkes an in-depth^nalysis of the growth of public administrative . stration. In Chapter 5 on Public Choice Theory: Government in
theory by dividing the evolution of theory into pre-foundation, night Perspective, Mohit Bhattacharya discusses the New
foundation and post-foundation eras. Tracing the administrative perspective that has championed the cause of the free market
theory from the Wilsonian era to the present New Public Management R'h has called for a significant reduction in the size and role of
phase he makes an attempt to bring out all the major approaches to and ment in society. He talks about the four main schools of the
administration namely scientific, bureaucratic, human relations, r:r"Bht namely Chicago, Austrian, Public Choice and Supply Side.
behavioural, systems and New Public Administration. He makes an The major argument that he raises pertains to the fact that the Public
earnest plea to replace the ‘theory versus practice’ perspective that is rhoice School has been able to draw attention to the alternatives
always levelled against public administration by the ‘theory with voilable for the delivery of services to the citizens. The role of
practice’ viewpoint. He reiterates the pertinent fact that all theoretical “market1 as a competing paradigm that has challenged the hegemonic
foundations have their roots in ground reality and empiricism, and to nosition of the state is discussed by him. He points out that the power
say that practice of administration does not emanate from the of bureaucracy has been challenged and non-bureaucratic, citizen-
theoretical basis is erroneous and should be therefore avoided. friendly organizational options have arisen. He, however, adds a word
In Chapter 3 on Public Policy Discourse: The Inter-subjective and of caution that it is certainly not a state versus market debate; the
Symbolic Dimensions of Administration, Kenneth N. Hansen discusses real issue is to make the state more democratic and citizen-friendly
the much-neglected phenomenological dimension of public adminis¬
and not to relegate it to the background.
trative theory. He throws light on the central postulates of discourse In Chapter 6, which talks about Consent, Constitutions and
theory, which relate to ‘symbolism’, ‘metaphor’ and ‘consensus’. Contracts: The Public Choice Perspective on the State, Saugato Sen
Phenomenology, according to him, could be used to establish and highlights the salient features of public choice approach and contrasts
evaluate permanent patterns of public discourse. How can the
it with the public interest approach to public policy and state politics.
‘symbolism; and ‘metaphor’ of politics be reconciled with the
Describing public choice theory as the application of the methodology
objectivity and quantification of performance in public administrative
of economics to politics, he discusses the public choice approach to the
agencies is the central question raised by him. He discusses the
issues of the Constitution, the state, the social contract and its view of
Habermasean notion of discourse as a form of communication that
politics as exchange. He brings out the strengths and weaknesses of
includes validity and an ethic based on values that can be logically
the public choice approach, while pointing out that some of the
criticized and reconstructed depending upon the actions, intentions
criticisms of the approach are misplaced.
and experiences of the participants. He also highlights the fact that
The debate on public choice has once again shifted the focus of
the public institutions exhibit only nascent tendencies towards
administrative study to the state. In order to understand the changing
authentic discourse for addressing post-modern dilemmas. Three
nature of public administration, it becomes necessary to highlight the
empirical referents namely ‘inclusion’, ‘self-regulation’ and ‘policy
changing nature of the state over time. In Chapter 7 on Some
output to address the inter-subjectivity of discourse have been
discussed by him. Reflections on the Changing Nature of State, Anurag Joshi brings out
the Liberal, Marxian and Post-modern viewpoints on the state. He
p *8 on Understanding the Dimensions of Uncertainty in
rublic Administration where Jeffery A. Weber argues that given the discusses the shift from state-centric to society-centric and back to
state-centric nature of political theory. From being ‘laissez-faire’ to
environ*1 y 6 c^aos the current public administration
‘State-interventionist’ to ‘rolling back’, the state has been a malleable
with import ’■ ^eve^°Pment of techniques and methods of coping
concept. Against this backdrop, he discusses the different trends in
adaDt tn dif^n \ wou^ enhance administrative system’s ability to
state’s role and functions in the age of globalization; while also
the conceDt 8^uatio118- He makes a case for indispensability of
focusing on the new challenges and opportunities for the state. He
pertinence of Z*110®. • ^ pu^ic administration, and observes that
opines that if the state is not deprived of its regulatory function, it is

y > effectiveness and ‘accountability’. He dis- "of such a bad idea if the state substantively withdraws from the non-
essential sectors of the economy. Cautioning, however, that the state

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 Introduction
Contemporary Debates in Public Administration
l Approach by Amita Singh brings out the challenge of NPM in the
can, in no case, forego its role of striving towards economic develop¬ present context. She underlines the issue that the introspective
ment with a human face to realize the goals of equality and social journey of public administration from the era of ‘Wilsonian dichotomy
justice. to NPM’ is less a work of academics and more that of state politics.
As public administration is an integral part of the state, a review She avers that the argument that the foundation of the discipline of
of the changing nature of public administration logically follows from public administration remains unaffected’ is reemerging through the
the analysis of the changing complexion of the state. In Chapter 8 on weaknesses of NPM. She discusses it in context of what is new in
Changing Trends in Public Administration: The Globalization Context, NPM a query that is clearly highlighted in the chapter. She traces
Mohammad Mohabbat Khan highlights the viewpoint that the states the NPM based reform movements in 1980s and 90s by resonating the
are perceived as local authorities of the global system. The coming need for more accountable public institutions rather than the NPM
into prominence of multinational corporations, international and model; and emphasises certain basic commitments pertaining to
multilateral organizations have considerably reduced the sphere of devolution, decentralization, contracting out, rightsizing bureaucracy,
nation-states in global forums, regional meetings and local level citizens’ charters and technological advancement. She brings out the
interactions. He discusses the different administrative responses to limitations of the NPM model that fails to study the internal
the challenges of globalization in the form of the NPM initiative, configurations of the nation state and the distinction between the
quality service delivery, enhancing ICT use, public-private exchange customer and citizen; resulting in increased complexity of relationship
and interaction; and performance management. His major argument is between the government and civil society with scant regard to
that these concepts and mechanisms as forms of responses have administrative values of accountability, participation and openness.
originated in developed countries and are more suited to their social, Varied trends and developments in public administration in the
political, economic and cultural milieu. He brings out the pertinence of globalization scenario need to be analyzed within the framework of
the economic dimension of administration, which continues to be the effective governance in order to utilize their benefits. In Chapter 11
most critical element in understanding the effects of globalization on on Good Governance: Conceptual Analysis, Anil Dutta Mishra
public administration. He also draws attention to the fact that attempts to provide a theoretical background of the evolution of good
political responsibility in critical areas still remains a theoretical issue governance in public administration. It is not that governance in the
at the backdrop of public-private exchange and interactions; and past has always been ineffective, but the accent of the International
therefore needs to be looked into. agencies like tire World Bank on the concept has brought the issue to
The trends in globalization are proving to be strenuous for the the forefront with a renewed emphasis on efficiency, transparency,
public sector all over the world. The demands of citizens have participation, accountability and responsiveness. The author attempts
increased, the economic pressures have begun to limit the sources of to bring out this aspect by highlighting the good governance agenda,
public authorities, the non-government sector has become assertive, which advocates freedom of information, a strong legal system and an
the public opinion has become more vociferous and the global efficient administration to help the underprivileged claim equality He
influences have gone up. Against this backdrop, Eran Vigoda in focuses on the fact that these could be bettered with the backing of
Chapter 9 on Reconstruction of a Modern Public Sector: Some Key
strong political mobilization through social movements and political
Concerns, attempts to bring out the importance of the eclectic and
parties with a clear-cut vision.
multi-dimensional discussion in public administration and highlight
_ Chapter 12 is on Good Governance: Issues of Responsiveness and
the many challenges that it faces. He primarily deals with the NPM
Decentralization, which is in tune with the theoretical framework of
approach and its application in countries like the United States,
Shod governance. The focus of the chapter is on the concept and need
Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Israel. He brings out the specific
good governance where Chaitali Pal stresses upon participatory
experiences in the implementation of NPM and also cautions that in
evelopment and administrative responsiveness. She discusses the
nurturing the citizen-as-client idea, the NPM approach encourages
Po mence of decentralization and responsiveness as prerequisites of
passivity amongst the citizens. According to him, the approach
Sood governance. While reiterating the perspectives of World Bank,
develops, within many of the citizens, an attitude of exaggerated
®«d Social Summit and other agencies, she emphasises on
importunity towards the government. He highlights the fact that the
"“•“parency, openness, participation, effectiveness, accountability,
real challenge of the public system is to ‘do more with less’ to counter
7*" framework, ethical standards, and debureaucratizatioa, as
the general explanation that maintains ‘do more with more'
In an attempt to critically debate the NPM approach, Chapter 10 requirements good governance.
Decentralization is being seen as a prominent policy package to
on Marketing Public Administration: The New Public Management

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 . public Administration _Introduction

romance and to bring about good governance. As the major particularly the police, should be aware of human rights norms and
improve Sove™“ in decentralization have been at the grassroots laws and these standards should guide their attitudes and behaviour.
innovative m ^ Decentralization: Concept, Characteristics and The author highlights this important concern. Some pertinent issues
level, Chapte ^ Mjshra focuses on the genesis of decentra raised by him are sensitization and training of the police personnel;
Constraints ^ ^ ^ of Community Development Programme and adherence to various conventions and codes adopted by United
^panchayati Rai Institutions. She brings out the concept of Nations and National Police Commission of India on human rights.
T .Nation its meaning, nature and scope in the Indian context The concept of good governance has found favour with many
whde hfgbligbting the different problems and constraints in its countries in order to maintain accountability, transparency and
ooerationalization. It is believed that efficient institutions, adequate effectiveness in pursuit of social and economic goals. The same
resources refurbished bureaucracy, political will and participative principles when applied to enterprises, public as well as private,
democracy could change the complexion of decentralization in India. have found a new coinage in the concept of corporate governance.
She throws light on these key issues in the chapter. Chapter 16 by R. Satya Raju on Principles and Practices of Corporate
The growing emphasis on good governance has triggered the Governance discusses the concept of corporate governance in national
debate on the need for a humane state, which is empathetic towards and global perspectives. Global governance with a humane face
the marginalized and disadvantaged sections of society. In pursuit of requires shared values and standards. Corporate governance is
this form of governance, the approach of the state towards women and therefore being considered the need of the hour. In order to reassert
human rights is discussed in Chapters 14 and 15. The state’s this viewpoint, the author brings out the major recommendations of
approach towards empowerment of women in society has been some of the crucial committees on corporate governance namely
influenced by the different viewpoints on women’s issues. This aspect Cadbury Committee, King Committee, Blue Ribbon Committee, and
is brought out in Chapter 14 by Debal K. SinghaRoy on Women, Kumaramangalam Birla Committee. He also highlights the need for
Society and the State: Some Reflections on the State's Approach systematic corporate governance practices and codes, and the role and
towards Women’s Empowerment in Society. Keeping in view the rights of stakeholders by putting together case studies on corporate
changing perspectives on women’s development from ‘women and governance practices in Reliance Industries Ltd., Dr. Reddy’s Labs,
development’ to ‘women in development’, the Government of India has and Bombay Suburban Electric Supply.
formulated and executed several plans and programmes that cater to Corporate Governance Framework: Issues and Challenges is
these perspectives of development centering around women. The Chapter 17 by Uma Medury. She calls for developing an appropriate
author discusses these strategies at the national and grassroots levels, model that keeps the steering function of governance at arms length
and examines the nature of deprivation, poverty and marginalization from management function, ensures professionalization, strives
of women in society, especially in the light of various dimensions of towards enhancing the shareholder’s value and promotes healthy

women’s empowerment. The socio-economic bases of women’s margi¬ development of an enterprise. Globalization is exerting pressure on
nalization and powerlessness, which are legitimately institutionalized enterprises to examine their system of governance, adjust their
business strategies, quality of decision-making and develop better
in the society is a pertinent issue highlighted by him. He argues that
governance framework to cope with emerging challenges. A consensus
any development initiative without altering the pre-existing structur
is emerging globally that a governance framework for enterprises
arrangement and the broad ideological foundation would o y
needs to be formulated, which could steer them towards effectiveness,
reinforce the structure of subordination and marginalization of *
efficiency and excellence. In the face of these developments, she
vast majority of people, especially women. He also focuses on gl°bal
provides a conceptual and evolutionary perspective of corporate
initiatives towards empowerment of women. .
governance. She explains the viewpoint by focusing on American,
Chapter 15 by A.S. Narang on Law Enforcement Agencies ana
German and Japanese models of corporate governance.
discusses the concept of human rights and the ro e
Ethics of Corporate Governance: Some Lessons for the
central 7cemei^ a8encies in protecting and promoting them. overnment is Chapter 18 by Ramesh K. Arora and Tanjul Saxena.
government16 chaPter revolves around the responsibility 0 orporate governance is now being seen as a panacea for irresponsible
rights. The r6Spect 40 adequate implementation of “ ^ management. Therefore, it is an important responsibility of the state
government are hZfT'111 “ that unle3s the systems of th°u® tg 0f o ensure that a climate of ethical management is nurtured in the
“dividuals the on resPect for the full spectrum of the ng ,)y 88 wel1 as in the private enterprises. The time has come
*«Ppe„ \ ^ wU1 remain abstract constructs and eventual trie central concerns of ethics and accountability should find
18 lmPortant that the law enforcement officii,

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 Contemporary Debates in Public Administration ___
Introduction
acceptability and credence in all institutions designed to serve public
good. The authors attempt to bring out the pertinence of ethics and entropy is deeper in developing countries due to developmental
ethical code to corporate governance in view of the developments in contradictions, fragmented cultural base and accelerating techno¬
the area of corporate governance. They throw light on the fact that logical compulsions. He argues that this is why organizational reforms
are necessary. All systems have to be sensitive to dynamic environ¬
good governance would demand an integrated control system that
ment where change occurs at two levels: (1) interface with the nature;
would synthesize self-regulation and extrinsic control. The principles
and (2) relation between human beings themselves. The western
of selflessness, integrity, accountability, honesty and leadership as the
theory, G. Haragopal avers, is rooted in structured relationship and
parameters of standards in public lives are discussed by them.
capitalist development, which is more suited to growth-oriented
Trends in globalization and privatization have opened the doors
development than values of freedom, equality and dignity. He
to far reaching technological changes. Thus, along with the focus on
therefore brings out the need for innovating methods through which
good governance and corporate governance, the emphasis is also being
the traditional systems could be changed to make them more adaptive
laid on e-governance. Chapter 19 on Impact of e-governance on Public
to the market role. The moot question raised by him is: how could the
Administration by Sachin Chowdhry reviews the promises envisioned new and alternative organizations with a sense of social purpose be
by IT revolution. The emerging challenges to e-governance related to
built.
infrastructure, capital, access, utility of information, capacity building, All governance strategies and reforms should fall in line with the
changing mindsets, standardization of data encoding, systematic cyber goals of equity, sensitivity and social justice. The task of creating
laws, etc. are analyzed by the author. If e-governance is not within alternative governance mechanisms is tedious and should take into
the reach of the poor and the disadvantaged, it is likely to fall short of view the impact of globalization as well as the national, regional and
the very objective that it aspires to achieve. The author highlights the local influences. The gigantic task would involve the creation of more
fact that the speed and transparency associated with e-governance accountable, responsive and participatory mechanisms in order to
have the potential to make public administration responsive and also provide alternative organizations for production and provision of goods
effect good governance. and services. The subsequent chapters discuss these issues in detail.
Reiterating the relevance of e-governance, Chapter 20 on A Chapter 22 is on Values and Institutions for Honest and ‘People-
Nation Online: Public Administration in the Digital Age by Sanjay Oriented’ Administration: Towards a Synthesis of Western and Indian
Jaju highlights the unceasing influx of information technology in the Approaches where Pranab Banerji throws light on the need of a
country and the administrative response to it. It discusses the ways symbiosis between the institutional and psychological approaches for
through which the government could make the administrative system analyzing governance issues. He points out that the institutional
more transparent, efficient and responsive. Sanjay Jaj reviews approach seeks to elicit socially desired behaviour from self-interested
‘Saukaryam’, an IT project, conceived and implemented by him as a individuals through appropriate ‘mechanism-design’; whereas the
case in point by drawing attention to the fact that success stories like psychological approach focuses on transforming and elevating
‘Saukaryam’ could have macro-level impact if these are emulated and individuals towards socially beneficial behaviour. He highlights the
adapted with an open mind at various other places in the government. need for utilizing the benefits of both the approaches as institutions
India is in a position to wrest the benefits of IT if it is made accessible alone cannot elicit the required behaviour. The fact that human
to as many people as possible in urban as well as rural areas. The values and ideas of ethical distribution are equally pertinent is
negative mindsets against IT have to be combated; and education and brought out by him.

training on IT need to be imparted to reap the benefits. He stresses In Chapter 23, From Legal-Rational to Moral-Legal-Rational
some of these important issues. Bureaucracy: A Case Study of a Civil Servant, P.M. Sowjanya and
Organizational reforms are central to the concepts of good L»uarag0?i trace the Ufe 0f S R- Sankaran, a bureaucrat par
governance, corporate governance and e-governance. Efficient excellence His participatory, empathetic, sensitive, moral and humane
transparent and accountable administration caHsfor rffect.ve taudmmi3tratl0n throughout his service could be contrasted
organizations The organizations that are not sensitive to overall from Webenfn.legu>-rational model that draws its sustenance
changes suffer from their own internal underdevelopment and get into S R rogulutions and division of work. The question on how
changes srnier rh 21 The Failure of Organizational
unmanageable crisis^ InChapter^ 21, G Haragopal work ethics'^11 a Paradigmatic shift in the administrative
Sankaran’s lifi^Tk ^ ^ chaPter using empirical resources from
civil service as The auth°rs seek to comprehend Sankaran’s model of
an exceptional style thrown by indigenous culture and

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 riahntps in Public Administration
^Contem^-

„ t This goes beyond the Weberian model of burea,,

social contefhat the la.d down typology by Weber is not all ^
suggesting th out the positive aSpeCt 0f power that coulH^1 fact that the meaning of civil society organizations can be best
understood in the light of the relationship of civil society with the
exhaustive . ive administrative culture through emonth be

zxsipsz.. state and the market. Both state and market determine the
complexion of civil society. The questions such as what exactly is civil
society, has it really reemerged or is it being merely reinterpreted,
A Key to Accountable ood TraiISf) why has it become a crucial topic, what is its relationship with other
Administration is Chapter 24 where Jaytilak Cuba Roy talks abo* sectors in governance, what kind of problems is it facing, what is its
u lrtinence of access to information for a responsive anH role in the era of globalization and what direction its functions would
transparent administration. The citizens’ Right to Information ia take in future have been raised in the chapter.
increasingly being recognized as an important instrument to promote In Chapter 27, Creating Alternative Institutional Arrangements:
onenness transparency and accountability in public administration. Role of User Group Self-Initiatives, Madhushree Sekher discusses the
role of user groups in participatory resource management. She makes
He focuses on the issues related to Right to Information such as
an attempt to explain the role of self-initiated micro-institutional
empowerment of people, strengthening of democracy, promoting
strategies in management of community-based resources. She
responsive administration, improving quality of decision-making and
discusses some theoretical arguments underlying collective action and
ensuring people's participation. Bringing out the national and
natural resource management, and elaborates the framework of
international perspectives on Freedom of Information legislation with analysis on the basis of a methodological field study of two villages in
regard to Right to Information, he discusses the constraints in its Nayagarh District of Orissa. The author provides a situational
effective implementation. The central argument of the chapter is that analysis of the organized participatory resource management process
revamping the administrative system towards operationalizing the as mediated through self-initiated institutional strategies of resource
Right to Freedom of Information would require formulation of a users themselves. She also stresses the fact that the strength of self-
systematic training policy, an effective system of reward; and an initiated resource management strategies lies in there being a close
efficient information management system. A mere conferment of the symbiotic relationship between resource and resource users, direct
Right to Information without changing the existing style of consumptive benefits from the resource to user community and a
governance would render the entire exercise futile. system of consensual arrangement among the group members
In Chapter 25 on The Citizen’s Charter Initiative: Pronouncement grounded in traditions of cohabitation.
of a Paradigm Shift in Bureaucracy-Client Interface, krym -
Sharma highlights the pertinent TQM inspired initiative : thal, have REFERENCES
surfaced in public bureaucracies especially the citize
underlines the public focus of government bureau^ ^e, Adams, Guy B., 1994, “Enthralled with Modernity: The Historical
Context of Knowledge and Theory Development in Public
problems inflicting it. Charterism is about making u .. The
Administration”, in Jay D. White and Guy B. Admas (Eds.),
services of specified volume, specifications an aCy must
Research m Public Administration: Reflections on Theory and
unilaterally operating conventional public ure^ to allow its Practice, Sage, U.K.
increasingly move into a multilateral mould. It nee s pUblic
Bhattacharya, Mohit, 1997, “Administrative Control: Concept, Practice
decisions to be influenced by those who will e iv®j. and those and Research Perspective”, in V.A. Pai Panandikar (Ed.), A Survey
services, those to whom these services will be de iver ’ ent, which of Research in Public Administration 1980-1990, Konark, Delhi.
organs of the civil society, like the NGOs and local gove very
-1 x19l9?.’ Restructuring Public Administration: Essays in
could organize bureau-clients into pressure .groups.^ ^ ^ch Rehabilitation, Jawahar, New Delhi.
pertinent issues have been brought out by him in e idiom-
iT’ ^GW H('ruvns °f Public Administration, Jawahar, New
attempts to steer the bureaucracy-citizen interface in fans: The
Chapter 26 on Emergence of Civil Society rSa need f01"
ChaIM!,nMOhame» and Lucie Rouillajd. 199V, “The New Public
Globalization Context wraps up the discussion °n mUiti-late,!f
New P,!went»; m Mohamed Charih and Arthur Daniel (Eds.),
value-based institutions, Right to Information an
bureaucracies by highlighting the reemergence of civi
y aDd th
.^,uents
IPAC C ^anagement
and Publlc Administration in Canada,

need to study the role of its institutions and other co flights

different perspective. In this chapter, Alka Dhamej^

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Understanding Administrative
Theory: A Perspective

— Pardeep Sahni

To say that public administration is as old as the creation of ‘state’

could be very well justified. The individuals surrendered their
sovereignty to that of the state for it to manage the affairs whereby
the life and property of the human ‘beings’, which have all the
potential of ‘becoming’ could be protected. The individual’s genuine
quest for peace as an essential ingredient of growth and development
has always engaged the attention of the governors, and one finds that
a number of newer approaches and methodologies have been replacing
the hitherto prevailing techniques. In fact, effective operational
mechanisms have always been in the offing.
History stands testimony to the fact that even during the ancient
and medieval periods, sound administrative principles surfaced many
a time to justify the governance of the times. Reference to the
Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Chinese, Indian administration, etc., to
name a few, amply proves the point. In fact, a look at the content
matter and functional aspects of public administration brings forth
that public administration is an effective blend of qualitative tenets of
political science, history, geography, sociology, psychology, law,
philosophy, biological sciences, engineering, medical sciences, and the
like. Probably this could be considered as one of the major reasons
that till date we have not been unanimous in arriving at an
acceptable set of definitions or clearly laying down the boundaries of
public administration.
As an area of study, which ultimately paves the way for its
professionalism, public administration stands enriched with vast
competing theoretical foundations, epistemologies, mores, values,
norms, and also their relationship with practice in socio-economic and
political contexts. One school of thought contends that the boundaries
of public administration are never clearly determined. This probably is
23

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 Contemporary Debates in Public Administration

a negative pursuance of public administration because in view of the

fact that it deals with human ‘becoming’ as well as social settings,
economic pressures, political ideologies and so on, public adminis¬
tration ought to be, and so it has been, a rather dynamic area of study
and practice. The focus in the recent times on its relationship with
non-profit, community based societal organizations, etc., has rather
added to the enrichment of this field of study. Both as a discipline and
profession, public administration has covered a long journey. Stephen
K. Bailey (1986) has identified four general categories of public
administrative theories:

1. Descriptive or explanatory theory (it encompasses those

propositions and models whose intent is systematically to
explain and predict action in or related to public adminis¬
tration);
2. Normative theory (its objective is ‘to establish future states
prescriptively’ by elucidating the value premises on which
administrative actions need to be taken and judged);
3.
Assumptive theory (it includes those ‘propositions, which
articulate the root assumptions about the nature of man and
the tractability of institutions’); and
4.
Instrumental theory (referring to such theories whose purpose
s the application of knowledge to practical tasks of 2T
lishing administrative objectives). ^

put,forth the of
Henry (2003) has justifiably listed*;?^ f*8' F°r *xamPle’ Nicholas
Politics-Administration Disomy 2
Administration (3) Public Arlmmi
( J> Z TZZ ^
PrmciPles of Public
(4) Public Administration as Manag^m^ !°n j S Po*itical Science
tration as Public Administration. Likewise differ> Public.Adminis'
laid claims regarding the major founders nf ’ , ,fferent writings have
example, it is said that Alexander Hamilt PUb lc administration. For
profession; Thomas Jefferson was^hTf 7“ the Sunder of the
American public administration W^odro m6.r °f the ‘edition of
father of public administration- Elton M Wl1lson is known as the
ep~t' e.tC ,Ifthis be tba case “e " isT ™^ humaa relations
Tontrih irH ’ Au«us‘na. Kautilya Akh "^T t0 forget Socrates,
contributed immensely to the growth of n hr “f the like who have
The emerging kernel of thl f PUbllc administration,
compulsions of tho 4-' the issue is that do

ZZ£T ir £?«*•

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 Understanding Administrative Theory: A

purpose, the developments in different eras, are clubbed chronn

logically starting with the Pre-foundation Era; and moving on to the
Foundation Era; and the Reform and Managerial Era. A temporal
analysis of the growth of public administrative theory is thus beine
attempted here. B

PRE-FOUNDATION ERA
Going by the much talked about view that The Study of
Administration’ by Woodrow Wilson systematically heralded the
advent of the study of public administration, the period earlier than
this constitutes the pre-foundation era’ starting with Alexander
Hamilton, about whom George Washington said in 1781 "... this I can
venture to advance from a thorough knowledge of budget that there
are few men to be found, of his age, who have a more general
knowledge than he possesses, and none whose soul is more firmly
engaged in the cause, or who exceeds him in probity and sterling
virtue’. With regard to the administrative apparatus of the state,
Hamilton strongly displayed his interest and wisely contemplated a
‘full investigation of the history and science of civil government, and
... practical results and various modifications of it for the freedom and
happiness of mankind’ (Kent, 1898).
Hamilton (1961) advocated for a strong chief executive and
bureaucracy, which should be exceptionally well-paid A feeble
executive (by contrast) implies a feeble execution of government. A
feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution, and a
government ill-executed ... must be, in practice, a bad government.
He held the view that the assistance provided by the bureaucracy to
the chief executive is of paramount importance and therefore for the
cause of continuity, the bureaucracy’s tenure of office should be
beyond that of their appointee in the chief executive. Paul Van Riper
(1983) has stated that ‘if anyone deserves a title as the founder of the
American administrative state it is ... Alexander Hamilton’
The philosophy of reason, individualism, liberty, and limited
government is that of Thomas Jefferson, who has been termed as the
founder of the public administration tradition in America. He was
instrumental in getting America a national governmen , as P^
Constitution, having checks and balances besides division of power
Being the author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson hud
down the foundations for American socia con r ^ sense’
political culture of America He believe “ and idealistic
that guided persons to be benevole exDlain his trust
assumption about human nature that may’1”^]L ’ PHe advocated
in the capacity of individuals to governsafely in
limited government and eternal vigilance. _— ro.
:*iA

check (Mayer, 1997).

/v TD> i. j)
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 What is now seen through is that certain parts of Jefferson’s
philosophy are adored while others are ignored. A look at many of the
inscriptions on the walls within the Jefferson Memorial, one can see
that they were selected to serve as propaganda for the New Deal
Thus, his description of a ‘wise and frugal’ federal government as one
having ‘a few plain duties to be performed by a few servants’ does not
appear. Instead, there is a quotation in which Jefferson, advocating
frequent Constitutional changes admonished that as circumstances
alter, ‘laws and institutions must advance to keep pace with the time’
(ibid.).
James Madison, who represented the tradition of administrative
constraint, has been quoted to have said that ‘I am not a friend to a
very energetic government. It is always oppressive. It places the
government more at their ease, at the expense of the people’ (Drinker

have everywhere Derishprl- nrde whlch Popular governments

fruitful topics from which’the adTOraries^h0*6 *hefavourite a"d
specious declamations. He was all for hoh ,,.bert-v derive their most
for the diseases most incidental to re w° mg 3 rePublican remedy
Analyzing the bask content of 1^ ^nment.
Jefferson, and Madison, one cannot fi Writines of Hamilton,
nation, that workable mechanisms were ' by a"y Stretch of ™agi-
obvious contradictions in the approaches THere have
one has made a contribution lookine at th ®Se Prac««oners. Each
their times; They have attempted to st™^ praVaiIi“8 conditions of
on the basis of their inferences and ture ndministrative practices

great extent during this

foundation era
Woodrow Wilson u

^aaticCortr is ^
resources for the ’ and lntellectual exerH V°Cated for a more
importance of publir ana?einent of the statp w as Wed as
is the task of the^iv™!™8^011- According t laid down the
with the permanent Vxe ®?ecutive and policy P°licy'makin&

• —
gmated by Wilson and
■k

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strengthened further by Goodnow presented a clear base f„r puhlic
j ministration.
Richard Stillman (1973), Paul Van Riper (1983), Daniel MnrH
<1988)', etc., held the view that Wilson did not understand what the
study of administration actually contains and what has to be the
relationship between the political and permanent executives in
managing the affairs of the government. But what Wilson and
Goodnow did was, in fact, in accordance with the need of the prevail¬
ing times in a bid to accord a suitable status to public administration,
which by some means was pushed to the background. In a similar
manner, in order to find lasting solutions to the problems of industries
instead of relying on the day-to-day problem solving approach, the
‘Scientific Management School’ initiated by Frederick Winslow Taylor
and carried on by others through the years, stressed specifically on
more distinct problems of management.
Certainly, the sketching of effective production techniques and
the development of managerial approaches to implement them,
provided a view of the functioning of individuals in organizations that
can qualify as one of the earliest theoretical formulation of organi¬
zational behaviour. It established a view of individual activity in
organizations based bn the physical and physiological functioning of
individual workers in an industrial concern. The central tenet of
scientific management was outlined by Taylor’s theory that there was
‘one best way’ of doing a particular job (Taylor, 1911).
The extension of this approach from the individual to the organi¬
zational level brings with it the industrial phenomena of organization
charts, job descriptions, work standards, flow charts or diagrams, and
all related extensions or refinements (Kolasa, 1969). The scientific
management group has stressed upon the standardization of working
methods. The major concern of the group has been with the types of
works being performed at the operative level. The group has probed
into the effectiveness of the human element in the organization ^d
has hence, taken into account that individua s ave e which
machines for the accomplishment of rou me na, . Derformed
because of their repetitive nature have been assumed to be perform

earlier m.inl, l,v Hen., F.,ol «*«) "*

1- Stillman, Richard J. II, 1973, “Woodrow Wilson^
New Look at an Old Essay”, American Polltl^alpC' inistration dichotomy, Wilson
More accurately, in formulating his po 1 1 rature that he read on Pu
apparently misinterpreted some of the ti dichotomy has c ear
administration. In any event, the PoliUcMin^straUan^ Riper. Paul Van
an impact on the evolution of public ad™ini , tRe Founders—An n
“The American Administrative State: W» son ); # and Martin.
View”, Public Administration Review, Wils°n”’ PU^IC
Daniel W., 1988, “The Fading Legacy of Wood
Review, Vol. 48 (March/April): 631-636.

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 operation. In comparison to the concentration on the problem,
operative level as tabled by the ‘Scientific Management Sch
stream of classical organization theory views the major nr hi ’
that there must be an identification of the tasks neces° 601 as
achieving the general purpose of the organization and^d? f°F
departmentation to assist in performing those functions in an Athe
manner. Besides Henry Fayol, the other eminent scholars
(1947° t!6 ,'Sheld0"' LUrw,ck (1943>- Gullick, Reiley, and M‘hls
1947). The analysis of the essential characteristics of „t e-v
theo can be made under four major headings-D vision o^W
Departmentation, Coordination, and Human Behaviour W°rk'

Division of Work

SalUyTs *3T'quVntit^^ncTle15 oTd* - f0rganizati»" in

speaking, means breaking downTwork into'V,S,0n °f W°rk’ simPly
getting the sub-works done bv the tod' a Vf™US sub-works and
manner, the performer can have speciilizati ° n ViduaIs' In this
capacitate him to accomplish the task „ ‘ u » ‘S J°b and il
taae The individual could be asked to Way in less
then take up another depending upon thtolfT”/ sub'work first and
work in an organization. P h klnd of situation and load of

DePartmentation

tSSiS Ce°UdS PartS °r Sub-Parts' has

fiveX^tf 1^?e
Urwick (Gullick, Zi.Xf^ ^ ™k »toTbytuXk\nd

Coordination
Coordination i«a fu„
been observed that t?Sence effectiveness of an
The pertinent aue,t,the.0reanizati°n is an orBamzation. It has
an organization. If ‘S wbat is the role and°nllatl°n °f individuals-
respect and identitv are not being nroX,aP “ of individuals in
consider it to be a 'to *” “ organization it d Wlth any amount of
have an entity and orfianization' It m *S n°^ aPPropriate to
"h“* is often* asked ■*“***. but up to tbey must be given
Apartments strive f„H°W do tb« indiviX eXtent is the question.
Apertmentation ttendf0r.. °r®ani^tional B„‘%W°rking i» different
““■"dual in ^ or“d division of work tn S? ,Thoueh, there is
rganization are related to fun<=«»ns of every
on other to collectively

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 ,^e functions of the organization. These have to be properly
for* ated so that the things are on a swift move in the organization
C°°r do not come t0 3 stand ln its formalized model of
aIld tmentation, the possibility of problems of coordination is quite
dePar as it is decided well in advance who is to do what and when.
rem°various tasks are assigned to the different units and each does its
, ^lrc adequately.
13 This point of view is not supported by many of the classical
• ts They are of the opinion that the situational factors may
the°din the way of proper coordination, as it is not always possible to
stan 1 f the times to come and the environmental forces and factors
would guide the future course of events. To this effect, three
have been identified in a study: (1) the time of occurrence of
faC“ tlps mav be conditional on events external to the organization or
^ internal to the organization; (2) the appropriateness of a
? lar activity may be conditional on what other activities are
L J nerfomed in various parts of the organization; (3) any activity
being periormeu r
particular goal or function may have
elaborated and Simon. 1958). Of

COnS:rennot much° attenrion has been paid to such factors by the

structural theorists for constructing an organization model.

Human Behaviour
The structuralists have viewed the 'ndriiduals^ working injn

organization as lifeless tools wh tQ them The workers

accomplish the organizational task gQ ization but have been
have not been treated as variables the human behaviour
taken for granted. These theon /^tock of the psychological
complexities by not taking app P . ,jviduais as a result of the
aspects and motivational factorrs structural theory is
absence of the required sensitive »"en“ecasting, handling and
unable to address issues per 31 organization.
controlling the individuals behaviour organizati0ns, which
James Mooney has given the P ^ major attempt to broaden
could be regarded as probably the u inciples of organization
the basis of this approach. e , coordination,
enumerated by him are: parpen authority. He has ®
coordination, leadership, delegation, , t essential and asl
View that each one of these principles is almost ^ as ,Unlversal
every organization. Hence he us
Principles of Management’ (Mo®ae^e° underdev^oped because
It has been averred that if gains, it 1S ma kl1nitv to
been slow to keep pace with developm ing had no °PP° eopie
People have remained underdeve ope utihza and l° th
realize their maximum potential. oniy to th &
and their potentialities is the key

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 rcji process for alternatives, following which, specific or limits
Scfion programmes are developed and fixed upon m'recurn^X
The critical concept in the entire process may be the fact that
ndiv.duals and organizations do not optimize, that is, do not search
1 less there is a pursuit to attain a maximum or ideal return as the
U” sical, rational-economic view of behaviour indicated. Instead,
C cording to Simon, they ‘satisfice’ or strive to attain a satisfactory
fevel (Kolasa, op. cit.).
Barnard did not approve of the classical organization theory, as
t was according to him, highly descriptive and superficial. The formal
1 ffanization was described by him as a percipiently synchronized
tem comprising two or more individuals. Barnard held the view
that authority travels from the bottom to upside. He was highly
tical of the ‘classicists’ view that authority should percolate from
the top to the bottom. He laid down a set of four conditions essentially
\e complied with before individuals decide to abide by a communi-
ration command (Barnard, op. cit.). Individuals, he stated, must
understand the communication; at the time of their decision, they
TTinst believe that it is not inconsistent with the purpose of the
organization- they must believe it to be compatible with their personal
intereste as a whole; and they must be mentally and physically able to

C°mPChester"Barnard’s work is considered to be a real break with

theory of organization. -Qtics of an ideal bureaucratic

Max Weber gave the char i_.:Qinn 0f labour; positions
organization as: specialization an 1 ract ruies; impersonal
arranged in a hierarchy; a sys em Qns 1947)> In nutshell,
relationships, etc. (Henderson an ^ ^ ideai one and it is not
Weber’s bureaucracy was contemp world to follow Webers
exactly suitable for any organiza ion m . *-on theorist Peter Blau
model entirely. A well-known modern He has stated that
(1956) has summarized Webers me i termed as an ideal type.
‘Weber dealt with bureaucracy as w resent an average of t e
This methodological concept does no other social structures ,
attributes of all existing bureaucracies ( characteristic
but a pure type, derived by abstracting the
bureaucratic aspects of all known organiza reaucracy are e^fec
Some of the characteristics of Webers * ^ ^ d in some
in some specific conditions and time, an serious cka,e*V ’ the
of the organizations. Of course, it « is, ^^ute
decidedly the more pertinent question g of its Qult
functions of bureaucracy will outweig

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dysfunctions. Weber has not taken stock of this issue. He d’H
stress upon the dysfunctional consequences of the bureau* ^ no con
approach. Through a thorough and meticulous perusal of Web^ the foi
work, one would be convinced that though he did recognize s'*8 G
dilemmas or conflicts inherent in a bureaucracy, the import*16 inform
dysfunctions were never adequately pondered over by him in v?1 to lig
bureaucratic organizational theory. It could be because he, qualit^ grand*
manaj
tively and quantitatively, emphasized more upon the functional
cultiv?
attributes.
of We
Nevertheless, the influence of Max Weber on some behavioural
factors
thinkers is perceptible. In bringing about their descriptive organi¬ patter
zational models, these people have drawn on his concept of Punisl
bureaucracy. Though they do not agree with one another in absolute the lm
terms, yet in three Dysfunctional Models, given by Merton (1957) t
Selznick (1949), and Gouldner (1954), focus has been on the factors, manat
which have proliferated, in the bureaucratic organizations because of betwe<
their coordinated functioning. Interest is highest among these buttre;
researchers on the dysfunctional consequences of bureaucratic Repres
organizations, that is, those forces that are unintentional, but have a obeyet
tendency to hamper the functioning or drive the elements apart. suppoi
Merton s model has stressed upon the consequences of control where, partici
primarily, the rules function as an outcome of the concern for a The P
criStGnt Se^ functions and the reliability that comes with the w
adherence to clear regulations for behaviour (Kolasa, op. cit.). Relati
Merton (op. cit.) is of the view that an important behavioural enforo
sequel to bureaucratic structuring is the rupture of total accomplish¬ either
ment of goals. He has held the view that when rules and procedures T
thesT np^mig abn°lu.te disciPline become an end instead of means, quanti
£ orfaS t Tn the Pers°nality of an individual working the cl{
that ‘t
of buretu^^^^elznick^top^0ciO^on
Tennessee Valley Authority has maX b t °f hlS Study °f
recommendations. For making the bur^i Pre.C1Se suggestlons and
effecti’
that n
drastic
partaking, workable, and in cahoots with fh^ structures more
illuminated and enlightened concents of« the systems, the more practic
authority need to be embodied in it rgunization like delegation of the cli
While talking about human behavim,,- ■ with,
Gouldner (op. cit.) has given a model of nX I“ an or&auization, under1
which describes individual dynamics and i ,gamzftional behaviour, replae
how the individuals can set forth the paia eraction in a group, or and c
preparation for decision-making in organizat'Gters a problem in ration;
bureaucratization of a Gypsum Plant Organiz^8 ^is study on the B
for bureaucracy to be operational and functional*0*1 b&S reve£ded that bureax
and psychological conditions must endure. Th S°^e Set °f physical
based on a single organization, it did bring to surf gh the study was
of environmental variables in an organizational sef06 *be
stated ‘As a case history of only one factorv ^ouldner has
y’ hls study can offer

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 1 ions about the state of American industry at large, or about
no c°n tkat make for bureaucratization in general’ (Luthans, 1985).
the r lldner’s study has recorded the prominence and pursuance of
1 structures in an organization. His research, besides bringing
informal
certain modern organization theory concerns, viz. the
to of environmental variables, has made a case for contingency
granaeur and organization design. Gouldner has not only
man ago m ^ gjs0 eniarged the bureaucratic organizational approach
cultiya research capacitated him to resolve the bearing of
0f We e • aucraCy that originate tension. The three bureaucratic
factors i . ed by him are—Mock, Representative, and
patterns pnfred The major variance between these patterns is in
Pumshment-cen^cb ^ ^ (.^

4116 1 'T the Mock Pattern, rules are neither enforced by the
U“ „t nor obeyed by workers. Usually, little conflict occurs
managemen and joint violation and evasion of rules are
between the ^he Tnfomal sentiments of the participants. Underthe
buttressed b? tbe “ rules ^ both enforced by management and
Representative Pattern, rme wt of overt conflict. Joint
obeyed by workers. It gene t informal sentiments, mutual
support for rules, is buttress A ^ workers and management.
participation, initiation rules be enforced by either
The Punishment-centred Pa evaded by the other group,
the workers or management and entailed. The rules are
Relatively greater tension and conflt ^ infomal sentiments of
enforced by punishment and suppo
either workers or management ^ have dem0nstrated the
The modern theories of orgamza alterati0n of views on
quantitative evanescence or certain y J Bennig {1965) has stated
the classical bureaucratic approach W ,g becoming leSs and less
that ‘the bureaucratic form of °rgan contemporary realities,
effective; that it is hopelessly oatofjomtw't which promise
that new shapes, patterns and modelsand of managerial
drastic changes in the con uc ,,b some pertinent Poin ..
practices in general’. He came and underlings

the classical bureaucratic appr°j* ’ and zany or absur ru

with, technical competence; ar __ i which subverts ,
underworld (or informal) orgsm^^^. and conflict be*'W?(] , any
replaces the formal apparatus; . —- without any
and cruel and in human tre
rational or legal b
Bennis has
bureaucracy t

• Bur
an
• I

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 Contemporary Debates in Public Administration

• It does not take into account the ‘informal organization’

the emergent and unanticipated problems; an(l
• Its systems of control and authority are hopelessly outd
• It has no juridical process; a ed
• It does not possess adequate means for resolving difW>
and conflicts between ranks and, most particularly betw"^8
functional groups; DetWeen
• Communication and innovation ideas are thwarted
distorted as a result of hierarchical divisions; °r
• human resources of bureaucracv are rmt kQ' ...
fully because of mistrust, fear of reprisals eti ^
• it cannot assimilate the influx of new ’’
entering the organization; and Oology or scientists
• It modifies personality structure in such a wav tn .
person in a bureaucracy becomes the a n y 'at tlle
conditioned ‘organizational man’. ** ^ duI1, grGy> and

^\rtnlt.:lT^IrceSyetTnyHna‘‘0nS’ Which w-e reeling

on the basis of his study oS unde;-de™lopment. F.W. Riggsg
with the ‘Sala Model' and ‘BTza^ nati°ns came out
View that there is a substantive de^o? He haS held
these countries besides heterogendtv and^™31'5™’ prevailing in
inferred that poly-normativism is much ' °verlapping. He also
and mostly the bureaucracy, termed as in these societies
norms of racialism and castei^ Th. Sfn& y h,m’ is governed by
provides ample scope for imnr 6 tlCory developed by Riggs
which are faSng 'niTbeVV**“ deveI°ping nattns!
and scholars have attached significant aft f':0unts- Van°us thinkers
their writings and models pos ulaLl h ?n *° P°licy sciences
Stuart S. Nagel, Thomas R Dye £1 l ^em' Yehezkel Dror,
have advocated for special attention T* i!*' i Frohock and the like
1f'P<r™entat’on’ and evaluation for effect' 6 8ld °n P°hey making,
°f affairs. atlon for effective management of the state

reform and managerial era

The problems encountered hv Q ,
developing nations in 1950s^nd ldfin^ °5 develoPed as well as
forth plausible theoretical concern! r the ^lars to bring
“amly to handle food shortage JfT " reSults' These were

b,at,on
adhered to besides devdopng an ,
’,etc' The New
o tical unrest, wars amongst nations opr nnrest, student unrest,
movement suggested for Public Adminis-
approach *> be
Paradigms. Frank Marini Dwkhi W u c and anti-bureaucratic
Robert T. Golombiewski,’ etc s a!H ,u ?eorge H' Prederickson,
' Stated that Politics-administration

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 Understanding Administrntiyc The

u fnmv was of no relevance. They rejecter! tk ^ , ~~ ***

as va'ue fre* and advocated that Ihe" Tr"" °f Pu*>lic
?d® „ as ‘being’ needs to be replaced with 'becoming' !f ,magc °ra
h“ issue of relevance. Through his diverse writings n St[°ssed on
t contributed immensely to admin,strative theCy H.^i Wa)do
{£, been summanzed under several categories (Carroll
. Antinomic, in the sense of focusing on the ten.:
concepts, which are considered valid in their own sdLT^
. Pluralistic or mult,-dimensional, in the sense of emphas zing
a broad array of factors at work in any given administrate?
process;
• Historical, in the sense of stressing the evolution of adminis¬
trative processes, often calling attention to cycles;
• Comparative, in the sense of focusing on comparisons among
agencies, states, and nations;
• Normative, in the sense of being concerned with the
fundamental relationships among bureaucracy, civilization,
and the values of the good life, including democratic values;
• Functional, in the sense of focusing on processes of change
within bureaucratic functions; and
• Anti-reductionist, in the sense of emphasizing the complexity
of forces at work in bureaucracy and cautionary about
formalistic solutions to public discontent.

The First Conference of New Public Administration did make an

attempt to provide solutions to the contemporary pr^lemstoMhe
realization of the fact that focus on futLed, made
and women’s participation had n jn 1938 include
the Second Conference of New Public Admin, strata on in
these in its ‘Action Agenda’. , eovernance, the
Realizing the importance of ®‘ ^managerial perspective in a
administrative theory has drawn o Public Management
substantive manner and thus the enn 1980s has spread its
(NPM), which originated in New Zealan gweden> USA) Canada,
wings in other countries like Austra ia, • a^ruptcy of bureaucracy
etc. Osborne and Gaebler describe eT1p1irial government,
and emphasized on the need for entrepre weaknesses!
u In a nutshell, the NPM seeks »' «***&
Public service provision, namely ( control costs, and . et
managed public services do not effec ^ i(jers through qun®1 unabie
Qeed for competition between service P ^re expensive service
mrangements has arisen. Providers that arejn ^
0 control costs will secure fewer con ^tionally oTJP quality-
r°viders will increasingly emerge, 1 f£ectively inlpJate to secure
>a*ed public services do not effec ^ inn0vate
^Petition will similarly lead to provider

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 Contemporary Debates in Public Administration

better practices and in so doing, win more service provision

(iii) Traditionally organized and managed public servic C°I’,tracts;
effectively meet the standards of service expected by ordina ** • ° not
m
re
One way of addressing this is to give service users a charte^ f1?6"8 es
to standards of service, which they can legitimately ex„° . 18 vi
(iv) Trad.tionally organized and managed public services hav! ’ aa<i ci
too much power and influence to special interest groups renrl! ^ P1
nationally organized work forces, on whom service provision 1 !?8 fo
In line with the response to political compulsions and chalW fa
and increasing pressure on governmental expenditure leading tt
economic performance, adherence to the characteristics of NPM and in
certain reforms in this direction were initiated in some of the co^n tY
tries. The aspects, which got a better deal include: developing accr^i
accounting; programme reviews; financial compliance; performlc' K
auditing; greater organizational autonomy to the managers over ‘P
finance, personnel and working practices; public-private partnerships si
Cl
oiitsQumng; value-for-money approach; introduction of best value
initiative; benchmarking; performance or service level agreements P1
in
policy evaluations; e-governance; re-engineering; total quality manage¬
fr
ment; business excellence model; citizens’ charters; e-democracy, etc
P1
Thus, NPM has been able to move towards budgetary reforms,
a<
organizational restructuring; inter-governmental devolution, marketi-
ir
zation and privatization, efficiency and effectiveness, customer-
orientation, quality management, participation and the like.
ti
For efficient provision, wise management, and quality of the
P
infrastructure, Sanda Kaufman has recommended participatory lc
mechanisms to be in place. Individual cognitive barriers detract from ei
meaningful public participation in decision-making. Lack of infor¬ ii
mation deters public intervention, leaving politicians, administrators,
P
and specialists to proceed the way they wish. They take the liberty to P
act with freedom from common citizen’s perspective, vision, and gaze. a
Advocating strongly for ensuring people’s participation qualitatively, r<
Sanda Kaufman suggests that public interest in the relevant issues or P
the possibility of people’s scrutiny of the likely outcome and positive is
impact may enable the policy makers to: (i) base their choices leading si
to policies/decisions on complete statistics and information pertaining
to costs, benefits and resultants of such choices, which inter aha has ii

zs*.f
ana ail make ^
e;
si
h
P
tl
a
ttJXSS- ^ ^ ir
it
““'Snald F. Kettl (1996). one of the leading experts on government O]

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 nagement feels that the contemporary civil service does not have
ma isite skills to perform the tasks, which have been assigned to it
^ecially in the on-going Reform and Managerial era. Kettl holds the
eSP that after increased focus on privatization and devolution, the
V1CT servants have been made to devote much time managing public-
ClVyate partnerships and not delivering services. Of course, the trend
Prl Evolution and for the civil service to be an enabler and a
f'litator than a provider and a controller is to gain more strength in
the times to come. But there is a required focus on training and
inculcating the necessary skills among the civil servants to cope with
i1 _ A

Referring to the core characteristics of the reform movement,

Kettl has pointed out the commonalities of such traits, which include
‘nroductivity—finding ways to squeeze more services from the same-or
Caller-revenue base; marketization-replacing traditional bureau¬
crat c mechanisms with market strategies; service orientation-

SsSSSHSS?-
instead of processes and structures (Kettl, which consti.
Public administration operates in ,, For all practical
tutes both internal as well as exter administration is to
purposes, the disciptoe andforces as well as
look towards a perfect interim Q.anHardization of services and
environmental facets an ^Snot any new operational aspects in
institutionalization of prac ^ the contemporary times,
public administration. ® choice between standardization
Paul A. David (1995) states that the^oice^ & between the
and non-standardization^is^ freedom. Consequently, the standard
respective virtues o terms David has argued that this analysis
policy is framed in similar term ^ view of institutional processes of
is ill-posed. He has Lponse to a dynamic environment
standards-setting as a dy ^ bagig of the case studies conducted
Samuel Knslov ica> European Union, Japan, and the
in the United sta*e{? placed the evolution of standards and
erstwhile Soviet Unl° . £ broader institutional perspective. He
standardization “t“nal industrial and economic strategy
holds the view that { policies. Krislov’s thesis brings forth
pave the way for 8ta“dard,Z“der „Pationai policies affecting the society
-A-iK determined—-whether there*£*£££
mvolvement of the people in dete™in'n®/deecePntrai;zation. At times,
it iS virtual centralization in the garb democracy by
one just wonders whether the famous quote on

V
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 r- hnlp<s in Public Administration_
Contemporan- ~~~~
, ■ ctill has the same spellings of the key words 'of the
i
Abraham Lincoln stn people’ or have these changed to 'off
P
pe0ple' r t C thfpeoyple and buy the people?
016 Te viewpoint of Charles Lindblom (2001) on the market system
is of m-ea”er value in the prevailing times and has added a new
dimension to administrative theory. He has opined that when it comes
to efficiency, market system is not at all easy to beat. The markets he
feels, have ‘the great and distinctive merit of efficiency prices that
permit a drastically improved degree of efficient choice. They make £ &
cost information universally available’. It is a fact that the market
disCfanoti
systems also have their inefficiencies and spillovers. Lindblom has place- a .
stated that ‘The state has in many ways stepped in to protect the pract>ce 10
liberties that the market itself fails to protect. States do not permit proverbial q
people to sell themselves into servitude, and they impose limits on first, it be'
discharge of employees. The unions and other private groups also admimstrat
often intervene. That these groups and the state intervene so Arthshastra
frequently that the situation could be traced back to the frequency of
market offences against freedom’. He has stressed that the market
system is a system of social coordination, a ‘mammoth coordinator’
whose reach extends beyond economic behaviour.
Developing on a number of generalized observations made
by Anthony Downs (1957) about government bureaucracy, Thomas J.
DiLorenzo (2002) states that incidents like that of 11th September
2001 prove the failure of bureaucracy to perform what is its most
live C ^ 6 sa^s Government bureaucracies always fail to
such^therp promises^because they are not market institutions. As
bureaucracy is rnnT8* Way °f ascertaining how efficiently the
the government are are no ‘profit-and-loss statements’ in
bureaucracy’s1 Ibudeet ^ :budSets’ The extent of
consumers, since there are^n ^ ° d° W*tb b°W wel1 Pleases the
budgetary’ amo^e^ete ““eTbv ‘u' “ «*■“• Instead’
and by politics. The kernel nf tv, ■ • y a^bitrary bureaucratic rules
public opinion to put pressure *S tbe nee(* ^or a stronS
required expectations and deliver^ PUb lC Services to perform to the
as efficient manner. the service« in an effective as well
Public administrati l’ **
Nr,
DractSviS ^“iHistrative'theorv3 Wh*™* discipline and a profession
has ltr;s attemPting to put to nrart°ne /"mds a *ot of scholars and
promotetTentrenr '‘hC ^^
decentralirfi 6Urs over civil *
7
'* Rohr (2002)
h°lds SWay’- The NPM Os
0
Consequent!tl ti, °Ver centralization ^ performance over process,
NPM uhenatespuhiL and flo*ibility over rules.
(\r
per Rohr, ‘nothl ^ ,estabhshed within’18’1)-'86111611* prom *ts natura^
con8Ututionn°‘hdm« >s more fundaml”,'C“n*titutional order. As V
sm M
’ aa<1 therefore to streT£"tal *° governance than a
Constitutional character of S’%

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 nistration is to establish the proper role of administration, as
governance not only includes management but transcends it as well’.

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
The analysis of various theoretical constructs and models reveal the
existence of administrative theory since the inception of the practice
of public administration. Thus, to say that public administration has
been put into practice as per the constructs evolved both by
disciplinarians and practitioners is a fact. There has been, of course in
place, a notion of ‘theory versus practice’. Theory leads to practice and
practice in turn contributes to or enriches the theory. As with the
proverbial question of whether it was the egg or the hen which came
first, it becomes tedious to clearly figure out whether Mauryan
administration made Kautilya to write the ‘Arthshastra’ or the
Arthshastra made Mauryan administration to put to use better
administrative principles. It is said that the child is the father of man;
true to some extent, but equally true is the fact that child is not the
father of his father. Likewise, to contend that public administration is
practiced without administrative theory is certainly non-justifiable.
Attempts have always been made to better the administrative
practices, and more so, in accordance with the need of the hour. Focus
on ethics, gender sensitization, human rights, consumer behaviour,
public systems management, participatory management etc., streng¬
thens the point that with the growth and development of science and
technology, more stress is being laid on such methodologies, tools, and
techniques whereby the societal components could be taken utmost
care of Nevertheless, all such efforts are based on theoretical
foundations brought forth through empiricism and ground realities.

references
„ 1 ot-
U^ym
K nuoted, in Michael M. Harmon and Richard T.
W^ Organlzation Theory for Public Administration,
Chatelaine Press, Virginia.
Barnard Chester I., 1938, The Functions of the Executive, Harvard
University Press, Cambridge.
Bennis Warren, 1965, Beyond Bureaucracy, Trans-Action, USA.
Blau, Peter M„ 1956, Bureaucracy in Modern Society, Random House,
New York.
~ n t D 1997, “The Warfare On and Over American
^^Goverimient in Waldonian Perspective”, Public Administration
Review, Vol. 57, No. 3 (May-June).

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 Public Policy Discourse: The
Inter-Subjective and Symbolic
Dimensions of Administration

— Kenneth N. Hansen

Phenomenology, according to Charles J. Fox (1994), is ‘the study of

how stuff happens’ to paraphrase a popular American colloquialism.
More specifically, for public administration, it is the study of how
policy is legitimized and implemented. This question of how policy is
made has caused everyone from administrative theorists, elected
officials, public managers to ordinary citizens great concern, especially
when things have gone wrong. For instance, following the September
11 tragedy in the United States, the ‘bureaucracy’ was given high
approval ratings and public support not seen since the advent of
scientific opinion polling. But only a few short months later, the
nation succumbed to intense bickering over how this very
‘bureaucracy’ failed to protect the citizens from the attack in the first
place. This prompted calls for urgent bureaucratic ‘reform.
How is it that specific agencies and individuals can be reified
with the negative stereotype of ‘bureaucracy’, when there was
probably no way to prevent such a tragedy from happening in the first
place? The problem seems to stem from the attention paid to the lack
of inter-agency communication and coordination. In other words, t
bureaucratic structure, which prevents the right hand from knowing
what the left hand is doing, is to blame. Though the real Proble™ 1
lack of communication through authentic public iscourse, s rue
rigidity is cited as the cause. pntal
This attitude reflects a long-standing, an l-go ^
predisposition that has permeated the wn mgs o eryative
economists, public choice theorists, the news media, ; agencies
politicians for many years. Because of such
are in a constant state of reorganization. The issue ol g
42

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 ■ as UP questions of how agencies should be structured. In the
^ temporary post-modern era, it is generally agreed that there is no
C°n best way to construct the administration of public policies. This
°n^tingency view is an outgrowth of the debate over top-down,
C^thodox administration, and bottom-up or democratic administration.
Some policy problems such as national defence and law enforcement
mav require the former, whereas others, such as social service
delivery, may require the latter. And still other policy problems may
not be effectively addressed through government action at all,
reflecting the notion of non-decisions.
The post-modern condition of hyper-pluralism makes it much
more difficult to link the theory, practice and evaluation of public
policies, despite the presence of greater amount of information and
more capable technology to enhance its delivery. This chapter
examines, through a discussion of symbolism and inter-subjectivity,
how orthodox and unorthodox methods of administration have become
more sophisticated theoretically, and what this means for the
implementation and evaluation of public policies. A central
assumption is that authentic public discourse is vital to achieve any
desired policy goal.

SYMBOLISM AND METAPHOR

Much of the study of symbolism and public policy has its origins in
sociological theory from the 1960s, in particular Berger and
Luckman’s (1966) social construction of reality. This notion t
‘reality’ is consensus-based and not scientifically objective is a key
assumption of those who discuss policy as symbolic or metaphorical,
rather than rationalistic. Symbolism, metaphor and consensus are
central postulates of discourse theorists^ In particular Deborah Stone
(1988) and Gareth Morgan (1997) draw heavily from such an
unorthodox view in their portrayals of symbolic and metaphorical
oolitics as do Fox and Miller (1995) in their discussion of post-modern
public administration. But what perhaps is just as interesting ,s the
use of symbolic manipulation to capture and repackage administrative
ShLoxv in the form of Osborne and Gaebler’s (1992) Reinventing
Government and former Vice President A1 Gore’s National
Performance Review in 1993. This movement is the precursor to the
contemporary New Public Management movement.
If better communication is a viable alternative to administrative
orthodoxy and behaviouralism, then there must be a transition phase
from which currently discredited institutions could evolve into newer,
more appropriate discursive formations. Before institutions and
practices can evolve, however, administrative theory has to evolve in
order to provide practitioners with a heuristic. Symbolism and

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guide. G the lan? ’aRe of Politics, and as such can serve as 0ur as
int
the ancient polis can be^3^ ide®Cribes how the symbolic metaphor of ob«

the city-state defined^

exclusively upon ners ^
T 'V* m°dern P°litlcs' <The Greek Pol*
as a way of that was based
pm
lar
realize more fully thri^1-0^ ^lthm this context> people were able to
Th
within the political * !adlvldual freedom and take decisive action coi
dilemmas Pbiir u sphere ln order to resolve their collective re*
metaphor of ti?P ansen d"3) interprets what he sees as Arendt’s sti
‘larixp K 6 P° 1S as a critique of the modern state, which is
nnliH^c 'j”’eaucrati’c and impersonal’ and restrictive of a genuine of
as A j,, S0 Provides additional grounds for what could be argued ex
. s attempt to encourage a rethinking of both political sa
i »U 10ns and practices, and our ways of thinking about how we le£
think. (oi
Cochran (1982) rails against the contemporary, liberal ‘paradigm sy
of autonomous individualism’, which dominates the public debate in CO
favour of a more communitarian solution, bringing a sense of ‘re
discipline and ethics to our political use of symbols. He advocates the do
development of a better societal character and community, and th
contends that politics can be a facilitator towards the advancement of ar
these goals. His notion of character includes at least two inseparable co
elements, moral qualities and social roles. m
Inherent in Cochran’s notion of character is the commitment to di
take responsible and positive action within society. His definition of of
community reflects the reciprocity between communion and
hospitality, which seems to have been largely forgotten by the West.
Communion refers to the shared experiences between individuals, T
while hospitality refers to a type of mutual generosity. Politics,
H
according to Cochran, is a means through which a greater sense of
th
character and community can be brought to bear upon society in an
tr
attempt to draw people closer. When this happens, society will be less
sv
fragmented, less alienated and more willing to work together to
th
resolve policy quandaries.
w
Deborah Stone (op. cit.) argues against the assumptions of
ri
rational choice, in favour of both a polis and a political community.
in
For Stone, the polis cannot exist without a community, which is
b(
defined as an entity that assumes both a collective will and a es
collective effort. In her polis, there exists a public interest, influence,
in
cooperation and loyalty in the pursuit of solving common problems. hi
Unlike with the assumptions of economic rationalism, perfect
‘P
information does not exist in the polis. Instead, politics is waged as a oi
battle of symbolism and metaphor.
Statistical numerology, that could be referred to quantitative
Pi
analysis, is a form of symbolic manipulation. Stone likewise considers m
raw numbers, descriptive and analytical statistics, words and phrases h;

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 nifestations, and as such, sufficiently ambiguous to
0litic»l mause confusion among many political participants and
aS nti°nall‘V ^wing from BerSer and Luckmann (1966), Stone
ifltervers- Bra reality is socially constructed, and that political
plates ^ s help to define what is tangible in the polis.
P°Sluage a-r nr define the use of these symbols and metaphors
|?n£e who rel ,y. • al agenda and the tone of the debate. Political
Th„trol P°Ut‘Cca„rding to Stone, ‘is always conducted as part of a
Coning *en, ““^ images of the world govern policy’.
^tniggle t° c0” r n (0p cit ) describes how metaphor is the language
s BGareth Morgan (op- _' t to understand one element of
r politics- of hoW , another Metaphor reduces complexity for the
of Ppnence in terms of anot i deductive shortcut by excluding
Ce of understanding, and ca b ^ length mechanistic
ft relevant factors. Morgan organizations, self-orgamz.ng
6 /irkv) organizations, £ f these forms are socially
(orthodox) ^culture, while many of these t orthod(jXy The
systems, hor can also be c P f t poiicy of
constructed, ^JnmenV movement and the^sub^^ rf
■reinventing g ,tion through the Nationa , on metaphor
?h°W Chnton Gore Administration have also b ^^ fay the polis or

sssfi ■s-f.rasr: s -«. ——•

discourse. The question that
of discursive phenomena.

THE IMTER-SUBlECTlVm or eUBUlC OlSC ^^

trative agencies? use to ““S institutions^

subjective nature of th especially in eIJ_ current operating
this is easier said than do"®’ f^re value than fCmands. More
where traditional practice temporary Pol‘tlca mun;cation must
rules and procedures, or ^e n0tion that c aiways easy to
important than reorganiza io , But this is n rrency between
bemore open and multi-directio^ ag politlcal ^vernmental
establish, given that informa i means of power deaj with t e
institutions, and hence, as ocess. We ^ave ^anent patterns
hierarchies and in the kud£e , &n(j evaluate p
enomenology’ of how to es a o0licy problems,
public discourse. and differea llv aiter previou
As government reacts to n substan ia ^j-per (op- cl '
li, “ often called upon to and Mi wS 0f

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 Contemporary Debates in Public Administration

implementation. They argue that such difficulties can h

through a discourse based on sincerity, intentions addressed e*Wrn'
substantive contribution. Utilization of these ‘warranW *?6ment and po^er
Author
is designed to pave the way towards authentic disco,,™ °r dlsc°urse’
ultimate ideal goal of Fox and Miller Thev fP 7 tt’ WhlCh is the
(2it o,
discourse facilitates the resolution of public noli™ a \ authentic when
discoui
bottom-up style negotiation and consensus thr°USh struct!
administrative orthodoxy, economic rationalism " °PP°Sed to sufficif
competition. However, at present, public institution ^ j)arallstic
and 011
nascent tendencies towards authentic discourse ^n a ^ °nly delivei
this condition, administrators must alter thn order to remedy
constn
orthodox bad habits that currency obstructT reCUrS‘Ve PraCtiCeS and an ntt
A discourse is at a high "evel or „„i te"d“cie8.
confroi
self-regulated discussion about what level’ inclusive of F
complex public policy dilemmas It is he«t d Wlth regard to
the pu
or licenses to participa!~^SJ?
and op
used as evaluative criteria the warrant*’ u- However> when dilemn
problems. What this means’ is that they marsufferfrom elites i
subjectivity, resulting in
is to b
about the meaning of relevant data. of disc
Administrative discourse is built on the idea of politics through cation
negotiation, which has its basis in the preceding body of political possibl
science and public administration literature. It is preferable to middle
pluralistic models of competition between entrenched interests or cation
hierarchy because of its emphasis on communication between equals repres
(Wamsley and Wolf, 1996; Farmer, 1995). The one thing discourse achiev
advocates have all in common is a desire to attempt the redress of from t]
political grievances through negotiation. This feature, along with the
transitory nature of discursive formations, is what separates discourse
theory jfrom the practice of mechanistic orthodoxy and the crii
contemporary preoccupation with scientific and economic rationalism.
There
Much discussion regarding the nature and use of public discourse
assess
derives from the works of the German philosopher, Jurgen Habermas.
regard
The Habermasian notion of discourse is a form of communication that bution
includes validity and an ethic based on values that can be logically betwet
regard
and experiences of th> P“?“P ral interest (Habermas, 1989; sornetl
reach a
reach a consensus
consensus regard g ^ type of
°This of commu„ication
communication is is a8end£
Seidman, 1989; Calhoun, * , Wic sphere,’ which according to f°r wh
conducted within the contex tiCal reason is institutionalized active
Craie
Craig Calhoun
Calhoun (1992)
O99S0- is J*£*^£h
where p««^ arguments, not status jn teres
through norms of reasoned discourse in listen
or traditions, are to be deem ■ ^ one,s institutional P081?"11 " IS Substa
maint£
So, making one s case jr0UCault describes the hmlt.s, conver,
more important for ^““"ii/faahion. Constraints can be eith
W
structure of discourse in a sim

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 Public F'ohcy Discourse

Ivc
j pr internal, or both. External limits are likely to invoke
externa lnternal limits include the right to speak with
P°r tv subject to constraints determined by language or vernacular
authority. - J lt 1980) Fox and Miller draw on these notions

Articulating their ideal goals for public discourse. Them

when “'theory considers that the assumptions upon which Weberian
;SC,cture‘ and probabilistic bureaucratization are based, are not
struttuies »li P public prob|ems. Increasingly, hierarchies
sufficient foi solv g • impediments to the effective
and one-way communicatori are seen t P e(1 them t0

delivery of action for public officials in

construct the question ‘what do we do next?’, when

confronted with unexpected or jjf "^“‘rfpu‘blic forums, for

Fox and Miller advocate the ^velopmem ^ negotiation

the purpose of addressing ^u tcpo ^ ^ ^ attempt to resolve the

and open communication. rlnluralist tendencies of competing
dilemma between the sV?“g ^ ' ulture The means by which this
elites and the waning of the ma hment of permanent patterns
is to be achieved is throug multi-directional communi-
of discourse, that is to B*y p.as many people as
cation that is of a sufficient Discourse should take the
possible without degenerating into anarchy7‘wdirection) communi¬
ng^ ground between ^^
cation practiced by the go™ ga) However> in order to
represented byeot ^ ^ together and seize the agenda

from the practitioners of non-discursive communication.

CRITERIA FOR THE EVALUATION OF DISCOURSE

1 rtrtitpria or warrants with which Fox and Miller
There are several of discourse. These include sincerity, situation-
assess the aohieo attention, and substantive contn-
rr^Iince yfr Pessary In order to build bridges of trust
button, burner y participate in the discourse. Situation-
betWT ‘ mtenfronahty assures that the discourse will be about
regarding 1 d be about contextually situated activities. One’s
something, designed in relation to the particular context
fewhiA to discourse is to take place. Willing attention implies
f°rt Participation in the discourse. Not only must one maintain an
7Lst in the dialogue, but must also join in from time to time and
r critically and attentively to the arguments of others.
■ nLtantive contribution includes providing expertise, ideas, or
Maintaining the level (authenticity) of discourse by policing the
of one s pG©rs.
vprsation
0011 Who then has a right, or warrant to participate in public

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 Contemporary Debates in Public Administration

discourse? In an effort to be as democratic as possible, Fox and Miller

advocate the involvement of anyone whose intentions are genuine, as
long as they are willing to participate with others as equals in the
pursuit of the public interest. ‘Communication requires equal partici¬
pants. Unequal communication is oxymoronic; talk between unequals
is either command or acquiescence’. Sincerity is important in these
situations in order to build trust between participants who, at least
initially, may know very little about one another. The participants
must also be willingly engaged in the process, providing substantive
contributions in accordance with the overall agenda, which is
negotiated among the members of the group.
Discourse theory assumes that language, which is used to
dominate, exclude, reduce, lie or misrepresent, should be identified for
what it is, ‘non-discursive’, and henceforth be exposed and eliminated.
Participants should ‘police the discourse’ as a way to maintain a
certain level of substantive discussion. This is intended to help
prevent institutional tendencies from taking over the debate and
forcing their agenda upon others. Warrants for discourse then, will be
awarded to sincere individuals engaged in the policy process, who the empirii
wish to participate in public discussions in order to define, formulate
and implement substantive decisions for complex public policy
dilemmas. But the question still remains: How can the warrants be inter-subjectivity
systematically useful? Sincerity is easily faked. Whether one has intended to repl
hidden agendas is a matter of observer bias or perception. Deter¬ referents are- (1)
mining who is engaged in the process is open to interpretation by both
participants and observers. Substantive policy solutions submitted by £***
one party may be dismissed as unworkable by another, and so on. ■ hm
Another problem is that the warrants may not be considered to ^klK
be universal norms by all groups or individuals. Value differences
would tend to perpetuate rather than alleviate post-modern miscom-
o
munication. Also, what happens when discourse is not effectively
regulated? What if there is no discursive will formation to impose
sanctions for misbehaviour, such as shunning or ostracism? When
there are no means to shout down the forces of monologic diatribe,
democratic compromise breaks down. Gary Wamsley and his
m
Blacksburg disciples (1996) describe administration as an inherently
sS, V

that attempts to reconcile the modern con discourse. They

the contemporary post-modern p, in an effort to bring
call this position 2°^^ to reconstitute it and make it
useful for addressing contemporarypublicproblems ^ the
v Ya(
v>.
The author’s position is similar. vN

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____Public Policy Discourse

legitimacy of post-modern administration, it is useful to give it a

modernistic flair (but without backtracking too much toward the
modem origins of administration). The argument is that if discourse
can be more systematically observed, it is of greater value for
addressing post-modern policy dilemmas. If discourse is not
systematically observable, then its utility in the public sphere is
severely diminished. Discursive practice becomes more difficult
because it cannot utilize constructivism or be evaluated. A second
reason why systematic evaluation is important is related to reliability.
In order to be empirically valid, methods of observation and
evaluation must be replicable (King, Keohane and Verba, 1994).
Differences in perception may cause differences in observation of the
warrants for discourse in practice. In behavioural jargon, this is
known as observer bias. In order to avoid such confusion, more
systematic criteria for identifying and utilizing discourse are helpful,
although these do not lead to objective truth.

THE EMPIRICAL REFERENTS OF DISCOURSE

Three ‘empirical referents’ to help pursue a solution to the problem of
inter-subjectivity (Hansen, 1998) could be proposed. These are not
intended to replace the warrants, but to complement them. The
referents are: (1) inclusion, (2) self-regulation, and (3) policy outputs.
The first, inclusion, involves who is invited to participate in the
discussion. Presumably, the more the actors involved in the
discussion, the less it is likely to be controlled by institutional or elite
interests, and hence be more authentic. The second referent, self-
regulation, involves how the discussion is regulated. If the norms,
rules and procedures, which structure the discussion are predeter¬
mined by policy elites, then the outcomes are likely to be the result of
a top-down, unidirectional and undemocratic nature, and hence, anti-
discursive. If the discussion is self-regulated by its participants, then
it is closer to the ideal. The third referent, policy outputs, involves
whether the discussion results in action being taken in pursuit of
problem solving. A lack of substantive policy outputs indicates that
something is wrong with the discourse. Even non-decisions can be
considered outputs of discourse, if the participants agree that a
problem is not one that can be solved by the government. Policy
outputs that result from an inclusive, self-regulated discussion, on
the other hand, are likely to illustrate the benefits of discursive
administration.

Inclusion
Three criteria can be used to observe the referent of inclusion. They
are (1) coalition building, (2) the acceptance of outsiders, and

iTst
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 a Contemporary Debates in Public Administration

(3) community outreach activities. Local governments oft. r

coalitions with discursive characteristics in order to eain ^ f°rm
legitimacy for stated economic development mit atfve" cl™ a"d
development literature indicates that these coalition! C°mmunity
tative of the community at large incornoroH ?re rePref*n-
factions, racial groups, business and gras^root!^ fVan°US Political
local government provides the leadership necessan^o ^ ^ that
various interests into a workable uni! ^GSSary ^agulate these
Pagano and Bowman, 1995) °ne and Sanders, 1987;
A second manifestation of inclusion is tho
Sabatier and Pelkey (1987) suggest this as acceptance °f outsiders.
down advocacy coalition theory For them 5,?T! f°r their toP‘
elites, interest groups and policy analysts ™ 3re media
orthodox, similar participants ^ighl! al ?h their model is more
multi-channeled discussion For dism ® f°und in a bottom-up
knowledge’ in the form of consulate or °UtSid,ers mi8ht ‘"elude
brought in for specific implementation SpeClahzed Practitioners
outsiders is a good indication 0“XetW dr^0368'- AccePta"ee of
egard to solving highly technical i- 1 ®course ls inclusive with
Often unanticipated difficulties po lcy dilemmas, as there are
Mintzberg-s (1S94, eTPl“ P™b>a-
requires a certain level of expertise for “ the sense ‘hat H
tation problems. Though some J , f'''3"18 Policy ‘mplemen-
speciahzation, many specialists gathered *1^™* °f the idea »f
general understanding. The general a getb?r can result in a more
of ad hocracies make it theoretically noss hw ‘° specialized• nature

ss* - “——• *=“•„ tsssses:

outreih ^offu^^^ch of community

meetings must be set ui in particiPa«on. Town

directional communication and should behold*3 t0 encoura«e multi-
consistently accessible location Town b ?W °n 3 regular basis at a
Observing the spatial arrangements of th»*n T be evaluated by
and the format of the discussion <?«. t Participants and observers,
more conducive to monoloT™ S ng arrangements, which are
the norma, gWe-Ld-TakeTf pa*-Pa«on and
space' should be avoided m.!!!-! by, rearranging the ‘civic
1988). 6d <Doinahidy and Gilsinan, 1992; Goodsell,

co, Ted*a coverage can take the form of periodic newsoaoer

evaluated th Vrn neWS St0ries- the ^stance of wh“uld be
The mldicaTidtA “’T 3na'ySiS if °ne Were ambitious enough,
and IW ef m u P he oommunity informed regarding the place
and time of public hearings or meetings, rather than simply reporting

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the results of the discussion after it has occurred. Informative surveys
are a useful tool for gauging public opinion and values. They are also
a useful way to increase the polity’s level of knowledge and provide
the means to seek out the ideas of those who may otherwise be unable
to participate in regular discussions due to high information or
opportunity costs.
These three indicators of inclusion are conceptually reminiscent
of the New Public Administration. According to Frederickson (1996),
the New Public Administration is process-oriented and involves the
development of ‘criteria by which to judge effectiveness’. Peters and
Savoie (1996) discuss decentralization and empowerment as essential
facets of democratic management. These perspectives are also in
favour of public outreach and access mechanisms. In order to make
inclusive participation possible however, there must be a greater
emphasis on citizenship and public service (Wamsley and Wolf,
op. cit.; Frederickson, op. cit.).

Self-regulation
Self-regulation is an important referent for discourse. In the words of
Fox and Miller, if the participatory group or commumty ^ not allo d
to ‘police the discourse’ then communication is unequal, hierarch
and" non discursive. There can be no willing engagenient^m
coerced There are three indicators of self-regulation, ) ,
Section of leaders (2) negotiation of operating rules and procedures,
and 3) multi-directional Communication. All three of these indicators
are^ designed to evalu ate the level of democratic participation involved

“ dilSeSfirstindicato*of self-regulation is the selection of leadership

hv Drotdem-solving committees and sub-committees. This practice
legitimizing street-level or citizen-level decision-making, is often called
pmnowerment (Peters and Savoie, op. cit.).
Another indicator is the negotiation of operating norms, r

S3 sssrsr:
a __0 wav this can be evaluated is through the
communication. Again, one way ,• If De0Die are
observation of spatial arrangements rows of
relegated to an audience by ‘a® f sive evaluators rather
chairs, they are reduced ^ the stat to take part in
than active implemented, and are 1> create multiple channels
the discussion or its direction. Other way multifile access
of communication are through the innovation * mutapte access
points, such as providing toll-free phone an j^’ew public
addresses. Self-regulation is also r®“‘nlSceD faciljtate democratic
Administration. These practices help

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 -- porary^ **2*1 .nPubUcAdmj^^

■ * —cl ritizen involvement in the pursuit of contemporary

^ems that involve post-modern elements and modern adminis-
trative paradoxes (Wamsley and Wolf, op. cit.).

Policy Outputs
Finally, policy outputs can be used to measure progress in the
problem-solving process. Fox and Miller argue that discourse has to be
about what to do next and that substantive contributions must be
geared towards this end. The author asserts that ‘how to do it’
necessarily follows from the discussion on ‘what to do next’. However,
Fox and Miller make no distinction between policy formulation and
implementation. While they posit that policy solutions can be
negotiated through politics and that discourse is necessarily about
something. The authors argue that discourse is not just about
something, but has to be authentic with regard to addressing complex
policy problems, it must be specifically about the implementation
process.
There are several steps to policy implementation that involve the
creation and funding of implementing agencies, the construction of
rules and regulations (Cochran, et al., 1993) in addition to the daily
activities of policy execution. Regardless of whether th^se happen
sequentially, as modernists would argue, or simultaneously, as post¬
modernists do, these are distinct activities that comprise the imple¬
mentation process, and that is the concern here.
James Q. Wilson (1989) argues that every organization must
have a task, mission and the autonomy to carry out policy objectives.
These criteria can be used to describe the policy output referent,
because they are illustrative of specific actions. For the purposes of
this work, if there are policy outputs (in the presence of the other two
referents), which address a specific, previously defined policy problem,
and if they are carried out within a reasonable period of time, then
they serve to illustrate whether substantive contributions have been
made in the pursuit of discourse. If solutions are not negotiated
within a certain amount of time, this may be indicative of hidden
agendas, stonewalling, poor organization or incompetence, and Serve
to indicate that there are problems somewhere in the process.
It should be kept in mind that while policy outputs are necessary
for discourse to be effective, when taken by themselves they are not
sufficient indicators, because they are not unique to discourse. Policy
outputs that serve to measure implementation activity may include
organizational development, funding, completed strategic plans and
their actual execution. Such activities are not exclusively discursive,
as are ‘inclusion’ or ‘self-regulation’, but they serve to illustrate the
authenticity of discourse through the demonstration of tangible action.
Conversely, the lack of discursive behaviour can also be
operationalized through the observation of exclusion, orthodoxy and

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 0f policy outputs geared towards problem-solving. Exclusion
the laC jjiied through elite control, refusal to include outsiders, and
is eXeDflP ess to reach out to the community. Orthodoxy is most
an unwi ^ by practices of appointing officials to a hierarchical
easily d®ctional communication system. A paucity of policy outputs
311(1 Unl organizational development, adequate funding, strategic
sUCh ^ and implementation activity can be noted by their absence,
planning nce of the very antitheses of discourse—litigation and/
°r by + modern cognitive dissonance. Again, it should be kept in mind
°h policy outputs are a necessary condition of discourse,, but are no

^^tln.eforemSndzTng'discourse. as Orion White (1998) and

A d.3 g n998) have pointed out in the critique of the authors
Hugh Miller (lWffl> P methodo, the t00i „f administrative
argument, is that scie democratic spirit of discursive
orthodoxy, may co-opt or subvert Uie ^ ^ places where
administration. Indeed this m y .^pp^ particu,ar the author ,s
discourse has become ov y P f h matrix organization.

sE:5Srs rr-is
«— '* '■ “ “
emphasis on objectivity. typically representative and
While administrative matnc . democratic due to the high
participation-based, they are n . technology to bridge the gap
level of structure and emphasis ^ ^ communication appears
between government and at • ,d have obvious top-down
to be unidirectional. Such a disc0urse exceeds a critical
tendencies. This may be a Pr°bl® . artifact of large group
mass of participants, and hence be an
dynamics. . values of discourse, there is a
Despite the normative democratic people to agree on
huge problem trying to get large Br^qn and Anderson (2000)
problems, solutions and implement • ^ethods as a way to focus
discuss the use of large group mteracUo They identify seven
the public interest on accomplishing P exhibit the common-
different variants of this process, rategic planning, accelera e
alities of large-scale participation, while there are obvious
implementation, and group faci i a 1 ^ level 0f democra ic
advantages to focused discussion, reliance on the ortho o
legitimacy is questionable due to ® e, Bryson and Anderson
values of over-structure and methodology ^ ^jje way business
assert that these large group methods wi org and also make
is conducted in the public and non-prof facilitation, which
observation that there is a heavy relianc tbe surface, it see
yet to be adequately analyzed by academic • wb-cb discourse is
that facilitation could be just another way
opted from the top-down.

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 gIP Coniesrnrarx Debates in Public Administration--
Another view of the matrix attempts to utilize public discourse as
a means of humanizing policy analysis. The best one of these matrix
viewJ of public participation, if there can be such a thing, is by
Edward Weeks (2000) who argues that a large number, as much as
400,000 participants, can succeed at constructing a discursive will
formation. Besides the use of social science research methodology,
broad citizens’ participation, informed public judgment and democratic
deliberation are used to attain credible results. He compares four
community dialogues in western cities to substantiate how the process
works. He is upfront about its limitations, arguing that deliberation is
most effective in situations ‘where the issue is critical, the political
process is deadlocked, and there remains sufficient time to complete a
year-long public process’.

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
While admirable, the attempts at ‘virtual democracy’, highlighted
here, are probably not discourse in the purest sense because of the
strict need for organizational structure. Kalu (2001) argues in his
critique of technocratic administration that there is an inherent
danger that such methods can overwhelm core societal and adminis¬
trative values. While citizens’ participation can help to reincorporate
core democratic values into public discourse, there is the threat of
subversion by the empirical forces of technocracy, as Orion White
(1998) would say. Might there not be a middle ground? Hugh Miller
(1998) provides for a way to recognize that methodology does not lead
to objective truth in discourse, or even social science. It has been put
forth that the middle ground, although, can be realized through an
acceptance of subjective interpretism. Rather than objectivity,
understanding based on our experiences, emotions and language is
how we reach consensus in politics. ‘Truth cannot stand alone;
humans are complicit in its creation. Humans are able to break with
tradition, criticize it, dissolve it, and indeed, remake the real,
according to our purposes’. The realization, and perhaps more
importantly, the agreement that data and methods of evaluation are
at best inter-subjective, is the best we can do without distorting the
authenticity of discourse.
While there are those, such as White (1998) who frown on the
use of systematic means such as the warrants or the referents for
evaluating discourse, as long as their use is understood to be inter
subjective and open to interpretation, there is no danger of subverting
the discussion. In fact, as a means to recognize the use of inter¬
subjectivity in administrative discourse, perhaps another warrant or
referent could be used to signify this realization (without co-opting it).
Such a tool would have to emphasize meaning, understanding and
agreement. Inter-subjectivity would be used in discussions for

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 Public Policy Discourse

purposes of clarification when participants ask, ‘what do you mean by

*at?’ or what are he ynpUcabon. of such a course of actL?"
Understanding the value of meaning, and coming to an agreement can
be observed directly by participant-observation, or somewhat more
indirectly through policy outputs, such as verbal agreements, written
contracts, memoranda of understanding, and the like.
To sum up, the phenomenon of the discourse movement is useful
for examining the inter-subjective and symbolic nature of post-modern
politics and administration. To the extent that public debate is focused
on what to do next and how to do it, such practices influence the
structure, resource allocation and actions of bureaucracies. What then
does this mean for reorganization? Current trends toward flatter
hierarchies and policy networks are likely to continue. However, the
resurgence of administrative orthodoxy is always a threat. It is tough
to break the cycle of inertia and tradition in organizations. But
informal organizational culture always seems to find a way to change
formal structure. If the trend in favour of public discourse and
democracy continues, this should eventually lead to reorganization in
pursuit of the ideal type. Of course, the ideal organization is itself an
inter-subjective concept.

REFERENCES
Arendt, Hannah, 1963, On Revolution, Viking Press, New York: 2.
Berger, P.L. and T. Luckmann, 1966, The Social Construction of
Reality, Doubleday, New York.
Bryson, J.M. and <5

6°’

No. 2 (March/April), 143-162. ^ fflT ^

Calhoun, Craig, 1992, Habermas and the P
Cambridge: 2. d p0utics,
Cochran, Clarke E„ 1982, Character, Community
Alabama Press, Alabama • ^ &nd R Josesh Cayer,
Cochran, Clarke E., Lawrence Mayer, ' * introduction, 4th ed.,
1993, American Public policy.
St. Martin’s Press, New York. t<The Back Stage is
Domahidy, Mary R. and James F. ^s|n^n’. ngements Affect the
Not the Back Room: How
Administration of Public Affair ,
Vol. 52, No. 6: 67-80. lustration: Bureau-
Farmer, D., 1995, The Language °ffub^ umVersity of Alabama
cracy, Modernity and Post-modern >
Press, Alabama.

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 Understanding the
Dimensions of Uncertainty in
Public Administration

— Jeffery A. Weber

The historical development of public administration, regardless of

which nation is considered, is a continuous tale of the struggle to
control resources and events in order to accomplish some political
purpose. The self-conscious study of public administration, has varied
depending on which nation, or even civilization one is considering.
Interestingly, despite the rich history of disciplinary development,
public administration tends to view self-actualization as a relatively
recent phenomenon; of just the past 100 to 200 years. A simplistic,
sweeping, and possibly unjust overview of the intellectual develop
ment of public administration, would be that it began as a set of
vocational skills and techniques and progressed over the centuries to
the development of theories and models of explanation. Consequently,
students of public administration learn not only specific skills and
techniques, such as accounting, decision-making, or policy analysis,
but also theories of bureaucracy, leadership, and sustainable
development.

KEY CONCEPTS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Throughout the centuries of its development, there have been several
overarching key concepts in public administration regardless of
historical period or culture. The first key concept is rationality
(Schreurs, 2002). Within public administration, the concept of ration¬
ality has been applied to bureaucracy (Weber, 1972); organizations
(Harmon and Meyer, 1986); decision-making (Simon, 1947, 1967,
1965); and to any type of administrative action (Waldo, 1955; Simon,

58

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Understanding the Dimensions of Uncertainty in Public Administration

1947; White, 1926, 1955). There exists two major categories of

rationality, which were first identified by Max Weber (1947). The first
is ‘purpose rationality’, which implies rationality in the establishment
of goals and direction of the administrative state. The second is
‘process rationality’, which some have called instrumental or technical
rationality. It concerns the functions of the various organizations,
which also comprise the administrative state and the methods by
which these functions are carried out.
The second key concept is effectiveness, which implies the
accomplishment of the goals or objectives to the standard desired
(Waldo, op. cit.). The effectiveness, or the lack of effectiveness of an
administrative system is an often repeated refine by the public in
general, the administrators, and the political leaders. The elusive
desire for effectiveness has served as the genesis for numerous
governmental reform plans and restructuring ideas, and also as
performance measurement systems. The assumption is that one can
control the administrative system and establish valid and reliable
measurements of the progress of its goals or objectives.
Likewise, as governments have sought effectiveness, they have
also endeavoured to be efficient, which is the third key concept.
Efficiency refers to the ability to accomplish administrative tasks at
the lowest cost possible, and in the least amount of time. It goes
hand-in-hand with effectiveness in that it requires that the
administrative state must accomplish the stated goals and objectives.
As with effectiveness, efficiency implies that one is able to measure
the cost and time expended in accomplishing the objective, and
ascertain the extent of its implementation.
Given the formal and informal power of the administrative state,
there has been the desire that while it is seeking to be effective and
efficient, it should also be accountable to the political leaders,
constituents, regulations/statutes (Rosenbloom, 2000), and also to
certain ethical standards (Adams, 1998). The concept of accountability
means that there is a level of trust, which the administrative system
is seeking to maintain or achieve. Additionally, it means that if that
trust is broken, the interested parties have some form of remedial
action that can be taken to hold the administrative system account¬
able.
These key concepts within public administration have somehow
developed under an unstated assumption that it is possible to achieve
a sufficient amount of certainty for realizing them. Each of these
concepts have operated as if it were possible to actually control
behaviour, processes, and events, which implies the ability to predict
the consequence^ of courses of action. The history of public adminis¬
tration, however, has shown the inability of administrative systems to
achieve control over the complex and chaotic events in which they
operate. There seems to be kn unrealistic expectation as to the ability

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 e]
A understand what has occurred, what is occurring, and to
to know and underst _._x will occur. (2
use ".on to P^eWahlt“operate as if
li
u^Mgh^foVcertllnty. while the reality is that it operates
fn a hlh degre^ of uncertainty. Consequently, uncertainty ls an
Bi
overar Aing incept in public administration; overarching m the sense
that^it pertains to each of the four key concepts: rationality, Hi
effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability. The problem is that public ‘b<
administration has failed to address the concept of unce« and on
has instead relegated it to an occasional impediment, which interferes ha
with proper public administration. The concept of uncertainty has to Or
be recognized as a cardinal aspect of public administration. Uncer- CO!

tainty is a characteristic inherent in the very nature of human exis¬ Ox

tence. Also, uncertainty is an aspect of our epistemology. Uncertainty kn
has been viewed as something public administration must overcome de;
through better knowledge, methods, techniques, or technology. gal
Consequently, public administration, regardless of where it is fro:
practiced, continually finds itself falling short of its goals, and by
constantly being assessed with the belief that with a little more of uni
effort, certainty can be achieved. Understanding uncertainty is
essential because governments spend huge amounts of money and Me
thousands of work hours in the pursuit of certainty. Hundreds of Met
policies and programmes are pursued in a manner, which pre-ordains unc
their failure, because of the mistaken belief that they are based on met
facts, when in actuality, they are based on speculation with a high spei
degree of uncertainty. There is a need for the recognition of the fact thin
that uncertainty is not only epistemological, but also metaphysical, of i
something which public administration can never overcome. There¬ (mei
fore, public administration should adopt long-term vision, short-range cate
actions, plus a wide range of options and flexibility to adapt to type
unexpected and changing situations.
are 1
mem
EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND METAPHYSICAL of th
DIMENSIONS OF UNCERTAINTY arbit
One
meas
Epistemological uncei
form
As per the Oxford Dictionary (1989), uncertainty is defined as: ‘no and {
having sure knowledge; a state of being in doubt; and subject betwe
unpredictable change’. This definition pertains to the epistemology
aspect of uncertainty in that it focuses on an actor’s ability to acq* Beret
ow ge about something. Epistemology literally means the sCie Percej
ow edge. Overall, epistemology is concerned with how tainty
aocumulat* knowledge end whet is its influence on human art*
(Cunningham, 1930). There have been four identified causes

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Understandingjhe Dimension, _

(2) measurement” mM^OStigler^ 1986)^3 )rati°naUty (Simo». 1976)

<n«. -«,

Bounded Rationality

idenWyi7 and defi™<T ‘»e concept of

Dounaea rationality. Simon envisioned rationality as being bounded
hab^eLddeSfl °n °n^ SKde’ thC individual is limited bY those skills,
habite, and reflexes, which are no longer in the realm of the conscious.
On the second side, the individual is limited by his values and those
conceptions of purposes, which influence him in making his decisions.
On the third side, the individual is limited by the extent of his
knowledge of things.’ Each of the three sides of bounded rationality,
deal with a part of epistemology because they limit the process of
gathering and interpreting information. These limitations prevent one
from being absolutely rational. Therefore, one’s rationality is bounded
by these limitations. The very term ‘bounded rationality’ implies
uncertainty in overcoming these bounds.

Measurement Error
Measurement error has long been viewed as a manifestation of
uncertainty, and has found its home in statistics. Statistics is the
measurement of uncertainty1 (Stigler, op. at). Measurement is the
specific process of assigning a value on a scale to apereon, attitude^or
pecin p compared and analyzed. There are two types
« 80 ‘^ ‘ tTcaks Tu^tative (non-metric) and quantitative
of measurement^ al are attributes, characteristics, and
X"nes.No^nal (attributes) and ord.md (placing in order) are two

types of non-metric s^*e!'“^'^utive quantity1. Interval and ratio

Quantitative scales scales. Both have ‘constant units of
are two different types of metric s adjacent points on any part
measurement, so ^
of the scale are equal. Tire diff ^ hag ^ .absolute zero point
arbitrary zero point, whil ;s the inability of the sea e
One form of measurement err ^ measured, thereby Pr°du“"*
measure " ccmate'y «.atcWhid. is an

uncertainty as o the distance be‘"ee" p the distance

form of measurement error ainty is defined as the
and actual values. Here, the
between these values.

Perceptual Interpretation area of *«-***££

wP- >»

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 (Nutt, op. cit.; and, Baron, 1994). Our perceptions have been shown to
be selective in terms of what information is deemed relevant (Nutt,
op. cit.). Because of the vast amount of information that our mind is
exposed to, our perceptions act as a filtering device. Perceptions are
also influenced by our five senses (Simon and Newell, 1971; and
Wilson, 1998). An example of this would be how one’s culture and
heritage influences one’s perception of what is proper. Therefore,
perceptions introduce uncertainty into one’s interpretation of events
or objects.

Communication Barriers

Interpretation of other people’s communication and barriers to

communication can also produce uncertainty (Roller and Wicklund,
op. cit.). Words, inflections in voice, and body language can be inter¬
preted differently by people. Furthermore, language, ability to pay
attention, and the demands of a situation can all act as barriers to
communication. Our biases can also affect how we interpret the
information we receive, and how we communicate it to others (Nutt
op. cit.).

Metaphysical

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy pertaining to ‘the study of

I !™ne rea !!L!nJ the nature of existence (Van Inwagen, 1993).
John Dewey (1929) has stated that one cannot ignore ‘the reality of
the uncertain in the ongoing process of nature’. In other words, Dewey
beheres that existence possesses uncertainty, separate and distinct
from any individual Dewey is not alone in this belief, but he does

Ontological Uncertainty

Ontology is the study of the nature of bein^ n/»r> .. *

basic argument in ontoloev is- ‘A’ v,ao ^ ■ Inwagen, op. cit.). A
are necessary for ‘A‘ to bf“A ’ (Van T rtam characteristics- which
Thus, a ‘human’ has certSn chi^ Tgen’ °P' cU ’ Peikoff' 1993)’
___certain characteristics, a certain nature of being,
1. Metaphysics, as a branch of philosonhv W i
Aristotle called Metaphysics the studv^f many different areas of study.
1973:3). Metaphysics has included P™'*1"8 »f things' <*>d°'
psychology, physics, and cosmology Though tk nature of ontology, theology,
part of Metaphysics, it is generallv ™ gV the°logy w sometimes considered a
psychology and physics (Ando, 1974 4^39)° & 8ejparate area of study’ aS
the primary branches of MetaohvRirfi k Unw>logy and cosmology still persist as
«udy of being (i.e., of involve the

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,rnd>rstonding the Dimensions of f;VP

in order for a “human” to be ‘humanT^T^!!!:^^

uncertainty is a necessary characteristic of u has b<*„
nature did not have uncertainty, then it1 u”™ nature n ? ‘hat
to the point where it would no longer be h Change bnmal IT"

r -ss,-k> ■"«'irs-
1948). Human nature requires decision* hum,an "ature (Von vr”re

Simon, 1980). on Wises, op. al. an(j

If there was no uncertainty, then we would
decision because we would then be omniscient R haVe *° make a
uncertainty, regardless of how much inforrm,.;,,., 6Cause of ontological
still produce fears, concerns, expectations, and TnouSn^^0118
What is occurring, or what may occur. Uncertainty may spur us torn
aCti0n’ °ir„^Vent US fr0m acting (Stace' 1932' V»n Mises, op.
Simon, 1980).
cl, “d
Cosmological Uncertainty

Cosmology is the study of the nature of origins, processes, and

structures of existence2 (Van Inwagen, op. cit.). Cosmological
uncertainty has been considered apart from the structure and process
of existence (Heisenberg, 1930). Explanations of existence have
changed from the simple, orderly, and predictable, to the complex,
chaotic, and limited predictability (Gleick, 1987; and Hawking, 1988).
Two major areas in cosmology, which reflect these changes in t e view
of existence, are the General Theory of Relativity an
Mechanics (Hawking, op. cit.). Since these concep s a in 0f
of sciences, a brief discussion on these woulc
understanding the concept of uncertain y P

General Theory of Relativity ^ traditional

The General Theory of Relativity dramatically cliaug ^ based
perception of existence, which for ,g ,mplied in the G^neb
Newton’s Laws. Cosmological uncefrtanacye.time. Space-time is *
Theory of Relativity’s concept of and independent
recognition that, ‘time is not ^“’Events, includes *e"atial and
from space, but is combined with i coordinates, three Peives the
the universe, can be recorded in event until one therefore
°ne temporal. One does not know o after the_eV^ ’ently, °ne
event’s occurrence, and this 0CCU1. but the p^t- °” uaj event or
what one perceives is not the pres » e-ng seen is a part of a
is never certain if the representa uncertainty
an altered image of the even . ’ ^

2~C^logy i. viewed aTTbTanch ’

defined in just astronomical term > though. ^993 !®
and structure of the universe. Cos /yan Inwag
the origins and structure of exis e

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 ft*** Adminutnatuy-r
[+botr* »«
ConymP°r'
. ^ The rur>*ture of «pt+ t«me prwvwn^,
n
^presentation- lh« ^ |t tn||y * beeau- it will appear u» b. IB

from perceiving » ff other attribute* that w* obaerv.

« different po«t.on and It ma

(Hawking, op rtf »

Quantum Mechanic*
.. u .« .he theoo developed from Planck » quantum
Quantum *»^. .nnc.pl.-’ Haw.lw,'.
pnnc.pl. and u „ub|,.hrd unc.rta.nl) a. ,

uncertainly pn rt ^ lbr world' Hr .ought to prrd.rt

fundamental ^ E»d that the more accura.Hy

Urn future poadroo lhr chan*, in the
onr meuum the portion of a paruoc. %nr »•
particle, velooty Similarly, the more accurately one m««uiw U»
particle. velocity the peeler the chan*, in the parti. le.po.itiMi
Thua. on. tan na.ee crudely meaaure the pr.M-nl .late of .he
part.de. therefore, oo. could not eaacUy pred.rt .ta future .tale Thu.,
uncertainty ta a fundamental principle" of existence (Hawking,

op rii I

IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Uncertainty Constant

If uncertainty ta a part of existence and our very nature, then there

should be an amount of uncertainty, which always exist*, or in other
word*, there has to be an uncertainty constant An uncertainty
constant could be defined a* the uncertainty, which is not possible for
an actor to overcome, despite any advanrea in knowledge or
technology An uncertainty constant ia bounded by the extent of
existence, which humanity haa no ability to know about Existence
being defined as the segregate of every event that haa occurred since
the .tart of e,..te«e .Sot be.n* dil, to <lefi„ Urn bounds ur .hr
.tart of e...t.o«, make. impouibl. u> define tfi. fu|| 7It,nl „f
uncertainty ton^uenUy. whU. one may be able u, ach.eve a level of
certainly within a given context, an uncertain tv con.. . , f .
there is always something that one is unable to kn ^
cannot take into consideration an<* therefore
Having postulated an uncertainty constant .
that we can seek to achieve is to define the plac •**•****. the best
place where the uncertainty constant begins cotTld^he^
all uncertainty, which could possibly change i u P°,nt where
transformed The difficulty in identifyins the „!? c,rt*inty haa been
-- “"certainty constant lies
3 Max Planek a Quantum principle is the
be emitted or absorbed only m discrete quanta *** c Uaaical waves i fw,
their frequency Heisenberg a Uncertainty Principle ea ****/ kr,f> *• pcnportional to
sure of both the position and the velocity of a parucle' CH* one can never U
ISM IM u,7t

_ ji
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in determining whether one has reached theimTl ' ®®
»e has only encountered a current uncertS*?"* "W* „r
technology, information, and ability. nty barr'Pr based on

The implications of an uncertainty .

administration are immense in that it impacts tuf , (or Public
basic assumptions of decision-making, strategic plann™,"^!!6'8 nlost
casting, and influencing future organisational beha‘four p8"1 f°re'
public administration assumes that it is possible to devoid ft'esen‘>
projections into the future in order to determine a
plan out a project or develop a future budget. The extent to Thich
public administration relies on such projections are easily seen in
the day-to-day operations of most bureaucracies. For example in
budgeting, the future costs are projected simply based on present
data, possibly modified by a simple cost adjustment or a complex
econometric model.
When one considers the huge amount of money and resources
that are shifted or committed to policies based on projections into the
future, and the constant changes demanded of the policies due to the
consistent failures of the projections, one realizes the significance of
uncertainty. Recognizing an uncertainty constant, would assist public
administration to move away from the usual ‘rationalism’. One
method of coping with uncertainty is to recognize that we will need to
bound the uncertainty in any given situation.

Bounded Uncertainty
It has been recognized that an actor s ratl0^^ ^ ^9^) Bounded
actor’s ability to deal with different sitto be
rationality, as previously explained, identify everything
certain. Additionally, if actors were 0 a overwhelmed with
that they were uncertain about, they would be '“^s, in order to
doubt and unable to make decision* Consequently,^ ^ ^ ^
cope with any situation, must boun ® uncertainty in any
to recognize. The boundaries that are ;nf0rmation that the actor
given situation are: (1) the aD?0U![1.. one chooses to consider, an
chooses to consider; (2) the length 0 that are projecte •
(3) the amount of possible future in e -ders consists of a
Any given subject that an is readily accessible
amount of information. Some of become available 1 ^ more
to the actor, while some other there stiil wou ^ some
Recessing it can be determined. cannot be accesscdbie could
information, an unknown amount, w ^ which is aj*® fQcuS on
situations, even the amount of information, ^ decidejo ^ bound
be overwhelming. Consequently, other. Th*s ? to ma^e a
®°me of the information and ignore tbe inform0i * - be has is
one’s uncertainty because the ac*°,r. t the inform®*10
decision, all the while pretending

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Af Contemporary Debates in Public Administration

complete and accurate. In any given situation, an actor will choose to

address or cope with only a certain number of variables. Mechanisms
for limiting the number of variables with which to deal include the
use of heuristic devices, experience, or expert opinion.

Uncertainty Cycle

Uncertainty is a result of: (1) the difference between the amount of

data, which comprises the situation and the amount of data accessible
to be searched; (2) the variance between the amount of data accessible
to be gathered and the amount of data gathered; (3) the distinction
between the data at the time it is gathered and the data at the time it
is integrated by the organization; and (4) the amount of time between
the integration of the data and the point when the organization acts
on the same.
Every situation comprises a certain amount of data. Some of the
data is accessible while some are not, therefore an actor, even before
he/she begins to attempt to understand a situation, already has an
amount of uncertainty because, some of the data of the situation is
inaccessible. This is a starting point of the uncertainty constant. Next,
given the amount of accessible data, an actor only searches a portion
of that data, thereby further limiting the amount of data, which will
be gathered. The search may be limited due to the time available to
the actor for conducting the search, or possibly due to technology
limitations, or even because the actor is unaware that the data is
accessible. Thus, only a subset of the accessible data is actually
searched and the actor gathers the subset that is searched. This
occurs because in the search process, the actor may come upon data,
but discard them because they are not important enough to be re¬
tained, or because they would consume too much resources and time.
Once the data is gathered, the actor compiles the data, which
may result in a distortion of the data. During the compiling process,
the actor interprets the gathered data. This interpretation may alter
the data from its original state of when it was gathered. Conse¬
quently, the data may assume a slightly different meaning or
significance than the original. The actor takes this interpreted data
and integrates it with his/her existent knowledge. This act of
integration further distorts the original data, because the very act of
taking a portion of the data and combining it with other data will give
the data a different meaning and significance than it originally had.
Finally, at some point, the actor acts upon the data. The translation of
integrated data into action also introduces uncertainty because the
data must be interpreted into some physical form of action. The time
lag between assessing and actually acting upon the information may
introduce further uncertainty, because the actor may not be
responding to the situation as it currently is, but may be taking in^0
view the past situation.

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CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
In the present context, the concept of uncertainty has become
pertinent to public administration. Seminal work of Herbert Simon on
‘Satisficing Decisions’ and also of the proponents of ‘Chaos Theory’
could come in handy for understanding the concept of uncertainty in
public administration. In conclusion, we can say that uncertainty
needs to be understood as a metaphysical and an epistemological
concept. The uncertainty constant, which should be considered by
administrators during planning, could lead to ways to bound uncer¬
tainty. This may result in an understanding that the implications for
those in public administration can be illustrated in the example of an
actor dealing with a situation, which is full of uncertainty.
As a key concept, our understanding of uncertainty and how o
operationalize it as a concept should be seen as one of the
important tasks facing public administration. For decades, publ
administration has operated on the basis of rationality as being the
“leading social construct to describe and justify our understanding of
the world around us’ (Ventriss, 2002). Uncertainty has been
overlooked as an underlying social constructthat ^^loped Ind

££5 been

lotcfpfo/untS
both in theory and " ^^“e^-ent pubhc^administration

en Wronment^the ^development admfofctrative systems

with uncertainty would enhance thetherefore,
to adapt to * -der t0
needs to be developed theoreti > oroerammes and policies, and
assess its influence on administrative programmes
also to develop suitable changes.

REFERENCES
. , Guv B. and Danny L. Balplour, 1998, Unmasking
Adams, y^y „ •» cage Thousand Oaks.
Admimsrio'o “Non-conseqUentialist Decisions”, Behavioural
Baron, Jonathan, » j^o. j_42.
and Brain - t ^ Eisenhardt> 1997, “The Art of
Brown, Shona L and Kat■ Complexity Theory and Time-paced
Continuous Chang^ L g Organizations’, Administrative
Evolution in Relentlessly
Science Quarterly o• • Epistemology. Fordham University
Cunningham, Walter F., F
Press, New York: 2.

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 Public Choice Theory:
Government in the New
Right Perspective

Mohit Bhattacharya

The role of the state, as it functions through formal government

machinery, has been a subject of heated discussion in recent times
Whatever be the nuances of the debate, the fact remains that there is
a search now going on for altemative/supplementary ways of collective
problem-solving, and the monopolist role of government is under
seige. In the 1980s, emerged a new political philosophy known as the
New Right ideology, which championed the cause of the free market
and called for a significant reduction in the size and role of
government in society. Although the advocacy has generally been in
favour of a greater role for the market and lesser role for the state,
the New Right has within it a neo-liberal wing and a neo-conservative
The former has been primarily concerned with the promotion of
individual liberty and the latter with the restoration of traditional
values.

the new right approaches

P°“r “ain schools of New Right are Chicago, Austrian, Public Choice,
ate Supply Side. As the chief critic of the Keynesian economic ideas
dominated the post-war era until the mid-1970s, n
"*dman has been the most prominent of the Chicago school
^onusts. Their main argument has been that empirical amdysis o
*<>ve™ent actions clearly establishes^at^e

goals. pJrre effective than the government 1 econoiiiics as

such Th edman has had a major impact on the s y ti 0f the
' ^ Political facet of his work is the conceptualization

71

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 D'batetizIZbUcAdm^roti^
Contemporary^
- . which is very much based on the
p— - - past by Adam

^Fnedman has exC^co™^

activity: the protection of of public goods and the settling
administration of justice; the p neighbourhood effects; and the
of some problems arising: uch as the mentally challenged and
protection of the irresponsible s ^ special interest groups
children. He was aware ot tn favour exerted excessive

rne^<Xs.0fHenalao°subscnbed to the idea of Constitutional

reform to provide limited e°veTn™™*■ others, Carl Manger,

wTwiU be focusing on the thoughts of Hayek

who has been the most influential Austrian with his
contribution to political philosophy, economics and scientific metho¬
dology. Three distinguishing features of Austrian economics are.

1. Social science is the study of purposeful human action;

2. Only individuals are the appropriate unit for study
(methodological individualism); and
3. Value is ‘in the eye of the beholder’ (subjective theory of
value).
Austrian social science has developed as the study of the purpose and
consequences of human action, with the object of identifying the goals
underlying human action and examining whether those actions serve
to achieve their goals. Relevant writings of Hayek, for our limited
purpose, are The Road to Serfdom (1944), The Constitution of Liberty
(I960), Law, Legislation and Liberty (1973), and The Fatal Illusion
(1989). Certain constant themes in his thought are:

(i) Society is a spontaneous order; as evolved, spontaneous order

is to be preferred to a planned society;
(ii) Liberty has instrumental values because it makes best use of
widely dispersed knowledge and provides for the unpredict¬
able growth of knowledge, allowing individuals to experiment
with new ideas and techniques;
(iii)
Socialism is undemocratic and impossible. What will be
consumprfl8 etermined a an(* not only by the mass of
The recoiniiF erG-1S ao a8reed common purpose in society,
exist*to enahlp11 a- ?*?Vate ProPerty or the rules of contract
to achieve mm** m to Pur8ue their own goals, and not
achieve common goals. As regards planning, socialist

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 pi'hlic Choice Theory: Government in t/
-- Persno 4.
u —-I^Pectivp —
planning has no way 0f predi
without the role of prices. Withm,* ng ConsumPr ,
does not know what to produce etKprices, thepi^
(iv) One of Hayek’s controversial argument^* C°st' ^
concept of social justice is meaningless As 38 been «»at the
action, social or distributive justice rem/ Pnnciple state
Vho deserves what’ and the existence ofTfc agreeme"t 0n
the hands of the state to determine it If • lent P°wer in
concept of merit should be the ri lmplled that some
distribution of goods and income. But at of the
society, everyone has a different view of mJTi Ume in
society, there is no consensus on what would he tK 3 free
distribution of goods. d be the correct

Again, when the state assumes the role of the decider to determine
who gets what, whoever controls the state would determine what they
think the people deserve. Income distribution policy would be
determined not by the ability to satisfy consumers but by political
influence. In such a situation, government becomes a scramble
between the interest groups for influence over the political allocation
of income. In Hayek’s view, justice is procedural. Just rules of income
would ensure the stability of possession, transfer by consent and the
keeping of promises. The distribution of income that results from
these rules is not the legitimate concern of government in free society.
Hayek became interested in the establishment of the principles
of a liberal Constitution in which the role of government ‘is to create a
framework within which individuals and groups can successfully
pursue their respective ends, and sometimes to use its coercive pow
of raising revenue to provide services for w ic , °^°n. , .g yiew
another, the market cannot supply’. Electe p0 * ’s wh0 use
have increasingly come under the influence o in has therefore
political power for their own narrow purpose . state’s
been in search of principles that would ensure that
activities did not go beyond certain limits. ment An that can
Supply side economics needs a separa neo-classical micro¬
be noted in our context is that it is base s for growth is
economic theory and one of its main p
eduction in interest rate.

THE PUBLIC CHOICE DEBATE The thesi9 of

now examine in detail, the Pubhc public ch°ief^hj^jtical

“nted government reaches its aP°S® economics of p° ' assumPuon
be^ °f politics' sometimes called predicted on ffl0te the>r
behaviour is sought to be explained and P seek to P
hat Political actors are ‘utility maxin»“rs

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own self-interest. This is diametrically opposite to theories, which
view politics as the pursuit of public interest. Most public choice
writers converge on the main point that government has grown much
larger than what the general public wishes it to be, because it has
grown to meet the preferences of politicians, bureaucrats and interest
groups.
The Virginia school of public choice started an intellectual tirade
against the nature of politics and the essence of bureaucracy.
James Buchanan has drawn attention to the misfortunes of modern
political life in the welfare state. In his view ‘the basic structure of
property rights is now threatened more seriously than at any period
in the two-century history of the United States’. Again, as he argues,
Government failure against standard efficiency norms may be
demonstrated analytically and empirically, but I see no basis for the
faith that such demonstration will magically produce institutional
reform. I come back to Constitutional revolution as the only attractive
alternative to the scenario that we have seen bent to act out’. In
almost similar vein, Gordon Tullock has opined: *We are saddled with
a large and basically inefficient bureaucracy. Improved efficiency in
this sector could, looking at the matter economically, raise our
national income and improve our rate of growth. Politically, it could
both increase the degree of control the citizen, qua voter, has over
many ?jelds of our natlonal life and enlarge his personal freedom’.
e lrginia school thus has its unique interpretation of
^VrredtS0Cie"eiWith Uberal democratic Constitutions, and their
® thke rejecti?n of the welfare state. In this view, the
teras of oohrv38 ve“
beine more
SU?ering fr0m inherent systemic failure in
lmPlementation, and political failure is
Se emer jraTmoIr “ fai,ure- ^ P^ choice prima
perspective* on tZ l of Poetical failure-a right-wing
MuXr hltueht to o C ^ In hiS auth°ritative interpretation
of public choice: TubUcXce c^ be dST^ vaJ"e'neutral definition
market decision-making or simolv economics of non'
political science. The subject matter of mfw'X0" °f economics to
that of political science tho °1 pu^lc cboice is the same as
behaviour, P^y pofitics the h°ry °f ** State’ voti“8 rules, voter
dology Of public choker'tht bureauCTacy, and so on. The metho-
The Mueller fnrl.io* ecanomics, however’,
imply that public choice is'lL866™8 etMcalIy neutral and does not
misfortune. The Virginian ^ public sector as social
two underlying epistemological ^.m^itotnts^' Ch°iCe approach haS

interests, and aCt°rs behave as if they maximize their own

<U) Ml 800101 entiti68 816 iimdamentally sets of individual actors.

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 hanan writes, ‘The basic units are choosing units, acting
As BU g0ns rather than organic units such as parties, provinces!
I^vifl# Pe^,so 'Persons seek to maximize their own utilities, and
nation’- A oWiy defined economic well-being is an important
t£eif °^nt onf these utilities’.
comPone

Tn f methodological individualism
maiviauansm auu
and the
uie model
mouei ofor seri¬
sett¬
le doctrine 0
ne doctrineJ>_^ behaviour together seek to explain the strui
structure
^erest-m^11111 d the motivation of public action. Based on
‘f the Publ‘c SHeamental assumptions, the Virginian version of the
these two fund® ch represents a positive theory of the public
lublic choice app thisPversion there is a normative theory of the
sector. Additional y’ - ht_(-orward right-wing ideology of a neo-liberal
Lte which is a straig welfare state. The foundation of this

Sr-. IP*—- *—“■

the citizens ability t ‘Equating marginal val oach to

state budget at the “^"fiVans of the benefit appro^ ^

cost may b® e do not face Publ,<i ?t°°will guarantee optimal

taxation as long as mechanism that wi g or the
free-rider' problem, the j0n is the unanimity
taxation for public go legislative context,
individual veto principle in a g1

anan's Normative Rules Buchanan has derived

ing the Wicksellian ^^"j^his^view,

ormative rules which ’ s exchange* f public Pob<^
choice approach: (a) Pollt‘™ as the basis "J-means that
tutionalism or contractan as e*C„f all citizens- 11
g. The first normative rule-'P0^ consent of ^ To quote
public policy must be bas® animity rllle. ‘^ere is no “^fthe
plication of Wicksellian .Jliaj interest, ny idea
can, ‘In the absence of ******* enterta,"^ onan.mous
Snition, therefore, poBtic »at meet with ^ #
8°od. Just policies are , econo®' n0n
t from individual citizens- * Constit As B
ke second normative princip ,-tical crl 1
Bism for the expression 0

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writes: ‘Existing Constitutions or structures or rules, are the sub’
of critical scrutiny. The conjectural question becomes: could the^
rules have emerged from agreement by participants in an authent6
Constitutional convention’. In the absence of any system of Const'0
tutional revisions on a permanent basis, it is a matter of conjecture '
to what would be acceptable to the citizens, had they been in
Constitutional setting. The public choice approach forbids all
evaluative exercises (in respect of public policies) except those based
on the unanimity principle. Again, in Buchanan’s language: ‘There is
no criterion through which policy may be directly evaluated. An
indirect evaluation may be based on some measure of the degree to
which the political process facilitates the translation of expressed
individual preferences into observed political outcomes. The focus of
evaluative attention becomes the process itself, as contrasted with
end-state or outcome patterns’.

An Alternative Model

BasieaUy what the public choice proponents seek to do is to point out

inconsistencies m the classical model of representative democracy and

positions taken bv then w u I5"11!3111 summing up of the shifting

out that the BuchanamTunock105 t^e0n.sts from time to time, points
attack on any idealist theory of^ oTi^s^the^8 m0U.nted 3 frontal
individualism or egoism aI ■ ■ the assumption of political
conventional myths surroundinfr tv,mS r^°lent.a|1y rational type, the
and politicians have been exnh»H h PUbl1C, sPiritedness of bureaucrats
world of conflicting^goi^rQ^but^whhout ZtT ^
democracy would solve the problem’ B h m s assumption that

observes, ‘the writfng^rf the° pubh^^h Ch0‘Ce th°ught’ Peter Self

relatively mild and optimistic at first’ A °*i!e sch°o1 have been (also)
An Economic Theory of Demnrr ony Plown’s path-breaking
comfortable conclusion that ^ ^ U957) reached fairly
egoism for voters to trust theft re?'6 S0Und reasons * rational
iscretion, and for parties to satisfv .?resen*'3*;'ves with considerable
The Buchanan and Tullock The Cal^l medlan Preferences of voters,
concerned with the design of ^ t f £ C<~ <1962) has been
establish a satisfactory trade-off h^68 Constitution, which could
requirements for public goJds Lthe rational individual’s

e central issue i„ public choice if, how to ^ government ^

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 check the natural tendency for over government. One favoured
t0 tegy has been to bring about Constitutional reforms placing limits
^government growth. Another strategy is to reduce the influence of
°n * eSt groups on government policy. Still another strategy is to
inter political power. Individuals would then have the option to
?e<Tbv moving to another jurisdiction when dissatisfied with the mix
ation and services provided in their area. To counteract the evils
°r weaucratic monopoly and the bureaucratic tendency to increase
salary, power and prestige. Niskanen’s prescription is the following:
(a) Stricter control on bureaucrats through the executive or the

(b) Morelmpetition in the delivery of public services;

(c) Privatization or contracting out to reduce ^3^ about

(d> drives to public services offered on a

competitive baris, and at competitive costs.

The Public Choice school has the

there are alternatives available f b paradigm has challenged
citizens. The role ^ state Also, the power of bureaucracy
the hegemonic position of th eninK up possibilities of non
Z been ^I^J^^nizS options, it is not however
bureaucratic citizcn-fri y often made out to be.
a state versus market democratic and citizen-fnendlvy
issue is now to make the s^te “k d altogether and uitdl the
and not to relegate it to the ba^f mptions of the Public Choice
r Sod of “market' in its place. ^HLuments in favour of the

activities in the imr succinctly:

ch0iCepeCTeTsn incisive cogent ***
‘Certainly the growth ^compl opinion and ""^“eTheir
decline in the V£iea for politicians and boreaucra P^ they
increased mineral expense; but the extont to^ fay
own gain at th g matter, which is unlikely , The
actually do so1 Tf“behaviour based upon si“ple aSS v„te-catching
formal “odel:°f0„al individual and the idea ofav» ^ ufe
notion o a b ^get-maximizing bureaucrat ^ j haunts public
politician and a b ^ di^ing nature 0f an tod.vidua ^ ,state
prototypes. Self “g^id ^ 8elfigh indavldual in the »
choice philosopny , hv the public
°f “"‘Abiic interest and the welfare state are rejected

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choice writers; yet human institutional development in history has
been toward these concepts. The ideals of communitarianism and
people’s welfare have not evaporated from our societies; rather
indications are that ideals of healthy collective life in the global
village are more and more gaining in acceptance. To conclude, with
Herbert Simon, ‘the major motivational premise of public choice
individual self-interest is false’. ‘Human beings make most of their
decisions, not in terms of individual self-interest, but in terms of the
perceived interests of the groups, families, organizations, ethnic
groups and national states with which they identify and to whom they
are loyal’. Also, empirical evidence on the relative efficiency of private
mid public organizations shows no consistent superiority of one over
the other.

KcrcKCNUbS

^“lidt’e^ChicS ECOn°miC °fRePresenta** Governments,

Buchanan, James M. and Gordon Tullock 1Qfi9 Tbo r> 1 1 r

Consent, University of Michigan^ °f

D°W1York57' ^ Bc0n°mic Theory °f Democracy, Harper &

1967, Inside Bureaucracy, Little Brown, Boston

Concepts’ModeU and

Of the New Righfpi^^bl^eTS^nd^3' and the ImPnct

NlSk^2e^Z,1bwe^“CraCJ' ^ ReP™*ntative Government,

* American PuUic
London. 1Sea ed- University of Alabama Press,
Seif, Peter, 1985, Political Theories nf ** j
Allen & Unwin, London. Modern Government, George
Simon, Herbert A. 1900 *«n, „
Administration Review’, Va^sg Administration?’, Public
Verheijen Tony a d n &8’ N 1 (Jan-/Feb.).
Edwh^ra^m^rPe~ioLS £Ed8 )i, 1998’ Innovations in
Edward Elgar, CheltenhmT ® fr°m Bast and Wtaf Europe

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 Consent, Constitutions and
Contracts: The Public Choice
Perspective on the State

— Saugato Sen

Social scientists and political philosophers have long grappled with

the question of the nature and the appropriate role of the state, as
well as with the question of the relationship between the individual
and society. From about 1940, a bunch of writings emerged, mainly in
the United States and Britain, which looked at these questions from a
fresh perspective. These writings were unified by the fact that they all
applied the tools of economic analysis to study specific themes, which
were hitherto the domain solely of political scientists and public
administration theorists. These writings applied gnomic
methodology to study political processes, relations and institution.
This body of writings—homogeneous and internally consistent enough
^constitute a theory-which began as a
grew into a flood of outpouring of research leading t0 ‘he e“erge““
of specialized journals and research institutions, has come to be called

PUb'^lhaphteerTakes up for discussion some of the issues in public

choice theory, issues that are particularly pertinent to ^tudente ^d
practitioners of public administration. Specifically, the ch p ,
course of attempting to describe die — “cles
theory, looks at some early literature ^nd descnb ^ ^
methodology. An attempt has been made to foc^ the public
contributions and limitations. The chapter also d ^ social
choice approach to the issues of the Constitution, th
contract and its view of politics as exchange.

79

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 Public Administration
/J
//,S
/ ft.
the basic methodology of public choice
/>
theory
a
, implication of economics to the study of
^l™ts7nd institutions. This is not so much the assertion
political processesi ai ^ egses influence political events and
activities" as the application of the methods and tools of economics to
the'study &of political science. Public choice is an approach and a
methodology It does not have its own separate topics. Its topics are
the same those of political science. Public choice studies those
processes by which people indicate preferences and choices in areas
other than the market.
The methodology of public choice consists of two related
elements. The first is methodological individualism, a term coined by
Joseph Schumpeter. Methodological individualism rejects viewing the
society as an organism, and considers a holistic approach misleading.
Public choice theorists argue that even when studying collective
entities and groups, the individual should be the unit of analysis:
both as the basic unit of decision-making as well as the unit for whom
lot of cona
the decision is made. Groups, organizations, or even societies, are tools and I
nothing more than the individuals comprising them. While other
social science streams, as well as many other streams within
economics, talk of group decision-making as being different in nature
from individual decision-making, the public choice approach denies
the legitimacy of decision-making at the group level. This approach
contends that an organic view of society is not accurate, on the
contrary, it is misleading.

the frat T»C°™«elT1t 0f ec„0n0mic methodology, closely related to

applkation^of choice. Rational choice is merely the modern

that according to claslai philos"^^^.^ foU^t'P8in 'd^Tt

they can, given the constraints that theW * try t0 d° the best
be abie to rank alternatives in order Tf n“f ^ "" aSSUmed *
most preferred alternative while k ■ 1 prf*erence, and choose the
does not imply that people are selfiok Con®*stent their choices. It
°*h?r P®°Ple- Applied to politics the ^ m neSli&ent of
choice theorists make is that nolitir« lmplication that public
ont ",!ntere8t: persPective, but from S j.n.ot be ^alyzed from a
' ^ participants in the Doliti 1 *** mdlvidual gain-maximizing’

b—

^°^~^at~uke
g ’ Pl0neered its use. It is now used in

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 11 social sciences. It is a particular representation of human
8 h viour. As used in political science, it is sometimes called public
be • But some argue that the more accurate term would be rational
h^e politics. This term is more value-free, a positive term rather
CV°lC indicative of a normative position that public choice actually
th^n There is even a related term, new political economy, which is
^ d to show that like the ‘old’ political economy, it, too, is an
USe oach that studies the economy and the polity not in isolation from
aPP£ other but is new in that it uses rational choice methods in
efCrlvinff the joint nature of economic and political phenomena. This
has Leral components, one of which is public choice.
h ‘Rational choice politics’ could be used as an umbrella term but
.v, re^s actually a particular school of thought within the public
there 18 chywhich is described by this term. Since many of the
choice approach* wn school are based in Rochester, it is
practitioners belong g school of public choice. An interesting
sometimes called th members of the Rochester school are
feature is that most of ,_nmnists though, of course, they use a
political scientists and no e , sophisticated mathematical
lot of concepts from economic^ They 08^30^18 ^ sometimes called

tools and Game Theory, Mid school is methodologically

positive political the°ryA npo.classical economics than are the other
much closer to standar fpchnjcai and abstract body of work in
schools. It is also t e mos p analytical flavour of the
public choice (For an ” a/d Ordeshook, 1973;
work of this school, "he approach of analyzing politics
Ordeshook, 1986.) Comi g ideas are: studies of the group
using an economic aPP™ac£e ^ are meaningless, and politics

zzzzsX**££ »“■*' •-

C^0iCAnottieresSm3^o<f*P^^j^®^?j?®n^,s^^thisaschool'beingCbasedtatt
Chicago school, most o P f Chicago. Although the Chicago
or associated with, the Umvermfy m ^ ^ of markets and
school of public choice P choice school economists should
free enterprise, the Chicag P minent economists belonging to
be distinguished from som Milton Friedman and Robert Lucas,
the university of Chicago, suin the same camp as the Chicago
These economists are ideo ogi Chicago public choice school
public choice school. Howeve » Chicago economists in that their
economists are different fr°m 0 buc choice schools, is politics and
topic of study, like those of othe P ^ee prominent public choice
government activities. Among stands out for its work in the
schools in America, the Chicago school stand
field of regulation. argued for regulation only of
Traditional economic theory n* offlriency and increase total
natural monopolies so as to enhanc

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 Public Administrate
ConlemporaryD^2^^
j m raise prices and cut production to
welfare so that monopohsts do not from the Chicago public
reao extra-normal profits. The n jn 1971> puttmg forward a
choice school was fired ^ Gef°^ latf„„
startlingly different theory ot gu
(See Stigler, 1971). In this
,r(jgulatory capture , whereby
paper, Stigler put forward a -7 themselves capture the
those who are re«“lated ,^ „ benefits
at the cost of consumers,
regulatory process and actua y . f t from regulation by getting
Big business or large farmers often benehttrom^g^^ ^

subsidies and by being Pr0 ec ® trying to get regulation would

which ensures large demand. Of cou-e, tryingteg guto rules

involve lobbying and being npdated“^"Slower gthan axe benefits,

and regulations, but so long as the costs are lower
monopolies would try to get regulated. i i
The third important school of public choice, the irgi ,
is probably the most normatively oriented of the three schools.
The intellectual leaders of this school, James Buchanan and
Gordon Tullock have included elements of political and moral
philosophy in their research agenda. This school has, in methodology,
added the concept of politics-as-exchange to methodological
individualism and rational choice in the analysis of political processes.
While believing in rational choice, this school points out that utility
maximization is fine at the individual level but vacuous in a broad
social sense because the society is not an entity that maximizes. It
brings to the centre-stage the process of exchange, or (as this study is
called) catallactics. This school has mounted a powerful attack on
standard neo-classical economics, on Keynesian interventionistic
policy-oriented theory of a mixed economy, as well as on orthodox
public finance. The school stresses Constitutional political economy.
The Constitutional-contractarian paradigm will be discussed in
greater detail anon.
Although public choice theorists of the Virginia school advocate
the use of economic methods to the study of politics, they are careful
to point out that economic and political processes are not the same. If
we consider choices made in the market as individual choices and
choices made by people through voting as collective choices, the
nature of choice by an individual in the market (as consumer) and in
fcVOtm* P™cesses (as voter) are very different. Buchanan
S^01nteVU‘81X 8UCh differences- First, in the market, the
"determinpd n°i°Sek *u- *llmse^’ an<i the relevant outcome for him is
the other hand^i/ *? °Wn choice- In the political voting process, on
by the choice of 11 GVant outcome for this individual is determined
in Z po18 thUS a far ^gree of uncertainty
the
the final _
final outcome. 688’ ecause the individual has less control over
Related to t
^ is a second difference. In the market, each
individual feels that
prices, total sales, the total amount on offer by

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 Consent, Constitutions and Contracts

sellers are all beyond his control. He feels that he cannot influence
the social organization presenting all alternatives in the market.
Market processes seem to this individual quite impersonal and not
influenced by him. On the other hand, a voter knows that his vote will
have a role in determining the final social outcome. There is a greater
sense of social participation. Moreover, because of this, the individual
might use different values and subjective preference scales in making
the choice in the two cases. Also, how the individual ranks the various
alternatives in the political process may itself be influenced by the
choices of others.
The third difference is that since decision-making through voting,
unlike decision-making in the market, is dependent on the choices of
all, each individual feels an absence of a sense of responsibility. Each
individual may feel that even if he does not vote, the social outcome
will in any case be decided. So, he has no incentive to vote. This may
be the reason why in countries like the United States, there is often a
low voter turnout during elections. A fourth distinction is in the
difference in the nature of the alternatives offered to the choice-
makers in the two environments. In political environmen s, c oices
tend to be mutually exclusive, both at the individual and the social
level A consumer in the market can allocate, his budget among a
,We of alternatives. In the market, a combination of goods and
services may be purchased. A voter in politics, on the otherhandhas
to choose one alternative (candidate) to the exclusion of others. Even
at the social level, the scarcity principle is not applied to political
choices, unlike economic ones. ,
The fifth difference between choice in the market ana tn
political arena is that each unit of money spent goes towards tee
purchase of some goods. Nothing goes waste. But in the political
sphere, a person may vote for a candidate who loses^ For the voters as
a whole, all those who vote for the losing candidate end up as a
minority whose preferences eventually do not determine the political
agenda Hence, there may be an element of indirect coercion in this
situation. As Buchanan puts it, ‘In voting the
choose among existing but rather among potential alternatives, and ...
htTne“ecure in his belief teat his vote will count positively. He
may lose his vote and be placed in the position of having cast his vote
in opposition to tee alternative finally chosen by the social grou^ He
may be compelled to accept a result contrary to h.s expressed
preferences. A similar sort of coercion is never present *n jarke
choice’ (Buchanan, op. cif. 339-emphasu, m ongtnaV.K The.
distinction is that in the political sphere there is eq unequal
votes; in markets on the other hand, there is usually unequal
purchasing power and distribution of income. c0 » there were
differences mentioned here would be relevant even if there were
perfect economic equality.

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 PublicAdnunistration_

—51" on ^ nature of collective

tJ&ZZXZ S one
some potential gains or collective or group action is
of the first to provide an insigh ^ ;f the group size is large
not likely to be very successful, sp forward was that
(Olson, 1965, 1982). The basicideaOh ^ .g> a good that people
the public interest was * * would free-ride. Since the larger
collectively consume and that peop therefore the less
the group the smaller the •nd-dual benetit activity

public interest m many spheres. In many cases, iod

groups get organized and use the political process to garner subsidies,
which me inefficient from a social point of view, at the cost of the
unorganized bulk of the population. When there are public interest
groups and lobbies, the outcome could not only be unfair but also
Pareto-suboptimal. People find it hard to come together and devise
Pareto-efficient solutions because public interest is a public good, and
there will be an under-supply of privately produced public good.
Public choice theorists speak of rent-seeking and Directly
Unproductive Profit-seeking activities (DUPs). DUPs are means of
earning a profit through activities that do not add to social value.
They produce goods and services that do not provide utility. Typical
examples of DUPs are tariff-seeking lobbying, creating artificial
monopolies that generate rents, even smuggling. The important thing
about DUPs is that these use up resources to create profits but
produce no output. (For an analysis of DUPs, see Bhagwati (1982),
Bhagwati, Brecher and Srinivasan (1984)). Bhagwati, Brecher and
Srinivasan (1984) contend that DUPs can arise both as a consequence
of particular policies, as well as means to influence the making of
favourable policies. Lobbying by special interest groups to gain from
some policy may be considered as an example of the former situation.
Another type of activity within this category is the smuggling that
TL akeJT‘. a conse<luence of a protectionist policy
Aaractenzed by high custom duties. We can think of strong industrial

di3ralw- °bby f°r high tariffs and quotas or policy that

(For an insiehtfu]1 flC°mpeteion as an example of the second category,
economic HpvoI ccouot using DUPs of India's industrial policy and
Desai (1970) DUFM^reW ^^ 19u°S and 1960s* see Bhagwati and
Bhagwati (19821 ci«i ated to the general concept of rent-seeking.)

- ~ °f
Dup-imUr
y ug ior quota-determined scarcity rents.

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PUBLIC CHOICE AND TRADITIONAL PUBLIC
FINANCE
Public choice deals with public finance in a major way; indeed, it
emerged as a reaction to traditional public finance. Public economics,
including traditional public finance, as well as the public choice
perspective, all take the supply and demand of public goods as the
basic topic of study. Public choice emerged mainly in analyzing
demand for, and provision of, public goods. The demand side of public
goods was analyzed initially. The first important paper in this area
was by Harold Bowen (1943) which sought to analyze the demand side
of public goods and the use of voting as a signal of demand.
Paul Samuelson (1954) put forward a theoretical analysis of the
demand for public goods. Samuelson, however, is not a member of the
public choice school. Duncan Black, in 1948, discussed some rules of
decision-making in committees (Black, 1948). He discussed situations
where a group decision has to be made, but strict unanimity does not
exist In this paper, Black also introduced the notion of single-peaked
preference in voting. He also discussed some voting principles. He is
regarded by many to be the father of modern public choice.
Kenneth Arrow (1950, 1951) laid the foundations of social choice
theory. Arrow extended the notion of the social wetfare function to put
forward his famous ‘impossibility theorem’. James McGill Buchanan in
two important papers (1954a, 1954b) argued that decisions in the
political sphere (collective decision-making) are not the same as
economic decisions (individual decision-making in marketk
TWhanan also argued that the whole notion of a social welfare
fanlonTs ill-founded- The aggregation of individual preferences .sim
invalid exercise. Buchanan (1959) brought forth an important paper
outhning the relation of conventional welfare economics and public

ch°i“ monJ the seminal works on the supply of public goods was
n AD?i 957) where he suggested a theory of political competition.
Downs (195/; wnere ue analogous to profit
with politicians attempting o J®®*1 ^ analyzed institutions of
maximisation by b“mne^ ® Parliamentary type. William Riker in
democracy, albeit of the Bnt coalitions. In 1962 itself was
1962 presented a t eory 0f the canonical works in the
published a book which was Calculus of Consent by James
whole public choice lite™t“re' n962) This book set out the basics of
Buchanan and Gordon Tulloclnature of majority rule,
the analysis of Constitutions. It <* (1965) discusses the free-nder
In The Logic of Collective Actionj, Ota« <£^“e group, the more
problem. The basic point is that tne i«ns better at
difficult it is to take collectiveac io ^ de positive as well as
solving the incentive problem, mey r , 0f bureaucracy as
negative incentives. Tullock pioneered the study .....

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 Public Admm^atior^
Contemporary Debatesj^
, nq7i) dves the classic public choice
well as rent-seeking. Niskanen <19 'Jaccount of the public choice
analysis of bureaucracy. <For a “ 07))
analysis of bureaucracy, see Sen 1 .jng principies of taxation
There have been two main vi t js the ability-to-pay
by government and ,ts ““‘"“s are compulsory payment by the
approach, which holds tha
citizens, depending on each indimdua
direct quid pro quo. This
£,Bomists
ability to pay, without any
like
Fncrlish economists only focused
Alfred Marshall and A.C. Pigou. But Enghsheconomc ^ ^
on welfare economics and specific analysis li

Public choic^ihenrists A that this utilitarian view of public

finance led to a situation where institutions were not analyzed and
were taken as given. It was assumed that the government always
acted in the public interest, and that the government could accomplish
most of what it sought to achieve. Secondly, the major influence of
Marshall meant that intellectual attention was focused on the private
economy and the public process was neglected. Moreover, public
finance largely derived methods from Marshallian economic analysis
utterly neglected the rules for taxation, of taxation Constitutions. The
influence of Bentham and Marshall has continued to inform the
standard approach to economists’ advise to officials on economic
policy-making.
The other view, called the ‘benefit approach’, holds that taxation
is a price paid by citizens to government for services rendered by
government. This view neatly complemented the contractarian view of
the state. Hobbes and the physiocrats accepted the benefit approach.
So did Locke, and later Hume and Rousseau, who repudiated the
Aristotelian idea of natural law. Insofar as the benefit approach was
tied to the contractarian view of the state, the main benefit was
considered to be protection and security. Taxation was considered a
pnce paid for protection, and additionally, as a price for belonging to
the geographical domain of the state.

traditionaTwn^M1111 nineteenth century the old-fashioned

traditional kind of benefit approach made a comeback For this the

Jf pubtTn^e"3? f!el iDde,bted 40 WickseI1 and Italian school

played a bigr„,e 6C°“’ mainly those in Italy,
seminal contributions came^from^th1 bj“efit apProach- But
Knut Wicksell and Erik Lindahl th® Scandmavian economists

influence on the Public ** v, ^ approacb tbat was to act as a major

enthusiastically revived it wT approach when Buchainan (1949)
public finance and preferrpH u emphasized the politicad nature of
approach as he felt that fu- 6 bene^t aPProach to the ability-to-pay
democratic society and th«1S 7^ m°re in keePing with the spirit of
y and the value of individual liberty. He held that

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 • dividual feels that his contribution to payment for public
every in. yjc good) is so small that he would not have an incentive
gervices i^te. Therefore, policies of public expenditure and revenue
to C°H termined by the legislatures. Communication between the
&e d® i and the group is important and group decisions should be
las to maximize total utility. Wicksell was the first to suggest
madG nllective or public sector decisions emerge from a political
that C01 than from the mind 0f, a benevolent politician working
PTthe public interest in mind, and he stressed the principle of
W nimitv and voluntary action as the basis for budgetary rule. He
^n truly be called the precursor of public choice theory.

CONSTITUTIONALISM, CONTRACTARIANISM AND

POLITICS—AS EXCHANGE

Public choice theorist d^^f ^.Ibe gLlr^nf

contractarian paradigm. In P a^nstrument through which
economic institution in o se Secon(ily> it is the product of the
people can realize certain • individuals. Governments are not
bargaining and exchange of this exchange process^
only a party to, but also the ’ 0nective choice. The social
Government is the pro u<i ive application of the concept
contract theory of **/■*?”£ “"^desirability. The public rntere^
of agreement as an indication o by those who benefit from
is furthered by changes that are gj* theorists economists shoul
the changes. According to pnbhc , or more accurately, resource
eschew the maximization aPP™“ ’ d should instead focus on the
allocation and the scarcity para^ ^ theorists seek to
exchange paradigm, or catallactics^ sphere.
“tendthisP‘exchange* l **»»*££*&&
This implies that the e g aDnroach is adopte » p
get bluJTed P Once ^ Caf “ analyzed in the s^ yj
decision-making “stl"^Teven in this approach^ * move
economic institutions. society is not lost sigh ■ t into
power and coercion exist in socie y guch a model and g ^
away from the political couf reiations come into p a ^ ^ realm
situations of rent-seeking, P ^d coercion sho bc choice
voluntary relations involvmg power ^n e Thus, pubhcc*
of stud7of the discipline of^^perialism. Human ^
should not be viewed as econ limited to ‘economi ^ human
truck, barter and exchange is n t m almost all ar t public
commercial transactions but is P ^ vjevV of politic
interaction, as Adam Smith pn • naradigm
choice takes is that of P0“ti'f'®tSfoUows from t*»e e*c“preferred to
A normative principle that , -ng consent "
is that if voluntary exchange mvoiv

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 Contemporary Debates in Public Administration

coercion then those policies that promote voluntary exchange among

consenting individuals, are to be preferred. This is why public choice
theorists are such vocal proponents of market relations. The market
in its idealized form, is not only an efficient economic institution that
promotes growth and prosperity, but the voluntary exchange process
that underlies the market and in any sphere, is also the best
guarantor of human liberty and the best protector against coercion.
Public choice theorists argue against adopting an organic view of
the state and society. A society is merely the collection of individuals
who constitute it. Similarly, the state is not a homogeneous organic
entity. It is a collection of politicians, administrators and other
personnel. Economists should look at the structure within which
political decisions are made. Before looking at the effects of
alternative economic policies within a given set of rules, economists
should analyze the structure of the state and political apparatus.
They must first investigate the relationship of the individual and
the state; see why people come to cooperate and engage in exchange
in society. Economists should look at the ‘Constitution’ of economic
polic' and stress on politics-as-exchange that focuses on, the process
itself, rather than the outcome. There is no external authority which
judges outcome to be efficient. From this arises the contractarian view
of society where a just social order arises as a result of voluntary
exchange among individuals to develop a social contract. Consensus
and unanimity are fundamentally important.
. ^eir soclal Philosophy is based on unanimity, Pareto-optimality
Plural approach to the evaluation of policies and
is ^ontractariaQ3 anrT n-f rt ^ PhilosoPhically, public choice theory
alS of ^am Jtv hbe*anan’ but is 0PPOsed to utilitarianism. It
deontoloai^ rd\“" ? “on-consequentialist and therefore
sSvuT^CnhiSU*!*1 te*e0l0gical emanations. It is
include a rejection of tradir T8*6, ients Public choice theorists
this respect,'public choS“ "H^b ^ *** In
of the philosophy of one of th* « ^ Hobbesians. (For an analysis
See Rowley (1987)) For nnhli P™!mneat scholars of public choice,
unanimity VrincipL ^e t tlZ^TT’ agre“ “d
purest form, by agreemont ™ w S^ogate for natural law. In its
But where unanimity is absent thpC ^ *he°rists Prefer unanimity,
theorists retain the Pareto-nni• rl ^ }>ar8aining. Public choice
economics, but extend it to tt. lm i.1^ Principle of orthodox welfare
Wicksellian unanimity prinjnle ’SS*- ?phere: “1 combine it with
libertarians, they are not ‘endLt Although public choice theorists are
berty as an end in itself but & 6 ^era^s» 'n that they do not value
°cus on the social contract *** ratber Procedural libertarians, who
Public choice orif ■
assumption of ‘omniscience^fn 1_ traditional welfare economics’
e °bserver. According to public choice

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 lists, it is not tenable since utility is a subjective measure. Unless
tk^i^ividu^ in the economy reveals his ranking of preferences by
tae making the choice, the economist has no way of finding out
aC U reference ordering. No social value scale can be constructed from
.^ dual preference patterns. Efficiency cannot be an externally
indl jned criterion. Since each participant in the market or the
l'tical process will have his own subjective individual preferences,
P* choice theorists regard unanimity as the solely relevant social
P. ruje One person’s subjective preference cannot be meaningfully
Snared with another’s.
00 In following methodological individualism along with the
«imitv principle, the public choice approach is somewhat different
rr&e sJcial choice approach pioneered by Arrow. The fundamentd
? Jtative agenda of social choice theory is to devise rules for
invest g g j d cisions or S0cial choice by aggregating in some
am'^g IS individual preferences or choices. Public choice
way the und £ g agenda of attempting to arrive at social
theorists take tne wn g acceDt the basic construct of a
preferences’ lrrelevan . ®y.ri To be sure, social choice
social welfare function as^'f Society over the individual. For
theorists, too, deny the prim y of foe individuals living in it.
them too. society is merely the““ “Jity, s0 to speak. Public
Society does not have a s p P g .sociai welfare toction,
choice theorists argue that ‘° ?Pe * as a whole depends on the
which shows how the welfare of , g back an organism-based
welfare of individuals, surreptiti y reject social choice theory

because they are subjectm^jmd y

compare individual preferences tro

and government FAILURE

MARKET FAILURE AND provided certain

Standard neo-classical v„Uta£f

assumptions are met, Pe0Pe self-interest indepen . for
one another, each P^Ce the >nost efficient m^Xined,
that competitive markets are the et0.0ptimal.ty w^ be
••locating resources. A .^“f^edwhere no "^IwoTse off ^
which means a point will be ^ne else being ® wjil ensure
off without at the same time condition3, which ^ ^ rf resource
crucial point here are the system will ^nomics, when
optimum use of resources. Theneo-classic ^ producer or
allocation. The notion of comp a gjtuation whe Competition is
it speaks of competitive mar*e:S’fthe market or ng 1 . ^ would
consumer is able to take control o to set a P' Everyone
-o severe that no one has it ****£4 or orgax^10 leave ihe
guarantee extra gains for that in*"* can enter
sells homogeneous goods or servi

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 o Pprfect competition means a situation where
paradoxically1 there is no rivalry. Every one has equal power (or ,ack

°f ^'xhitfk'ind ol&perfect^competition, along with the absence of public

this Kina p increasing returns to scale and absence of
goods, absen traditionally been considered the only case where
markets’work efficiently, and any deviation from these conditions is
called a situation of market failure. Hence it can be seen that
theoretical conditions for market success are extremely stnngen and
rarely to be found in the real world. Cases of marke failure would be
ubiquitous. Thus, whenever public goods are present, or monopolistic
conditions prevail, we have situations of market failure. Later
situations where different agents in the market have unequal
information about market parameters or have imperfect or incomplete
information have been added to the situations of market failure. In
the scheme of neo-classical economics the government has a role to
play, apart from maintaining the legal framework and property rights.
What public choice theorists and some other economists have
managed to do is to forcefully argue and persuade the profession that
the existence of market failure does not imply that the government
will do a good job of participating in economic production and
provision, it does not automatically make a case for government
intervention. Governments could be inefficient in provision, could
overspend, may not pay heed to cost overruns. Governments can fail,
too. The situation where government displays inefficiency in provision
has been called government failure.
The case of government failure, it should be noted, does not say
that governments are inherently bad and markets are inherently
good. What it does say is that even accepting the conditions under
which markets are said to have failed, there is no guarantee that a
real world government will be more efficient or will automatically
enhance social welfare. The theory of government failure is part of
public choice theorists’ repeated plea for focussing on real
governments and officials rather than some ideal or theoretical
representation of these. Public choice theorists have severely criticised
mainstream economists for assuming that the government could or
would automatically carry out the most efficient and welfare
increasing policies. Public choice theorists explain government failure
in terms of pursuit of vested interests by politicians, who try to win
elections and to get re-elected and by rent-seeking bureaucrats.

AN APPRAISAL OF PUBLIC CHOICE THEORY

Public choice theory s major contribution pertinent to the area of
public administration has been the fact that it has questioned the
very basis of bureaucracy run governance. The principal contribution

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of public choice theorists overall has been r„ , .1
managed to convince economists that it •' ™-that they have Ulrc, .
policy, and public finance without discussing po,;^ tf «p Gnomic
is, after all, made by politicians. 8 Puhtics. hconomic p„lic
Secondly, public choice theorists have monnt .
on several strands of economic theory and social i i Spirited a'b>ck
neo-classical economics, Pigovian welfare econ„„,P n°phy; such as
type of public finance theory, and Benthamite utllitflgou-Marshall
contend that talking of a ‘social’ welfare function "amsm- They
makes one guilty of organic view of society Th function
the policy of maintaining budget deficits and undertaWnTdeficft
financing, which they see as an unfortunate legacy of the influence of
John Maynard Keynes, and have advocated balanced budgets, urging
a tax and fiscal constitution’ in the sense that a policy of balanced
budgets and tax rules be place in the Constitution so that politicians
are bound by these rules. Thus, they have managed to challenge the
Keynesian orthodoxy that prevailed in many western democracies in
the post-world-war II period.
Thirdly, when discussing politics and the institutions that supply
public goods, they have made a powerful case for ‘politics-as-
exchange’, and the Constitutional-contractarian paradigm. They have
contributed to voting theory, namely single-peaked preference, median
voter hypothesis, vote-trading (log-rolling), strategic and insincere
voting, and so on. They have provided incisive analysis of supply of
public goods that are not pure public goods, specifically ‘club goods’.
They have also broadened our understanding of collective action. They
have made a persuasive case for the possibility of government failure
and shown that it is more widespread than was thought, and have
given powerful insights into the theory of regulation and rent-seeking.
The impact of the views of the public choice theory on bureaucracy
and rising state expenditures can be seen in the fact that beginm g
with Margaret Thatcher in Bnta^
sought not merely to “se t P implement them. In other
‘downsizing fj°v°rnn““t’?ate sector been allowed greater play, but
words, not only has the pn * t ^ actually shrunk in several
the state and bureaucratic n ynd pubUc sectors do not play a
countries. In principle, the p both the sectors grow
zero sum game. It is possi sect0r has expanded, the state
concomitantly. But while t e pn mjnjstration as well as through
sector has shrunk both in Moreover, there has been
privatization of public en e P * precepts and practices o
widespread adoption of manageme P P with this, there has
business firms for use in the pubhc sector Alo g ^ iders as
been an increase in contracting o . from private firms,
well as outsourcing by government enterp i point is, moreover,
whole New Public Management approach and

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 Contemporary Debates in Public Administration

heavily influenced by public choice theory and can indeed be said to

trace its lineage to it. Finally, public choice theorists have provided
insightful analysis of political business cycles the relation between
economic prosperity and depression and political events such as
elections. Other social scientists such as Michal Kalecki had earlier
provided related accounts.
Public choice theory has been subjected to severe criticism.
According to some interpretations of public choice theory (usually
critical), the proponents of public choice theory depict government
officials as well as politicians as being utility maximizers who seek to
maximize their ‘budgets’ or some other objective, which is not
conducive to promoting the ‘public interest’. These critics then charge
public choice theorists with taking a narrow view of human
motivation and action. The critics also point out that public choice
theorists call for a minimal state.
This type of criticism of public choice theorists is misplaced.
Suppose that we go along with these critics and say that it is
deplorable that bureaucrats and politicians are concerned with
maximizing their own utility rather than the public interest. But then
we discover that public choice theorists recommend a minimal state.
So, the role and influence of venal and corrupt politicians and
bureaucrats is sought to be minimized. It follows that these critics
cannot fault public choice theorists both for suggesting that politicians
and bureaucrats are self-serving and venal, and if these critics accept
minima'll °1 P“b ,C offlcials in 8eneraI. aIs0 for recommending a
™Tt des^inV T' u°UrSe' the CritiCS feel either that selfishness
pre^nriveT„Prt m y empirically or that it is not
Elfish the?, o politicians a»d bureaucrats should
not be selfish, there ought to be a greater role of the state

qpUree8^eifi„Ut tLy - -t only

economy, why is it not prescriptive in the e^rthr*’*' °r
the polity? Why does the ‘invisible hand’ not 5? ^B igovernment or
action? If individual self-interest leads tnl \ u°d f°r government
the market, why does it not Hn o'social benefit in the case of
Moreover, as Basu (1992) points out if ^ °f the government?
be the creation of voluntarily ’ •WG consider fche government to
then any sort of government that^1^ ^ bargaininS individuals,
whatever its extent. Whv , emerges should be acceptable,
Particularly those in the ° Pubbc choice theorists,
genesis of the state as a result^fK SCh°01 °f thought, picture the
recommend a minimal state*? ?rgai“mg among people, and also
merely the application of <1 (?escnbe P^lic choice theory as
Processes, or as a theo ” appll?*88'^. Gnomics to political
political arena is misleading anH h pnnciples of rational choice to
There 18 more to it. g’ d does not do justice to the theory.

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 isent.
~^2H^and Com
Critics of public choice theory hav 7~~-
theory as 0 handmaiden of New Rmh^ a ? vi«»ed Duhl
advocating untrammelled markets® and H c choice
18 seen as
drastically cut bureaucracies. This may hJT g0''*mmenta'7
theorists’ contributions have been largely mti baUt public cho,cc
choice theory has provided a new way of Lmetllod°logical. Publ“
politics. It makes the study of politics "potS^^ study ^
manner. Public choice theory has examined the m ?• gical deduc«ve
0f tactics of politicians and bureaucrats (and vote and choice
pressure groups and interest groups). Public choir tT We" “ lobbics.
easier for researchers to choose various levels f haS made il
individuals into groups or institutions or communities af^'f0" °f
the study. It has vigorously examined the value as wenVT °f
comings of collective actions governments and Constitutions ^
keeping the representative individual at the centre of the analysis nm
only in the sense that collective entities are nothing more than the
collection of individuals and individual behaviour and motivation
should be the objectives of study, but also in the sense of considering
the gains of individuals who are being studied or what in their own
perception are gains, as the only criterion worth considering. Public
choice theory proponents have also strongly cautioned social scientists
and policy advisers against playing social engineers.
It is in the last point where public choice theorists have been at
their most ingenious. It is not that they do not use value judgements.
Baldly stated, they prefer the market to the state. Other believers in
the power of the market do so on the grounds of its supposedly
greater efficiency in allocating several resources or in promoting
economic growth or both. But public choice theorists are su t er. ey
claim, following Adam Smith, that humans like to exc ange W1
Other in all walks of life. They also claim that m a
coordination of actions of disparate indepen . usly Any
achieved such that order can arise in socie y s ^turai gcheme
tampering with the set of arrangements goes ag which has
of things. The market is a set of institutions aa. ^ peopie, and is
the greatest affinity with the natural pre *®P nai freedom and
aiso therefore the greatest promoter0 and consent among
individual liberty. If we value liberty o u ’-aj interactions, we
freely choosing individuals for exchange an ^ institution tha
ave to plumb for the market. The mar ® . yidual submits an ®
8tands above the individual, to which e et -g nothing a ^
^hich he tries to derive advantages. _enting individuals’ ® up
ection of exchange process among c0 • niind (bu ^ ^ of
** participates keeping his own goal »^t the

that 0ting the Sains of others» ts should not dard for

i* individual). Hence social scientists is n0 stand

•HJ? Standard For judging the on itg’elf

cy save the process of the m

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 v Abates in Public Administration_
Contemporary De—_-' ' —

„ , „cat contributions of public choice theory is

0ne "lie theorists (particularly neo-classical economists,
convincing econ ‘ rnment policies, even specifically economic
that the analys done without an analysis of the political
processes^he state, in its policy making activities, cannot be treated
processes in ‘hlack-box’. Even when economists analyze

pohcies°and build models, government activities should be treated as

endogenous variables, to be explained within the model. This kind of
approach, of course, is not new for other perspectives of social
sciences, particularly Marxian social science, but for neo-classical
economics it has been novel.
Similarly for political scientists and public administration
theorists, the’message has been two-fold. First, do not focus on
collectivities or broad institutions, but rather on the representative
individuals within them. Secondly, do not assume that humans
display different behavioural motivation in the economic and non¬
economic spheres. If a person looks for his own gain and self-interest
when buying something or selling something, why should that same
individual suddenly respond to the public interest where he is a
bureaucrat or politician? Public choice theorists make a plea for
assuming consistent behaviour in all aspects of life. Public choice
theory argues two different things about political institutions. First,
whichever is the institution, the representative’s individual pursues
the interest of that institution. In other words, the representative’s
decision-maker can be thought of as a surrogate for that institution.
Thus, just as the entrepreneur can be thought of as a surrogate for
the business firm, the politician can be the surrogate for the party,
the bureaucrat for the bureaucracy, the individual voter for the
collective populace. Secondly, sometimes (or in bureaus often,
according to writers like Tullock) the individual can pursue his own
gain and self interest in conflict with, and detrimental to, the group or
institutional interest.
Public choice theorists are often the victims of argumentum ad
hominem types of arguments. It is true that public choice theorists
propose minimal government, but critics have often pounced upon this

flawed „°r uasSeles " 8068 to Sh°w ** Pubhc" Teory is

a™ develourntt * •***.*» of human progress
‘Right-wing’ and h„ U !C C °,ce theorists are identified as being
^htlrlany M^halrrl, ****** * *at human
cally. If we accent that ™ 1 6 ,ewed realistically and not romanti-
consumers act keeDina ? W^° &re businessmen or workers or
that the same ^ why should we expect
believe in self-interest^And f ey act as voters, to act as if they do not
should we expect nolitiria voters do act in their own interest, why
trators to act otherwise? ^ eglslators> Policy-makers and adminis-

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 Consent. Cor
Contra
An interesting thing is that while a
development in India, particularly the nature*1"/ pre‘199l eCOn
state, some scholars who have adopted™ T TOh <* develop^*
employed constructs, and put forward areuml h X'an stance T
similar to those used by economists *n
or not neo-classical polft.cal economy or pub fr," CXpl'c‘t'y stated
for example, see the stmilarity in the analysis of n T theor.v. Thus
from a neo-Marxian perspective, and Srinivasa '(1992' 2000!
neo-classical, ‘public choice’ one. It may also h„ 1985, 1988)’ fr°m a
that in their analysis of Indian economic "l"1'™6'1 in Passing
economists belonging to the Left (not Bardhan hime„m?mcnt' some
than consistent in their views about the desirabilitv ^ been less
functions of the state. On the one hand, when it comes and
versus market’ debate, these scholars have unequivocally placed th^
faith on the state. They are against the rolling back of the state no!
only in its welfare and distributive role but also in its producing as
well as regulating roles. But while analyzing the Indian State per se
they frequently claim that the state serves the interest of some
dominant class, or lobby or group.
Two questions suggest themselves here. First, what do public
choice theorists have to say about the corruption and malpractices
that arise out of self-seeking behaviour? Secondly, if people are
assumed to be self-seeking in private markets, and that behaviour is
endorsed as leading to efficiency, why do public choice theorists not
endorse self-seeking behaviour in public organizations? Why do they
propose a minimal state? More to the point, if the state is considered
to have arisen as a result of the bargaining process among indivi
duals, it is clear that the state that results from such a bargaining
process would be the one likely to serve the peop e in ®
possible, the most efficient manner. Surely, the pu ic c oic
cannot both claim that the state comes into being as a result^
bargaining among consenting individua s, an a gibie
domain of such a state should be curtai e as m ^ ^ by adopting
The weakest aspect of public choice gociet and denying the
an individualistic approach to the analyse _ function, the theory
legitimacy of even an aggregated socia making any comment or
renders the social scientist incapable o ^ hence recommen-
judgement, on outcomes and events in soci , insisting on the
Nation on social and political policy. °ntirely glosses over con ic
unanimity principle, the theory almost nLjifng with
situations and power relations. fgcale, it is hard t0 \ indivi-
®conomic processes on an internation ^ methodologic are
he unanimity principle. Further, m a R that all in with this
dualism, it implicitly makes the assa/p and hierarchy
***• It is difficult to analyze stratification
aPproach.

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 Contemporary Debates in Public Administration

In conclusion, we can say that public choice theory is an an 1

guchana
of government organs, based on the tenets of methodologT*8 Mar
individualism, democratic administration and decentralization f
extensively examines political and bureaucratic behaviour, makin 1 is
" ofP
case for market efficiency and alternative structures of authority
production and provision of goods and services. All findings of public ________ 1«
Ecoi
choice theory are relevant to one area or the other in politics and
administration. We have, however, confined ourselves to certain Buchana
specific areas. The appraisals in this chapter do provide a broad Logi
overview of the relevance and impact of the theory on the study of Micl
politics and administration. Noteworthy are the attacks of the theory Downs, A
on the hegemony of bureaucracy, and the emphasis on voluntary New
exchange and co-operation among humans. It attempts at Olson, M
propounding a theory of the social order that combines the insights of Pres
Adam Smith and Thomas Hobbes.
_, 11
Stag
KtrbKclMCES Hav
Ordeshoo
J" ,1950- “A Difficulty in the Concept of Social Intri
Welfare , Journal of Political Economy, Vol. LVIII: 328-346.
Riker, W.
-1951, Social Choice and Individual Values, Wiley, New York. Pres
Bardhan.^^992 “A Political Economy Perspective on Development”, Riker, W.
Polit
Prospects, Viking, Net cllhi.Ec°n0my: Problems and
Rowley, 1
Hasson (EcU ittetstnd'^the'sf 'f .Ref°rin in India”, in Zoya Buch
New Delhi. ate m India, Sage Publications, 171-

Basu, K„ 1992, “Markets, Laws and pn, Samuelsoi

(Ed.) op. cit. vernments”, in Bimal Jalan Revie

Bhagwati, J.N., 1982, “Dirertlv j Sen, Saug

Activities”, Journal of Politick'^UCtlVe Profit Seeking (DUP) in Pa
1002. T °UtlCal Ec°nomy, Vol. 90, No. 5: 988- Hono

Bhagwati, J.N. and P. Desai, i97o r .. Srinivasan

and I
Industrialization, Oxford University Pr !:la: Manning for
No. 2:
Bhagwati, J.N., R.A. Brecher, and TN <T- .**°Td'
Activities and Economic Theorv” V .. lniVasan, 1984, “DUP _19£
Growt
Vol. 24: 291-307. * ’ ^UroP^n Economic Review,
1-18.
Black, Duncan, 1948, “On the Rationale of Grn ^ Stigler, G.t
Journal of Political Economy, Vol. LVI- 23-35. ecision-Making”, Jourru
Bowen, H., 1943, “The Interpretation of Voting i 3-21.
Resources”, Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol ? Allocation of
Buchanan, J.M., 1949, “The Pure Theory of Gover^m & 27~48‘
Suggested Approach”, Journal of Political Prance: A
496-505. Economy, Vol 5?;

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 Some Reflections on the
Changing Complexion
of the State

— Anurag Joshi

State is one of the key concepts in social sciences as it features in

political, cultural, social and economic aspects of society. In fact, it
would not be incorrect to say that social sciences is centred on the
study of the state and related institutions. State became an important
part of political theory in the latter half of the 19th century, but with
the emergence of behavioural studies in social sciences, it was
relegated to the background. In the post-II World War period, when
the US became the centre of intellectual activity, study of politics was
imparted a value-free status. The situation again changed in the late
1960s, when political theorists became aware of the danger of
conceptualizing political phenomenon without going into the dynamics
of the state. In this chapter, we start with some reflections on the
basic features of the state, its functions and role and trace its
evolution over time. We then move on to a discussion of the state in
the contemporary context, especially in the backdrop of globalization.
The Indian situation has been given particular attention followed by a
commentary on the directions in which the state is moving. An
assessment of the state s role in citizen’s lives today has been
undertaken and some prescriptions suggested by way of concluding
remarks.

STATE: SOME FUNDAMENTALS

The state has had differing complexions down the ages depending on
the varying conceptions of thinkers and philosophers. It has been
observed that ‘thinking about the state and forms of governance,
about people’s participation and revolution to overthrow the prevailing
98

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 about the values of freedom, equality and justice, about
■ ation
°rder’ tinn and
anu liberation,
uuw auwu, forms the core of social sciences’ (Mohanty,
—-sciences (Mohs
donnn , j none other
dolll^£ indeed, r»fV-»o-r than
than V.I.
V I. Lenin
Lenin in
in a
a lecture title 1 The
20V ’ (riven at Sverdlovsk University on July 11, 1919 cautioned his
State gi tQ be ‘perturbed’ if he did not seem clear and convincing
aUcn the question of the state is most difficult and complex one.
Sr y the tern, state is, of course, an ambiguous one;. It has been
Similar y, ^ evasiveness and ambiguity surrounding the state
would suggest the impossibility of finding an agreed specific meaning

»f theTue?’,(oSPsome Estate means a particular piece of territory

Id define it as a collection of particular persons and
others would def equate it with the machinery or the
institutions Still othe , perhaps the most modern view. The
apparatus of government .Jncrete national institutions and
state has been defin® OUt the basic functions common
organizations; and people that car y 0„nizance of the state as
tolll modem nations’. One ^""cosTd only on the governmental
an idea or concept and not re “ thi as a ‘category of the mind’. He
apparatus. Kenneth Dyson has put * ^ thefe would be no state
pointed out, ‘if anarchy broke o t t ^ fee present’ hbid.l
apparatus, but the idea of the state something more tangible.
A state, thus, is both anideaas during different periods
The state certainly has had differ ‘ as an autonomous
of history. Max Weber conceptualize^ ^ domjnate The modern
organization with extraordina y association, which organizes
state according to him, a c community that successfully claims
domination. A state is a “uSe oT physical force within a given

Weber/states ■*

“a«“

(Migdal, 2001b pective holds the state to be an ‘nstitution o

The Griherefore talks about limiting the amb.. of the rig*
violence and therefore^ ^ for g minim8l state-on
other words, limits imposed on a state sh reduced
Mahatma G^^^ations Thus, state authority should
Bome tatmnal cons,od*cr He wished for such sy.stem of decen
by decentralizing^at.on6 and groups below th state level.cou^ ^

P°'Tratively greater autonomy and independen restricted to

" Gandhifn perspective, state’s presence should

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 Contemporary Debates in Public Administration_^

certain core strategic areas such as external and internal defence and
foreign affairs. Of much greater significance is the fact that the
Gandhian state is circumscribed by a society’s ethics as reflected in its
customs and traditions. Finally, in this scheme of things, the
individual conscience or the inner voice also acts as a limiting factor
as regards the state-power.
Whatever may be the views on the state, one should note that
any state, fundamentally, comprises four elements: (i) Population,
(ii) Territory, (iii) Sovereignty, and (iv) Government. A state will not
be a state if any of these elements are not there. This four elemental
association called the state has remained unchanged down the ages in
terms of the elements comprising it.
The state is often treated as a synonym of the government and
vice-versa. However, the government is an integral part of the state
and not the state itself. The government is a set of institutions that
implement the functions of the state and hence is the executive arm of
the state. On account of this, it enjoys a high visibility and perhaps,
ends up being treated as the state. But, state is a continuing, even
permanent entity and is much more extensive than the government.
Another fact that may be mentioned at this juncture is that of all the
associations/organizations that exist in a society, the state is the
highest ranking one. The overarching supremacy of the state distin¬
guishes it from all other associations; as has been stated, ‘the state is
a central factor in modern societies and its role is comprehensive’
(Burlatshay, 1978).

LIBERAL AND MARXIST PERSPECTIVES OF

THE STATE
As already pointed out, the complexion of the state has kept changing
during different historical periods. This differing complexion of the
state is best examined as different perspectives on the state. It goes
without saying that while examining these perspectives, we would
inevitably be dwelling upon the state’s functions and roles. Broadly,
the changing character of the state over time corresponds to various
shades of Liberalism and Marxism, which have been the dominant
perspectives.

Liberal Perspective
Liberalism is basically, premised on the belief that individuals have
the intelligence and the capability to decide what is best for them and
s ou , therefore, be left alone/free to best pursue their self-interest.
In a state espousing liberalism, its role/functions are limited to some
basic/core activities like maintenance of law and order, collection of

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revenue and protection of citizens from external/internal threats
Alternatively put, a Uberal or more correctly, a classical liberal state
is non-interventionist.
It may be mentioned that the pluralist theory of the state has a
Very clear liberal Uneage. It stems from the belief that the state acts
as an ‘umpire or referee in society. The state is projected as unbiased
and impartial towards all groups. Modern pluralists like Robert Dahl
and Charles Lindblom have, however, accepted that the state can and
does forge its own sectional interests (Heywood, 2003).
Coming back to liberalism, in the early phase, till the end of the
18th century, it was a political doctrine, which criticized absolutism
and praised the virtues of Constitutional and representative govern¬
ment. From the 19th century onwards, liberalism was broadened to
include economic matters. It propounded the benefit of the market
place and hence, extolled laissez faire. It condemned state inter¬
vention and stood for a minimal ‘night watchman’ state. The
proponents of these features of the state were called libertarians.
The late 1940s witnessed another shift in the ideology when
limitations of markets were highlighted by a lot of social scientists
and thinkers who advocated active state intervention in the “0"°“^
As regards the neo-liberal state, it is an illustration of.the wheel
having come full
welfare state-l.cense permit ^ to , situatio„
security system m UK aid* retreat or withdraw from all
where it was felt that the barring those pertaining
activities-developmental/non- ev® ag defence and foreign affairs.
to certain core/strategic area been the active proponents
Economists such as Milton Friedman
of the retreating state. globalization can be traced to this
Indeed, the genesis S te Thus, <during the 1990s,
vociferous ol.roour (or * .»d «~d
r‘,p“ >.(«
Sr^AdJd.-."'TES of rules »d ="
economy dismal1* * only solution to ensure bJ 2003).
considered to be he^ny ng world, order J ^

economy; and a Fukuyama have, the world is a

Thinkers like Franks^ go)e ideo ogy applmable ment| he

perspective
state.

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Marxist Perspective

Coming to the other dominant perspective, i.e., Marxism, ‘in cssenc

the attitude of Marx, Engels and Lenin towards the state, defines it
an instrument of the domination of one class over others stress'&S
particularly its coercive character’ (Carrillo, 1977). Marxists, in other
words, consider the state to be a coercive apparatus of the rulin
class. Marxism is based on a fundamental belief that it is a collectivity
of workers—the proletariat—that can best manage civic affairs. In an
ultimate sense, Marxism stands for a classless and stateless society-
scientific-socialism or communism, to use a more popular name
According to this perspective, the executive of the modern state is, but
a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole
bourgeoisie. The totality of the production relations constitute the
economic structure of society, the real foundation, on which arises a
legal and political superstructure and to which correspond different
forms of social consciousness. The base-superstructure model
positioned itself against the liberal concept of the disembodied state
standing apart from society (Chandhoke, 1995).
The mechanical and economically reductionist perspective of
subsequent Marxist literature assigned a secondary and derivative
position to the state. The state came to be understood as a power
structure m its own right in the post 1960s. This was reflected in the
wntrngs of the proponents of the relative autonomy of the state such
as Claus Offe and Nicos Poulantzas. It was realized that the state
performs functions not only on behalf of the dominant classes, but also
the functions that are distinctive to the state itself. The state came to
be seen as relatively autonomous of the bourgeoisie. It was recognized
that the nature of the state cannot be explained without references to
developments outside the boundaries of the state (ibid )
„1f™e relat1ive. aut°nomy theory of the Marxists was'carried to its
ultimate conclusion by statists like Theda Skocpol. They did so by
cTadtTand the6 ^ »f societyVrefore, it is the
sodet? wWch shJ7hrtf r Sta)e> rather than ita linages with
the Marxist focus on structure dynlS “tmno °f the state Thou«h
** 11 kP- reductionist

been adeauatp i Clety-centred perspective may have

-tur/s r..«S“;r.SL19,h t- b" *“

the register of social forces (ibid ) t &S, T aCtor’ rather than aS
the emergence of so mo ***' ‘ In the globalization context, with
irrespective of any ideoloev ^ n°n'state actors, the state’s role
mainly in the core sectors^1 .J" perspectlve> is becoming more crucial
of the state talks about pluralitv^f n°my‘ EVGn the P°st-modern view
y of viewpoints and local narratives.

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—'- -
POST-MODERN VIEW OF THE STATE
To get a hang of the post-modern view one has t„
upon post-modernism per se. To quote Michael ?eCeSSanly dwel1
•Central to post-modern thinking .s the ,deaIha
decline in the credibility or in the legftiSS^o^te^nd
narrauves or stones that we are used to telling each other about
politics and science in society. He goes on to say: ‘The post-modern
condition is one of what the French post-modernist philosopher
Jean Francois Lyotard has termed an incredibility towards meta-
narratives. Elaborating further, ‘in other words, in the post-modern
condition, we no longer believe that we can root our political thinking
and actions in the soil of the various versions of enlightenment
dogma, be they conservative, liberal or socialistic. The defining
political characteristic of the condition in which we find ourselves is
not that of any particular grand-meta narrative, but rather that of a
variety or of a plurality of local and often conflicting political
narratives or stories’.
Michel Foucault, a prominent post-modernist thinker, asserts
that there is no meta-discourse of power, which can be overturned. As
power has no beginning or end, it resides merely in the will to power.
Foucault provides a theory of piecemeal resistance to the state but no
theory of how a desired state came into being. A post-modern state
logicallv is one that allows several viewpoints-political and otherwise
to exist In other words, in such a state, an overarching grand

(Chandhoke, op. cit.).

CONTEMPORARY STATE AND GLOBALIZATION

The state, as we have Seen’ ^Sthgerentrfat'mg,awdhdrawmg or even

socialist; and what many now call ‘^s have defimtely added to the
the minimal state. These dif e g ^ today js the focus of great
complexity of defining a s‘ate , -d rable intellectual debate and
attention. It is at the centre o universally come to
social activism. This is because of what nas no
be known as globalization. „„rticularly in the USA and the
The 1980s and 90s witnessed, particu J ts inspired by

<£ VSS'S" as s K-ass;

s'/- -—

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 reforms. The role of the state, therefore, needs to be examined from
the globalization perspective.
Globalization is a term that is not amenable to a clear-cut
definition. As has been commented, ‘few terms have been stretched as
far or proved to be as infinitely extendable as the word globalization’
(Mattelart, 2000). Ali Farazmand (1999) has summarized as many as
six meanings of globalization that are currently in vogue. Thus, one
can understand globalization as: (i) internationalization, (ii) border
openness, (iii) a process, (iv) ideology, (v) a phenomenon, and
(iv) both a transcending phenomenon and a process.
To quote Farazmand, ‘The notion of internationalization treats
globalization in a narrow sense as an increase in cross-border
relations among organizations, that is identities and communities that
extend beyond national jurisdictional boundaries’. However, in this
sense, globalization is not anything new as ‘international trade and
other aspects of economic and political relations began to grow among
nations centuries ago’. In fact, as Farazmand says ‘the field of
international relations is an outgrowth of such a development’. He
reaffirms that in this sense, globalization means ‘large-scale openness
of borders aelHeveci by removing state regulatory barriers and
protectionist measures, thus facilitating rapid financial transactions
rrr T’ trade, and cultural relationships’. He believes that
such a borderless world should be characterized by a unified global
imnhvTr’ global government, homogenous global culture, and by
mphcation’ a global system of public administration’.
The view of globalization, which is based on the political economy
perspective, looks upon it not as a phenomenon, but as a process-a

“fbrg Pr°CeSS f CaP'tal aCCUmulation in modern capitalism that

has been going on for centuries. In this framework, one has in mind
has acteH 0glCa un^erpinning of Western Capitalist democracy that

Western EauronenV11gt. ieabehind the globalizat'°n of American and

Western European liberal democracy’. The key components of this
ideological slant are freedom, individualism, free enterprise and plural
JZZT The PerSP6CtiVe °P globalization as a phenomenon teeate
g oba mark ta%a CaUSe, W°JId capitallsm's endless effort to reach
global markets for accelerated accumulation of capital during the
stagnant era of the 1970s’ (ibid.). 8 m®

Dhen^lraraZTnd als° Views globallzatlon as both a transcending

unon « and a pr°cess- In this perspective, globalization is looked
foPr mca:/ PrOCeSS,0 eXpansi0n int0 new frontiers and opportunities
e, .' "aas,ng aaPltal accumulation at the global level’. This view of
o oce« !r,a^ IO°kS T” “ ‘aS a Phenomenon caused by the
matete °f gI°bal capital accumulation, a phenomenon that has
manifested its negative and positive effects almost everywhere’ It is
rnteres mg to note that Farazmand finds nothing new ornovd about
any of the meanings except the one that treats globalization as both a

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--SRimJteflections on the Chaneine Cn ,
---w*
transcending phenomenon and n „
different views, it would perhaps be safeT" (f,6KU IrresPective of
that globalization is really a grand and T 38 apProPriah> to say
A good working deLit^f nlobaW °ra" V'ew'>'""ts
zation, as the term indicates, means Hint 1,, °" W0° d be: G'obaU-
world community sharing in snmo ‘ ! JS 3 trend towards the
together, unimpeded by particinatin ^ "V’ hehe{s and and Drartip00
practices
iWnvoir 2003). This statement
(Navak, . ,UiiLlon
P ^inS nation state’s peculiarities’
not merely have an economic d m! y that Valuation does
its import Thus, an empCsisT hZ' " ?*>*?»«* as weU “
democracy are supposed to be a man ^ * S ^ hberal western
part of globalization. As we have
seen, Farazmand also talks
along these lines while considering
globalization as an ideology.
At the level of the common mindset, globalization is perceived as
the spread of liberalization on a universal scale with liberalization
essentially meaning the process of freeing the economy from state
control. In other words, the economy operates as per the market
forces and not as per rules/regulations laid down by the state. Now,
the big question is: how and where does the state figure in the
backdrop of globalization? As a consequence of globalization and
indeed, according to an increasingly accepted view, as a precondition,
the state has been withdrawing/retreating/abstaining from many
sectors of the economy. A liberalizing state is focusing on the core
areas such as defence and foreign affairs leaving other areas open to
private players, both domestic and foreign. It is encouraging more and
more of private initiative. At the same time, precisely because the
state is retreating, private enterprises as well as the non-state actors
such as voluntary agencies, self-help groups and community-based
organizations are automatically getting emboldened to explore new
and different avenues of the economy.
An interesting offshoot of a liberalizing state has been the
churning in the bureaucracy. When states cutting across ideological
boundaries first liberalized, a good many bureaucrats felt uneasy and
were openly hostile to new policy measures towards what are now
popularly known as Economic Reforms/SAP. This was obviously
because tiiey perceived that with the state withdrawing more and
m“omciv!c affairs, the quantum of power wielded by them as
well as their exaggerated sense of self-importance would suffer a set-
. , k This indeed has happened though one is not too sure if the civil
back. ThuI ndeed has JPe|f.importanee has actually come down.
Se" Howe“ cannot be denied that quite a few civil servant have
Howeve , become facilitators of development. This
in the wake of globalma ^ ^ ^ media jn the last five years or
is an encouraging ctories on the personal initiatives and
so have covered severalA? ia)s in making civil administration more
dynamism of go> ,eSrefn“tTX'eVinmthe “field of e-governance have

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been especially noteworthy. On balance though, the record of the
bureaucracy in India at least is a mixed one. This is, of course
assuming that globalization is a positive development. This
speculation, naturally and inevitably, leads one to assessing the role/
position of the state today.

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
In the light of what has been covered in this chapter so far, two
related issues should command our attention: (i) what does one make
of the role/status/position of the contemporary state? and (ii) in what
direction should the present day state move? It goes without saying
that a lot of agonized thinking has taken place, especially among
leftist intellectuals and activists on the supposed decline of the state
in the aftermath of globalization. More than a decade ago, the late
Rajiv Gandhi’s first steps towards liberalizing state controls over the
economy were met with a fierce resistance from left-oriented unions

under^he S '’ 1999)' S,mCe then’ °f course> much water has

under the bridge not only m India but even in one of the few

However8th0e?emhniStb ti<>nS the Pe0ple’s ReP«blic of China.

However, there have been many ‘other’ voices suggesting that the
tate has not declined and/or should not decline.

role new 6 StrT in the 19908 t0 protest “gainst the

revealed the harshnm of th^oCTglobalization ]TatdWide SCa’e

tcrfxr .".“"t,- “ ™. - -
contract is defined. It has bv ^ PlaCG where the social
obsolescence suggested bv the mi a ™e^ns reached the degree of
through networks; despite all theTalk fl ffV0Ur of deterritorialization
the nation-states, negations b tween Ta^ ^ P°Siti°n °f
necessary as a counterforce tn a . states continue to be
of the tasks of organized civil snr’ 10.DS u^ra-liberalism. One
state is not robbed of its re^ilato / ™ mdeed to ensure that the
has been commented, ‘the evoluti™ Ufn^10n> (Mattelart, op. cit.). As
the western countries SSSS,'*vT*™ State ia
capitalist societies and the role nf fh m^ed Wlth evolution of the
response to the changing social rpn 6 S ^as ^een changing in
mentT^Bhambhri, 1994). quirements of capitalist develop-

has reasscrted^harintfmctiOT^etwe3"6"80 °f DeveloPmenf (1991)

c central issue in development “n, ^ernments and markets is
mpet.uve markets are the best we *ould be market friendly.

" °n,y g°Vernment8 -ToVde’ToleTnmer'S

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 _Some Reflections on thr Cl,
-m
invest in infrastructure and nrnviH -
is not a question of state or market-TTu1 SGrvices to the Poor. It
able role (Bhattacharya, 1997) The su^ 13S 3 *arge and irreP*ace-
Bank, however, have reemphasized tV GqUe]nt
rePorts of the World
vehemently leaving aside the sectors th ? t0 fo11 back the state
social capital. that are capable of producing

day state should move,6 if could bTstTf fh^t*” Whkh the present
ideal mix of interventionist efforts L tL of ? Sh°U'd SWve for a"
national economy It should m-r t • core/n°n-core sectors of a
economy’s fundamental areas and ^u 3 Vltal presence in the
enterprise in the^
collaborate with the NGOs
romT; t S°me,sch0lars h-a -Bed this as ‘opposing globalization
from the top and encour^ng it from below> An iUustration of
globalization from the top is ‘the type of economic integration taking
place under pressure from the World Bank and the IMF’. Globali¬
zation from below, on the other hand, refers to people’s active
participation at the local or grassroots level in areas such as women’s
empowerment, education for all, human rights including the rights of
the poor, consumer rights, environmental protection, democracy,
decentralization; and individual citizen’s participation. All these would
necessarily ‘entail lessening of state intervention and increasing the
role of people’s organizations’ (Nayak, op. cit.).
Without accepting the view that all politics has become global,
several significant changes can be noted in political power and
authority. These changes are due to technological advances in com¬
munications and the policy changes, as governments and other actors
reconceive their interests and their legitimate realm of authority. In
the first place, ‘global issues’ have emerged, which require states to
coordinate policy making at levels above the nation-state. Likewise,
economic globalization requires new forms of regulation. It is not only
governments that are interacting horizontally, a multitude of non¬
state actors are interacting, in a similar way. Finally, globalization is
inducing not just a shift in decision-making upward towards regional
and international forums, but at the sametime a shift downwards to
sub-national fora (Woods, 2000).
In the specific context of globalization, the World Bank Report on
‘Governance and Development’ (1992) carries useful recommendations
for developing societies and contemporary states:
Ensuring political accountability of leaders and the official¬
dom through periodic elections, limiting tenure
Establishing a stable, non-discriminatory legal framework
l Bureaucrat accountability through transparency/other
measures

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jpjfr contemponryD*^

Freedom of association and participation for setting up volun-

* tary organizations to exert pressure on the state. Here, the
role played by the media is crucial
• Guaranteeing freedom of information Pi
. Effective and efficient public sector management.
jylehta
The complexion of the state has been this changing, though in terms Mi
of the constituent elements it has remained unchanged. Today, the
jyfigdal,
context of globalization presents both new challenges and oppor¬
So
tunities for the state. It has to rise to the occasion, and the
U.
contemporary citizen should be a collaborator in a positive sense in
meeting the new millennium’s challenges and opportunities. It could Mohant
be viewed that while ensuring that the state is not deprived of its Sa
regulatory function, it is not such a bad idea if the state withdraws or Nayak,
at least, substantively withdraws from the non-essential sectors of the Ol
economy. It should, however, continue to maintain a visible presence De
in the economy’s core areas. For example, it would be very irresponsi¬ Ne
ble of the state to give away the sectors of education, health, social
Panda,
services totally to the private enterprise and non-state organizations.
of
It has io be remembered that the changing globalization context has
also witnessed the rise of grassroots and collective social endeavours Spicer,
in the a -eas of environmental conservation, management of natural Pei
resources, ge ider equality, sustainable livelihoods and upliftment of
Woods,
the marginalized. To reiterate the often repeated panacea, the state
Ng
has to strive towards development with a human face to realize the
Pai
goals of equality and social justice. The phrase may sound cliched, but
it assigns additional responsibility on the shoulders of the state in the
globalization scenario.

nkrci\cilV.C3

New Denihiia'l2P°(iWCS IndePendence. Shipra

°nd Devel°Pment

BUrl1TU “»*"* and Politics, Progress

“d wtS?SnEr C°mmUniSm and *« Lawrence

Chandhoke, Nbgfh 1qqk q* i
PoUtical Theory, Sage, New DelL^S^iSociety: ExPl<>rations in
Farazmand, A., 1990 «ri , ’
Public Administration Revieu^'v'l so"1 .Public Administration”,
Heywood, Andrew 200t P , 9' 1 °' 6; 509-522-
' 2°°3' Macmillan, Palgrave

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 Changing Trends in
Public Administration:
The Globalization Context

_Mohammad Mohabbat Khan

Globalization is now a widely used term. One of the reasons for

conflicting views on globalization is because there is no universally
accepted definition of the term. It has assumed a multi-dimensional
character encompassing economic, social, political and cultural
activities. There is an urgent need to discuss the impact of
globalization on public administration and the response of public
administration to the recent trends. The concept of globalization, in
the literature has been generally depicted as an irresistible new force
that will either wreck or save the planet (Lindsey, 2002). Some have
equated globalization with qualitative changes that a new civilization
is bringing (Farazmand, 1999). Others have dismissed globalization as
a fad (Chase-Dunn, 1994); a fashionable concept in majority of the
social sciences, a core dictum in the prescriptions of management
gurus and a catch-phrase for journalists and politicians of all types
(Hirst and Thompson, 1999). Globalization incorporates a bundle of
different economic, technological, political and ecological processes
(Vayrynen, 1999).
Keeping this perspective in mind, the UN document (2001)
defines globalization as increased and intensified flows between
countries. These flows are of goods, services, capital, ideas,
information and people, which produce national cross-border
integration of a number of economic, social and cultural activities’.
This definition, among other things, point to a world where the role of
ihl m .®eneral has come under vigilant scrutiny. The viability of
morP ^H111 PreSGnt Shap° haS been questioned. The focus has been
more and more on a modified concept of sovereignty in an era of
‘borderless world’ (Ohame iQqm ^vereignty in an era m
e, 1990). btates are perceived by some as
110

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£wng"‘g Trena ontext
local authorities of the global s f ,
multinational corporations " C"! C°ming lnto Prominence of
organizations as well as the a"“ . "mltilateral
considerably reduced the sphere of inflf™1116^ organizations have
forums, regional meetings and local h^T ° natlon'states in global
claim to extensive controf ofts territorv h- The Stat<!'S
international markets and new informat' k° ,een ret'uce('
Thomnson on eit 1 lT„, information technology (Hirst and
Thompso at.) What concerns public administration is that
globalization has tremendously affected its nature in almost all
countries ot the world.
Ali Farazmand (1991) has recently attempted to relate public
administration with globalization by examining the various meanings
of the latter. He has viewed globalization in six different yet inter¬
related ways as internationalization, border openness, process,
ideology and as both, a transcending phenomenon and a process.
Internationalization indicates ‘an increase in cross-border relations
among organizations that extend beyond national jurisdictional
boundaries’. Border openness means ‘large-scale openness of borders
achieved by removing state regulatory barriers and protectionist
measures to facilitate rapid financial transactions, communications,
trade and cultural relationships’.
According to Farazmand, globalization is also a continuous
process of capital accumulation. The key tenets of Western liberal
democracy like freedom, individualism, free enterprise and pluralism
are indistinguishable from globalization as these form its guiding
force’ Globalization is also viewed as a phenomenon linked to ‘world
capitalism’s endless efforts to reach global markets for accelerated
accumulation of capital'. Globalization, both as a transcending pheno¬
menon and a process considers it ‘as a process of accumulation by
global capitalism, a constant process of expansion into new frontiers
Ld opportunities for increasing capital accumulation at the global

level’.

IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON PUBLIC

administration
, .. • n„„t nn rjublic administration has been
Globalization an 1 s uterature covering wide range of areas,
differently portrayed in varied considerably depending on
Hence, focus of vmwer^has First, that'an
their perception. Tw nrovision of goods and services; and the
effective state is vital for th P ketgg to flourish and people to
rules and institutions a 1997). Second, within the

-—
albeit in a different form.

it

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 rmitpinporary Debates_m
Public Administration cK
,gtl
rinhal pressures are increasingly changing the character of the
5uw;
state and' the nature of public administration^ Three ^or global
pressures namely information technology, global institutions, and pe i
efficiency and productivity are of part.cu ar importance (Welch and PV
Wone 1998) Information technology enables public administration to
work efficiently and effectively by enhancing its capacity to reorganize decel
and restructure by affecting speed and direction of information flow.
eVer-
So information can be shared by a wide range of individuals, groups
and institutions to everybody’s mutual benefit. Besides access, org*]
coi&‘
economy can be attained in supplying important information to
resp(
inquisitive and demanding citizens. Pressure of global institutions
that
means impact of these formalized and powerful bodies on policies
must
undertaken by individual countries.
Efficiency and productivity are two areas where considerable regul
bene
changes have resulted due to constant pressures of globalization.
Public sector organizations are now under worldwide pressure to povei
enhance their productivity by increasing efficiency. Along with cutting all st
down waste and increasing output, the public bureaucracies are trying madf
to simultaneously facilitate better delivery of services. Prescriptions
for streamlining, downsizing, privatizing and new way of managing cheri
are the results of making public sector organizations receptive to mam
global pressures in a resource-scarce world. in of
There is an emerging consensus that though the state is still citize
central in many countries in promoting economic and social no lo
development, it must not continue to play the role of a universal to di
provider. Rather, it should assume a new role of a partner, catalyst longe
and facilitator. This fundamental rethinking on the role of the state
are
has been necessitated by its failure to provide basic and minimum
pay
services in many developing countries. Globalization ‘has led to the
development of new roles, relationships, and partnerships among autoj
toler,
government, citizens and business and has heightened the influence of
be:ing'
the public on governance policies and institutions’ (UN, 2000).
A two-pronged strategy has been suggested to make every state a
more credible and effective partner in its development. The first
strategy calls for matching the state’s role to its capacity. The second
strategy emphasizes raising the state’s capability by reinvigorating GLq
public institutions. The success of the first strategy will depend on
initiating collective actions efficiently in core public sector areas ^e spi
inc u mg aw and order, health and infrastructure; and meeting he
H
f ° C1^zens tor essential goods and services. So the state °P1
fm?niltf°CUS r/°Ur fundamental tasks: (1) establishing a strong
(o\ inyp-i- ° ■ ^ maintaining a non-distortionary policy
(4) nrnw/-ng ba?1C SOcial services and infrastructure, and
stratptrv’Q mg r vulnerable people and environment. The second
of a2,s nSSfU effectuation will require undertaking of a number
hese include designing effective rules and necessary v
% i

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Changing Trends in Pnhl,„
--—i™U£_Administratinn- The Glnh^r .
--i*LW2°°hzali0n Context

restraints, checking arbitrary action, u ~

subjecting state institutions to' greater ( C°mbating corruption,
performance of state institution, ; comPetition, enhancing the
public sector employees and their’ pavsTd^ ^ efficiency level of
government closer to the peonle th/ u \ lncentlves> and bringing
decentralization (World Bank, op cit °Ugl ,oader participation and
The message is clear. The state ■
everything on its own. Markets „ ,in a position to do
organizations i e non a ’ ^overnments and third sector
g on-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
community-based organizations (CBOs) must perform their designated
responsibilities States are expected to build institutional set ups so
that the private sector is encouraged to invest. Rules and policies
must be in place and need to be applied in a consistent manner on a
regular basis. The demanding job for the state is to ensure that
benefits of policy outcomes reach the poor and result in lessening
poverty and inequality so that the fruits of growth can be shared by
all strata of the population. This is possible if adequate investment is
made in basic education and primary health care.
Globalization is challenging the very basis of some of the long-
cherished goals and traditions of public administration. The utility of
maintaining secrecy, except in case where it involves national security
in official transactions, has come under serious scrutiny. Keeping
citizens in the dark about policy formulation and policy execution is
no longer accepted without raising questions. Giving undue advantage
to disadvantaged segments to enter into the public sector jobs is no
longer considered the moral responsibility of the state. Public servants
are not expected to serve efficiently with low pay and minimal
pay increase at the end of the year. Career progression is neither
automatic nor premised on mere seniority. Corruption is no longer
tolerated by terming it culture-specific. Poor service delivery is not
being justified under any pretext, be it human or financial.

response of public administration to

globalization
Responding to challenges posed by globalization has not been an easy
for public administration. A number of strategies have been
Wonted by scholars and practitioners to cope with the pressures o
afnbalization. Sometimes these strategies appear to be overlaPp> g

sgrs s« ti
seriously undermined its credib y . h been rather tedious.
Se roping with pressures of globalization , . t
The prescriptions for change are based on redesigning the state

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well as reinvigorating public administration. Redesigning the state
has meant continuously chipping away its functions and responsi¬
bilities. Naturally, four common targets of any reform and reorgani¬
zation are usually seen. These are: privatization and deregulation
establishing market like mechanisms, decentralization, and debureau¬
cratization (UN, 2001). All these targets are intended to create a
competitive public administration premised on managerialism. Some
of the responses have been of significant import:

The NPM Initiative

The basic tenets of managerialism or New Public Management (NPM)

have already been accepted and implemented in many developed
xTD^trieS includin& the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand. The
NPM, which has been termed ‘as the acceptable face of New Right
theory concerning the states and providing a label under which
private sector disciplines can be introduced to the public services
Po^cal control strengthened, budgets trimmed, professional
com°n0tvy r®duCed’ Publlc service unions weakened and a quasi-
competitive framework erected to flush out the internal inefficiencies
of bureaucracy’ (Pollitt, 1993). es
Though many approaches are available, NPM has had the most
“ TPf u T reshaPing Public administration to cope with the

rr in“ *
phrases and principles and influenced the funds P6d .Cfrtam catchy
reinventing government over the yeSs. fUndamental Premlses <*
Four major aspects of NPM are:

mechMbsmt0forethosedpaiteofrtheCalhrUSe °f market like

be transferred directly into private ’tnereW U“‘ C°Uld “0t
management and °f ^

* ^“it^ndCal emPhaSiS 0n the to improve

‘ be* given^to ** attention has to

Ubid.). h6S °f the ‘"dividual service user/customer

rather than government are: steering

competition into the service deliw™-6*, than servingi injecting
organizing, funding outcomes- moot ^’ transforming rule-driven
e ureaucracy; earning rather tha”^ needs of tbe customers, not
pa lcipation and team work- anrf i** sPend*ng; from hierarchy to
mar et (Osborne and Gaebler (1992) cbanSe through the
U992), Shafntz and Russell (2000)).

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Changing Trends m Public Administration: The Global,?r.t
ion Context
€B)
The influence of NPM and reinventing government has been
quite significant. The extent of this influence can
-- be occn
seen in
in the omer
tne emer-
gence and acceptance of several -A-
-—r—---new • public administration
terms in
literature and practice, which have earned a prominent place in the
agenda of public sector reformers who are in favour of good
governance. The policies of developed and developing countries are
being increasingly influenced by NPM and reinventing government
prescriptions. One of the direct outcomes of the impact of NPM and
reinventing government initiatives is that the role of public
administration has been propelled to undergo significant transfor¬
mation in many developed and developing countries. Consequently,
responsibilities of public administration as well as those of the
executive branch of the government are being confined to facilitating,
leading and catalyzing changes to achieve more with limited financial
resources and fewer personnel. Many clear and unambiguous
influences of both NPM and reinventing government can be discerned
in the-public sector. Public administration now has to boldly address
several issues that are surely going to bring about changes in its
functions.
A public administrator is now viewed by many as an
entrepreneurial manager whose job is to attain cost-effectiveness. So
he/she must have the necessary flexibility and freedom of action not
found in the strictly traditional hierarchical systems. Cost-
effectiveness cannot be achieved without emphasis on results an
focus on performance measurement, monitoring and evaluation Cost-
reduction entails that public sector will only perform those activities
that it is specially required to do. Withdrawal of government from
many activities will require more private sector involvement and
utilization of such methods as privatization and outsourcing.
Narrowing of scope of operations will enable public sector to focus
more clearly on core tasks and develop competencies in these. Stree
“vel public administrator's decision-making role has been emphasized
so that he/she can serve thei chenteie of recent reform
Empowering citizens has been a Key y that
wave surrounding public administration. It has been^ ^ ^

citizens have been largely enl® “ucratk ruies and regulations

existence of cumbersome responsibility mechanisms
(Frederickson, 1996). In recen ye » administrators have ‘direct
have been put in place by which public ^ ^ ^
responsibility for their conduc . into force to review and
whole new range of mechanisms This newiy emerging
correct decisions of public adm“\ ‘ well beyond the bounds
doctrine of administrative responsibiliyg ce> (Spigelman,
of public administration to the broad field of gov

1999). , _linH the fact that the business

The recent thinking revolves aroun

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 Contemporaryv Debates in PiibUc^Admmistiotimi

, . Uo introduced and effectively adhered to in

principles need ° business This particular line of thinking is
conducting pul 1 economics rather than the politics of service
concerned es ernment failure rather than the market
faXTand is skeptical about the capacity of bureaucracy to provide
services efficiently and effectively' (Boyne, 1996). It has been stated by
NPM and reinventing government advocates 'that government should
not only adopt the techniques of business administration but also
adopt the values of business’ (DeLeon and Denhardt, 2000).
Another disturbing trend pertaining to public administration is
the rejection of core concepts like public spirit and public service by
the supporters of public choice (Kamensky, 1996). The consequences of
such a situation are indeed serious. Adherence to this particular
thinking has on the one hand led to major reforms in some developed
countries including New Zealand, UK and USA where political advice
was separated from policy implementation and on the other, it has led
to altering the purposes of civil service profession (UN, 2001).
Promoting and sustaining professional ethics among public
administrators continues to be a key concern of NPM advocates. There
have been attempts to fundamentally transform the style of public
management to put the people first as valued customers. For this to
happen, public administrators need to be more focused to achieve
results and be entrepreneurial in their style of operation. The UK
government has adopted a strategy in this line that compels public
officials to make a number of commitments. These include developing
policies to deliver results that matter; delivering efficient and high
quality public services to meet the needs of citizens; using new
technology to cater to the needs of citizens and business; and valuing
public service (Caiden, 2000).
In the area of performance management, the past decade has
witnessed significant changes in the public sector in some highly
developed countries. In the UK, performance management and
inspection system has been overhauled and is now based on four
principles. These are: encourage the systems approach; assess what is
bemg delivered; intervene in inverse proportion to success; and use
the right information at the right level (ibid.). All these principles are
intended to focus upon assessing improvements and value for money
3 Ught rein on the management of resources;
manaSrs t„r t0 lnnovate where needed; and encourage
orgaSionsUSe performancc measures to monitor and improve their

lism are eonsH pcd*cy capacity and non-partisan professiona-

quality servTce TeWy (UN^otlT Ne ^ P?.rforman“ and

reform on thp nthn u ' ^ew Zealand s approach to
prescriptions has 1 m0rally radical one and based on NPM
iptions, has del.nked service delivery from policy advice,

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employing non-tenured executives on a fixed term with scope for
retention, performance contracting and annual purchase agreements
(Davis, Sullivan, and Yeatman, 1997). in the USA, standard-setting,
benchmarking and emphasis on measuring, monitoring and evaluating
performance have been developed majorly during the past decade’
(UN 2001). There is thus a need to focus on reforms and innovations
initiated by different countries across the world for a comprehensive
assessment. Generally speaking, the changes in the countries
concerned are fundamentally altering existent public administration

systems.

Quality Service Delivery

Service Quality Initiatives (SQIs) are now common features in all

rr?r:s.tr“ s
on improving service quali > as public that wants better

more with ^‘yTnwhat services are provided. The reasons

services and greater say responsive, innovative
could also relate to the recogm overap economic performance;
and efficient public sectoi' w and transparency of govern-
apply pressure to enhance 'th 1 ^ citizen.s entitlements to
ment through specification of in ^ services; usher in new
services and increasing e *1“ service quality and changes in
technological possibilities o'P which would be as relevant
management theory in thersec or management (OECD. 1996).
to and transferable to public“‘""“ijty of services, a number of
In Malaysia, to JTi Oualitt Management (TQM), counter
measures including Tota Q already been implemented (Khan,
services and citizens’ charters have ahea customers with fast,
1998b). These measures are ‘"tend P ^ basis In Singapore,
accurate and courteous servic over the years to maintain a
several initiatives have bee\laU" recent years, the ‘PS 21’ has been
high standard of quality servi • services. A directory of pub ic
the core in providing high 9ual1 ? training road map, and setting
services, counter f owance a personalfiam ^g^ achieving

of service standards have ai (Khan, 1998a).

Singapore’s goal of quality s®rv“? bave been taken up to impr^e
In Greece, a number of actions have include: s.mph-
quality of services to serve the weight to electrons
fying administrative procedures, 0f citizens’ rights ’
communication; and establishing charter^ rf Infrastructure ha
2000). The French government s M* ^ a customer relation^
instructed each of its local o i coordinate measures o
function to develop, promote a
responsiveness to the users.

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 r^ntompnrary Debates in PublicAdministration
cm Chan
The Government of Denmark has initiated a number of measures
to develop quality management in the public sector. One of the elect
outcomes of such efforts has resulted in the formation of an adm
netv
Evaluation Committee for Public Sector Quality Award (ibid.). The
effic
Government of the UK has created a Performance and Innovation
1991
Unit (PIU). The PIU aims to improve the effectiveness of the
government^ in the implementation of service delivery mechanisms by ser\
working with departments and others on cross-cutting and innovative inro
projects (Focus, 1999). The
In Norway, a User Orientation Programme has been established to i
to improve user orientation and level of service. Under this Inti
programme, each agency is responsible for obtaining feedback from citii
users on service quality, setting and publishing quality standards and terr
ensuring that the service level is constantly improved (Focus, 1998). hari
Canada has instituted a one-stop access to information and services info
(Kaul, 1998). to r

Enhancing ICT Use Pui

In
It has been suggested that the ‘introduction of information and
nov
communication technology applications (ICTs) through their control,
sec
surveillance, communications and knowledge management potential
tra:
are revolutionizing the internal workings and external relationships of
ens
public administration’ (Snellen, 2002). The revolutionary effects of ICT
cha
can be seen in many countries. Developed as well as newly-developed
(Fo
countries are spending heavily on information technology (IT). The
USA and Canada are investing exorbitant sums on computer related as
upgrades and new purchases.
(Hi
In both Canada and the USA, the Internet has proved to be anc
extremely popular and useful for electronic service delivery. of ]
Downloading information regarding various activities of governments In
has now become a regular and frequent occurrence. Websites are pei
posted with more and more information. Citizens can now pay their in
V?hlCleS and receive licenses and permits through ha
the Internet. Interest m e-government has gone up in the UK in pei
im
LTr nyr'nf^PeCiallyo^h 'he intr°duction of UK Online in the
coi
early stal a V ^ T' The UK °nline P9rtal offers even at this pri
public^^seTices On/f°n ^ COnvenient electronic route into all
to
wide ranee of infn & ^ °Parational, ‘it should provide access to a
on
several dtfferen/rlh^T andservices that will be available through
sei
PCs, digital TV and^r* n lncl,uding formation kiosks, call-centres,
thi
2001 to^st^enShln1111011611 & threG year aCti°n plan between 1999- be
1mport^t prioritt ar.;gOVe,rTent in.that country- Some of the In
infrastructure for the n Ud6- establishing a coherent national IT to
the Internet- focusing 1C s.en[lce; Providing information services on
ernet, focusing on electronic data interchange; setting up

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Changing Trends in Public Administration: The Globalization Context 119

electronic commerce for public procurement; and facilitating electronic

administrative procedures (Focus, 1999). In Italy, a unified electronic
network has been set up for government operations. This will create
efficiency gains and reduce burdens on citizens and companies (Focus,
1998).
The Singapore government now has its own Website. Many
services are now provided by the Internet. Malaysia has also made
inroads into IT arena enabling its citizens’ services through Internet.
The Indian government has undertaken a number of policy initiatives
to introduce e-governance at all levels, federal, state and local.
Introduction of e-governance has brought significant changes in the
citizen-administration relations in the arena of service delivery in
terms of higher speed, greater access, less cost and less public
harassment. Japan revised its basic plan for promoting administrative
information in late 1997 to utilize advanced information technologies
to respond to people’s needs more effectively.

Public-Private Exchange and Interaction

In many countries public-private sector exchange and interaction is
now a familiar concept. In the UK, interchange schemes between two
sectors have existed for some years now. Secondments and joint
training programmes have enriched personnel development and
enabled the personnel in both sectors to respond to common
challenges in such areas as project management and customer service
(Focus, 1997). ...... . j
In Australia and New Zealand, ‘marketization has been accepted
as having general application to all parts of the public sector
(Halligan, 1997). In both these countries, contractualism, competition
and contestability are now familiar mechanisms that reduce the scope
of public sector and increase dependence on the private (Khan, 2002).
In New Zealand, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are expected to
perform like corporations and ‘demonstrate comparable performance
in terms of efficiency and productivity’. In Australia, the government
has opted for the private sector model by going for a deregulated
personnel system; restricting public service to policy development
implementing legislation and oversight of service delivery; and
contestability of delivery of services with increasing utilization
private business (Halligan, op. cit.). In Hong ong, re orms
to privatization of a number of government services, con rac i
on a wider scale, promotion of divestiture and transformation of
servants from administrators to better managers base(j on
In Malaysia, the Malaysia Incorporated Policy (MIP)
the philosophy of close cooperation, collaboration ant i9
between government and industry (Commonwea ec J.tacbe(j
In Singapore, members of the elite administrative ^^ice ^attached
to private companies to enable them to get a c p

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 working conditions in the private sector as well as to understand h
government rules and regulations affect the private sector (Kh ^
1998a). an-

Performance Management

Clear and explicit performance management programmes have been

adopted by mid-1990s in many OECD countries and in Australia, New
Zealand, UK and USA. The programmes have been put in place to
closely focus on and target activities towards desired results. One of
the variants of performance management is performance contracts
which are now widely used in OECD countries in order to make
administration ‘responsive, accountable, and efficient’ (Brumby, 1999)
Tbe US Federal government utilizes another variant known as
the performance review, to heighten accountability and improve focus
on overall objectives (Shafritz and Russell, op. cit.). Performance
management initiatives have also been implemented in some Asian
refa™?\m°St n°tably in Singapore, concentrating on institutional
chanSes in Procedures and attitudes of public employees. All
these are intended to raise productivity at a lower cost.

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

IUsathagef °f gl0balizati°" is
deliberate on all aspects of the S , t )herefore' not possible to
tration and global" Itvlr ^
discussion some trends have been clearly dtcernfwe Ae Tf
globalization on public adminicw • julscernit>le- the impact of
and extent of suchan”7^1°“ v d’StmCtly clear- The nature
the countries. DevebpeTcoun ri ® ** n0t been the same for all
have been able to reap umptXbeLfitsTdeveloPing ones
The concepts and mXmsms thl, gl°balizati°n.
globalization have originated in Hp i C°me Up as a result of
suited to their social, politkal eX P JCOuntries and are more
concepts and mechanisms^ CU,tUral TheSe
Which are based on Western precents W^ inventing government,
even in modified forms in vastlv diff problems of implementation
economic dimension continues to ! non-Western contexts. The
understanding the effects of alnk e mos^ critical element in
Privatizing public ser^ct; ^Czt?“he" °n PUMiC ad">--‘™tion.
maintaining efficiency effectivon g government; attaining and
service delivery; and ensuring cost-effePt transParency in public
productivity are the hallmarks nf weness along with enhanced
change the way public mana^^X^610*3"161118 that intend to
changed scenario, public managers arete' be't and resPond' In this
be transformed into nuhlir

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Changing Trends in Public Administration The C,l„h r
--- --i_Cont^

entrepreneurs. They have to be empowered with r

flexibility in their actions so that they become canable JT* ™ and
a highly complex and diverse environment f dellVerinf? in
The outlook and attitudes of public administrators should h
so that, they can put all their efforts to satisfy the needs t'the
citizens, who are perceived as customers. Their voice i„ ill .
terms of quality of services delivered. This also means^h'1*
traditional, hierarchical, rule-bound and technicist approach to public
administration is to give way to modern, participatory, people-oriented
and competitive systems. Though many key issues like service
delivery, information technology and performance management
dominate any discussion on globalization and public administration,
various ethical issues remain under-emphasized. Recent interest in
anti-corruption measures is an exception to this trend. Public sector in
many countries has failed to cope with the requirements of
globalization due to non-existence of and in many cases non-adherence
to ethical code of conduct in public dealings.
The politics-administration interface still remains a hazy area.
There could arise several grey areas if the public managers are to be
given autonomy, and segments of public sector are to be hived-off to
private sector. But again at the end of the day, the politicians in
power are to be held responsible for the actions of appointed public
servants and private entrepreneurs. Political responsibility in critical
areas still remains a thorny issue at the backdrop of public-private
exchange and interactions. These issues need, ‘° ,bet. debaJ^
thoroughly in order to utilize the benefits of globalization. The
Western administrative concepts have to be clearly “mprchcnded and
applied as per the contextual demands. Pubhc admm strahon has to
transform, innovate and adapt to these changing trends

references
Bellamy, C., 2002, “From Automation t0w^0^s^ international
Modernizing British Governmen VoL 68> No. 2: 213-
Review of Administrative Sciences (
230. . pnvernance: A Report
Borins, S., 2002, “On the Frontier of Eec roni^ ^ 6g> No. 2; 199_
on the United States and Canad ,
211. . .British Public
^
Boyne, G.A., 1996, “The ^aeement1 the Problem or the
Administration: Is Public ^ ^ No. 4.
Solution?”, Public Administration, ■ Performance
Brumby. J.. 1999, “OECD (pMF), Vol. 5.
Contracting Pays”, Public Manag
No. 3: 6-7.

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