Polity
Public Administration
Public Administration — Quick Revision
One-page CGPSC quick revision for Public Administration: thinkers, books, years, NPA, public vs private and Riggs' models in tables for Mains revision.
Every thinker, book, year and model from the Public Administration chapter on one page. For explanations, go back to the chapter.
How to use this sheet
Scan it top to bottom in the week before Mains. Bold entries are the names and years examiners return to most often. For each block, practise one 60-word answer from memory.
Timeline of the Discipline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1887 | Woodrow Wilson, “The Study of Administration” (Political Science Quarterly) — father of the discipline |
| 1900 | Frank Goodnow, Politics and Administration — start of the dichotomy paradigm |
| 1926 | L.D. White, Introduction to the Study of Public Administration — first textbook |
| 1927 | W.F. Willoughby, Principles of Public Administration |
| 1937 | Gulick and Urwick, Papers on the Science of Administration — POSDCORB |
| 1945 | Paul Appleby, Big Democracy — “government is different” |
| 1946–1948 | Simon (“Proverbs”, 1946; Administrative Behavior, 1947), Dahl (three problems, 1947), Waldo (The Administrative State, 1948); Gaus (ecology, 1947) |
| 1953 / 1954 | Appleby’s report on Indian administration / IIPA set up |
| 1960 | Comparative Administration Group (ASPA, chair Riggs, Ford Foundation) |
| 1961 / 1964 | Riggs, The Ecology of Public Administration / Administration in Developing Countries (prismatic society) |
| 1966 | Ferrel Heady, Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective; India’s First ARC |
| 1968 | Minnowbrook I (convened by Waldo) — New Public Administration |
| 1971 | Marini (ed.), Toward a New Public Administration |
| 1973 | CAG disbanded; work continued in ASPA’s SICA |
| 1975 | Nicholas Henry, five paradigms |
| 1988 / 2008 | Minnowbrook II / Minnowbrook III |
| 1991 / 1992 | Hood, “A Public Management for All Seasons?” / Osborne and Gaebler, Reinventing Government (NPM) |
| 2000 | Denhardt and Denhardt, New Public Service |
| 2005 | India’s Second ARC (Veerappa Moily; 15 reports) |
Key Facts by Topic
| Topic | Fact |
|---|---|
| Broad vs narrow view | Broad: all three branches (Nigro, White); narrow: executive only (Simon, Gulick) |
| Integral vs managerial | Integral: all activities (White, Dimock); managerial: top-level management (Gulick, Simon) |
| “What and how” | Dimock: subject matter + technique |
| POSDCORB | Planning, Organising, Staffing, Directing, Co-ordinating, Reporting, Budgeting |
| Henry’s paradigms | Dichotomy 1900–26; Principles 1927–37; PA as political science 1950–70; PA as management 1956–70; PA as PA 1970– |
| Dahl’s three problems | Normative values; human behaviour; social setting |
| Stamp’s four principles | Uniformity, external financial control, ministerial responsibility, marginal return |
| Appleby’s three features | Breadth of scope; public accountability; political character |
| Generic school | Fayol, Urwick, Follett |
| NPA goals | Relevance, values, social equity, change |
| Social equity | H. George Frederickson |
| Riggs’ trends | Normative → empirical; idiographic → nomothetic; non-ecological → ecological |
| Heady’s approaches | Modified traditional; development-oriented; general system model-building; middle-range (Weber) |
| Riggs’ societies | Fused (chamber) – Prismatic (sala) – Diffracted (bureau) |
| Prismatic features | Heterogeneity, formalism, overlapping |
| Development administration | Term: U.L. Goswami (1955); Weidner: action- and goal-oriented; Gant often called its father |
| DA vs AD | Administration of development vs development of administration; “chicken and egg” |
Chhattisgarh Examples for Mains
| Example | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Lok Sewa Guarantee Act, 2011 (Act No. 23 of 2011) | Accountability, citizen service, administrative development |
| Food Security Act, 2012 (December 2012) | Social equity (NPA), rights-based development administration |
| Good Governance and Convergence Department (2024) | Administrative development, co-ordination |
| Niyad Nellanar (2024) — services to villages within 5 km of security camps in Bastar | Relevance, client focus, development in conflict areas |
| 10 aspirational districts at the 2018 launch (Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Kanker, Kondagaon, Korba, Mahasamund, Narayanpur, Rajnandgaon, Sukma) | Development administration, outcome focus |
| District Collector | Integral administrator; pivot of development administration |
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|---|---|
| Wilson (1887 essay) | vs | Goodnow (1900 book, Politics and Administration) |
| POSDCORB — Gulick | vs | POCCC — Fayol |
| Stamp — four principles of difference | vs | Appleby — “government is different”, three features |
| Minnowbrook convened by Waldo | vs | Book edited by Marini |
| NPA — equity, client (1968) | vs | NPM — efficiency, customer (1980s–90s); NPS — citizen (2000) |
| “Steering rather than rowing” — Osborne and Gaebler (NPM) | vs | “Serving rather than steering” — Denhardts (NPS) |
| Sala — prismatic society | vs | Bureau — diffracted society; chamber — fused society |
| Development administration | vs | Administrative development |
| Comparative Administration Group (CAG, 1960) | vs | Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG, Art 148) |
Favourite trap
“Frank Marini convened the Minnowbrook Conference of 1968.” Wrong. Dwight Waldo convened it; Marini edited the 1971 volume Toward a New Public Administration: The Minnowbrook Perspective.
Second favourite trap
“Henri Fayol held that public administration is different from business.” Wrong. Fayol is the classic generic thinker: his principles apply to all undertakings. The “difference” arguments are Appleby’s and Stamp’s.
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