Theories of Public Administration

The classical or bureaucratic theory has been the leading theory to describe and explain how public sector organizations had to be structured and operated since the late 19th century. The classical theory was characterized by hierarchical organizational structure and functioning, neutrality, expertise, written rules and duties. Rationalistic logic was applied to the field of public administration. Economy, efficiency, and effectiveness were the main principles in providing services and goods.

Weber’s ‘bureaucratic model’ referred to an ideal type of formal hierarchical organization governed by written rules and duties, rationality, efficiency, expertise, and neutrality. It is considered as an ideal type of formal hierarchical organizations because it is rather an idea that can be applied in various civic, private or public organizational settings.

These experiments identify human relations as a significant aspect of the neoclassical approach to public administration and organizations in general. These experiments aimed at measuring the productivity of employees by manipulating variables in the physical environment such as temperature, humidity, light, work schedules etc.

What differentiates the neoclassical theory from the classical theory in studying organizations is the emphasis it places on the human aspect of organization and social relationships among personnel. The neoclassical theory introduced ‘informal organization’ and the influence of human behavior and informal groups into the study of organization in order to demonstrate how human actions affected formal organizational processes.

1. Personnel as one of the most critical assets in organizations

2. Limited rather than full rationality in organizational functioning

3. Organizations as human systems as well as rule-bound structures

4. Recognition of management’s role in effective communication, coordination, and decision-making

5. Human-related factors as important variables in shaping the morale and satisfaction of employees, productivity and organizational performance

6. Participation, motivation, communication, and wider span of control as the main principles guiding public and private organizations along with efficiency, economy, and effectiveness

Modern theorists consider organizations as complex and diverse entities that include various social groups. These groups interact among themselves and with the environment but may not necessarily share common values. There may also be conflicts between upper management and personnel and between the necessities of a formal structure and the needs of personnel, leading to poor communications and motivation and confusing bases of authority.

The state apparatus as a complex system consists of at least two parts. These are the political subsystem determining policies and the administrative subsystem implementing these policies. The political subsystem as the elected body (i.e., government, national or local assembly) makes decisions or policies due to its representative democratic power. The second one is the implementing subsystem or the appointed bureaucracy (i.e. public administration) that carries out the determined policies.

NPA was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when there were rapid changes, social movements, a dominance of social democracy, and an enlarging welfare state and its public bureaucracy, especially in North America and Western Europe.

The “learning organizations” movement focuses on creating a culture that guarantees a common understanding of the goals of the organization and then allows open questioning of assumptions, actions, and consequences. Instead of depending upon one-time improvements, breakthroughs or quality control after production, more emphasis is laid on continuous quality control, improvement throughout production processes, and learning.

Theory Z emphasizes participative management, shared values, and organizational culture. It is characterized by personnel policies built upon trust, lifelong and steady employment, and a holistic approach to career planning.

It stands for Total Quality Management

The market-based approaches emphasize marketization, privatization, competitiveness, customer orientation, self-sufficiency, self-interest, choice, cost-effectiveness, economy, efficiency, decentralization, and flexibility.

The concept of the ‘political market’ refers to the political process with its institutions and actors within the framework of the free market and neoliberalism. It includes the governments, politicians, the political process (such as elections, political campaigns), bureaucrats, voters, interest groups, business persons, and anyone or any group who is affected by the policies of the state, and who attempts to influence political outcomes.

The NPM is mainly concerned with efficient and economic management of public agencies and cutting the costs of or terminating public services even at the expense of meeting basic citizen needs. The NPM proposes the adoption of business management techniques, practices, and values by the public sector, such as privatization, contracting out, downsizing or rightsizing, and entrepreneurialism.

The public governance approach (PGA) is a response to “the contradictions and uncertainties engendered by political, economic, societal, technological and environmental changes.” Ungovernability problems force governments at all levels to share responsibilities and involve other actors, such as civic and private organizations, who could contribute to resolving common socio-economic issues. It offers a new view of public administration and underlines that public administration functions in a political milieu interwoven by laws, regulations, democratic values, and citizen preferences and needs to balance organizational and political concerns to secure the common good.

The market-oriented approaches underline the free market mechanisms and values such as competitiveness, choice, efficiency, economy, and customer orientation in public service production and delivery. They also promote the use of market techniques such as privatization, contracting out, downsizing the public sector, and provision of public services by civic and private organizations, all of which are new ideas going beyond the classical, neoclassical, or modern approaches.

According to the classical theory, organizational culture mainly involves command, control, discipline and subordination. 

PGA views the role of the state as a balanced presence of civic-public-private sectors & supervising state. 

The NPM views structure as top-down and decentralized.

In its future prospects, public administration should focus on serving the public in the public interest, diminishing polarization, teaching diversity, and building community with a focus on democratic participation and the common good. It is also about building networks of various groups and interests through collaboration that can work effectively to develop policies to solve public problems and establish fair future directions for the community.