Introduction to Public Administration Questions and Answers

Q: New public service :(1) Serves the customer(2) Serves the citizens(3) Emphasizes on productivity(4) Emphasizes on public interestCodes :

The correct code is (2) and (4).Janet and Robert Denhardt's New Public Service holds that public servants should serve citizens, not customers (2), and that the public interest is the aim, to be built through shared dialogue, not a by-product of individual choices (4).Statement (1), serving the customer, and statement (3), emphasis on productivity, are the language of New Public Management, the approach the New Public Service was written to answer. So any code including (1) or (3) is wrong.

Q: The approach which tried to establish linkages between the study of Public Administration and the institutions of Government is :

The approach is the institutional approach.The institutional (structural) approach, the earliest approach in the discipline, studies public administration through the formal institutions of government: the constitution, the executive, departments, legislatures and courts, their legal powers and their relations with each other.The behavioural approach studies how people actually behave in organisations. The structural-functional approach analyses the functions that structures perform in a social system. The ecological approach studies administration in relation to its environment. None centres on the institutions of government as such.

Q: The relationship in which a superior exercises direct supervision over a subordinate is :

Direct supervision of a subordinate by a superior is line authority.Line authority runs down the chain of command: each superior has the right to give orders to, and is responsible for, the subordinates directly below. It is the relationship of command and control that connects the top of an organisation to its operating level, and it is the basis of the scalar principle.Staff authority is advisory: staff units such as planning or research cells advise line officers but do not command them. Auxiliary (or housekeeping) agencies, such as personnel or purchase departments, provide common services to the line. Neither involves direct supervision of subordinates in the line of command, so the options built on staff or auxiliary authority are wrong.

Q: It is not a factor of internal coordination :

The keyed answer is high level conferences.The key treats ability of superiors, skill of subordinates and singleness of purpose as conditions or factors on which good internal coordination depends: capable leaders, capable staff and a common aim. A high level conference is different in kind. It is a device or technique that a head of department uses to bring the parts of the organisation together, along with committees, liaison officers and staff meetings.That is the distinction between a factor and a technique that the keyed answer rests on. I could not trace the exact textbook list of factors the paper follows, so the question depends on that list; conferences are a standard technique of coordination, which fits the key.

Q: ''It is a form that authority assumes when it enters into a process'' ? This is true of :

The definition is of leadership.James D. Mooney and Alan C. Reiley, in their analysis of the principles of organisation, described leadership as the form that authority assumes when it enters into process. Authority is the right to command that comes with a position; leadership is that authority in action, guiding and directing the work of others.Communication is the transmission of information and understanding, coordination is the orderly arrangement of group effort to achieve unity of action, and motivation is what moves people to act. Each is related to authority, but the phrase 'the form authority assumes when it enters into process' is the classical definition of leadership.

Q: Assertion (A) Reason (R) Pattern :Assertion (A) : Publicness in Public Administration is a complex-structured concept.Reason (R) : Public Administration differs from private administration with regard to at least three major dimensions-locus (agency), focus (public interest) and access (openness).Codes :

The keyed answer is both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).(A) is true: publicness is not one simple property, because a body can be public in several respects at once, such as ownership, funding, control and the purpose it serves. (R) is also true: public administration differs from private administration in the locus (which agency), the focus (the public interest) and the access (openness) that it has.The key holds that (R) lists the dimensions in which public and private administration differ, which is a different statement from saying why publicness itself is complex-structured, so (R) is true but not the explanation. This is a matter of judgement, because one can also read the three dimensions as the structure of the concept; I follow the key. Codes C and D are wrong because both statements are true.

Q: Supervision is to :

The keyed answer is fitting each person harmoniously into the working group.The key follows a textbook definition of supervision as the direct guidance of employees that gets each worker to see his place in the team and to work with the others for the purpose of the organisation. On that view supervision is about integrating the individual into the group, which is why the key prefers this option.Checking compliance with instructions (A), detecting wrongdoing (B) and controlling staff (D) are also things supervisors do, and some texts list them as purposes of supervision. I could not identify the exact source of the definition the key uses, so this question rests on the keyed textbook reading and the other three options should not be called wrong in general.

Q: Lateral entry is the form of recruitment normally considered for :

Lateral entry is normally considered for higher level positions.Lateral entry brings in specialists from outside the regular service, from the private sector, academia or other organisations, directly at senior or middle-to-senior levels, to supply expertise that the career service lacks. In India the government invited applications from 2018 for lateral entry at the level of Joint Secretary, and later at Director and Deputy Secretary, in central ministries.Lower positions are filled by regular direct recruitment of young entrants, which is the normal career-service route. Lateral entry is useful precisely where specialised, mature expertise is needed, which is at higher levels.

Q: Promotion means :

Promotion means a change in responsibility and designation.A promotion moves an employee to a higher post in the hierarchy. It brings greater duties and responsibilities, a higher designation or rank, and usually higher pay and status. Both elements are needed; promotion is upward movement, not merely a new title or new tasks.A change in responsibilities alone may be a reallocation of work at the same level, and a change in designation alone may be only a renaming. A transfer is a move to another post of the same rank and pay, which is horizontal rather than upward, so it is the opposite of promotion.

Q: Informal training is imparted through :

Informal training is imparted through the trial and error method.Informal training is the learning that happens on the job, without a planned course: the employee picks up skills by doing the work, making mistakes, observing colleagues and correcting themselves over time. Trial and error is the typical way this happens.The syndicate method (small groups studying a problem and reporting), the lecture method and the case study method are all techniques of formal training. They are planned, conducted by trainers and usually held in a training institution, which is what distinguishes formal from informal training.

21.

New public service :

(1) Serves the customer
(2) Serves the citizens
(3) Emphasizes on productivity
(4) Emphasizes on public interest

Codes :

A.(1) and (2)
B.(2) and (4)
C.(1), (2) and (4)
D.(1), (2), (3) and (4)

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2020, SET Exam - 2020,

Answer: B

The correct code is (2) and (4).

Janet and Robert Denhardt's New Public Service holds that public servants should serve citizens, not customers (2), and that the public interest is the aim, to be built through shared dialogue, not a by-product of individual choices (4).

Statement (1), serving the customer, and statement (3), emphasis on productivity, are the language of New Public Management, the approach the New Public Service was written to answer. So any code including (1) or (3) is wrong.

Discuss in Forum

22.

The approach which tried to establish linkages between the study of Public Administration and the institutions of Government is :

A.Behvioural approach
B.Institutional approach
C.Structural-functional approach
D.Ecological approach

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2020, SET Exam - 2020,

Answer: B

The approach is the institutional approach.

The institutional (structural) approach, the earliest approach in the discipline, studies public administration through the formal institutions of government: the constitution, the executive, departments, legislatures and courts, their legal powers and their relations with each other.

The behavioural approach studies how people actually behave in organisations. The structural-functional approach analyses the functions that structures perform in a social system. The ecological approach studies administration in relation to its environment. None centres on the institutions of government as such.

Discuss in Forum

23.

The relationship in which a superior exercises direct supervision over a subordinate is :

A.Staff authority
B.Line authority
C.Auxiliary authority
D.Both staff and auxiliary authority

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: B

Direct supervision of a subordinate by a superior is line authority.

Line authority runs down the chain of command: each superior has the right to give orders to, and is responsible for, the subordinates directly below. It is the relationship of command and control that connects the top of an organisation to its operating level, and it is the basis of the scalar principle.

Staff authority is advisory: staff units such as planning or research cells advise line officers but do not command them. Auxiliary (or housekeeping) agencies, such as personnel or purchase departments, provide common services to the line. Neither involves direct supervision of subordinates in the line of command, so the options built on staff or auxiliary authority are wrong.

Discuss in Forum

24.

It is not a factor of internal coordination :

A.Ability of superiors
B.Skill of subordinates
C.Singleness of purpose
D.High level conferences

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: D

The keyed answer is high level conferences.

The key treats ability of superiors, skill of subordinates and singleness of purpose as conditions or factors on which good internal coordination depends: capable leaders, capable staff and a common aim. A high level conference is different in kind. It is a device or technique that a head of department uses to bring the parts of the organisation together, along with committees, liaison officers and staff meetings.

That is the distinction between a factor and a technique that the keyed answer rests on. I could not trace the exact textbook list of factors the paper follows, so the question depends on that list; conferences are a standard technique of coordination, which fits the key.

Discuss in Forum

25.

''It is a form that authority assumes when it enters into a process'' ? This is true of :

A.Communication
B.Coordination
C.Leadership
D.Motivation

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: C

The definition is of leadership.

James D. Mooney and Alan C. Reiley, in their analysis of the principles of organisation, described leadership as the form that authority assumes when it enters into process. Authority is the right to command that comes with a position; leadership is that authority in action, guiding and directing the work of others.

Communication is the transmission of information and understanding, coordination is the orderly arrangement of group effort to achieve unity of action, and motivation is what moves people to act. Each is related to authority, but the phrase 'the form authority assumes when it enters into process' is the classical definition of leadership.

Discuss in Forum

26.

Assertion (A) Reason (R) Pattern :

Assertion (A) : Publicness in Public Administration is a complex-structured concept.
Reason (R) : Public Administration differs from private administration with regard to at least three major dimensions-locus (agency), focus (public interest) and access (openness).

Codes :

A.Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)
B.Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
C.(A) is true but (R) is false
D.(A) is false but (R) is true

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: B

The keyed answer is both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).

(A) is true: publicness is not one simple property, because a body can be public in several respects at once, such as ownership, funding, control and the purpose it serves. (R) is also true: public administration differs from private administration in the locus (which agency), the focus (the public interest) and the access (openness) that it has.

The key holds that (R) lists the dimensions in which public and private administration differ, which is a different statement from saying why publicness itself is complex-structured, so (R) is true but not the explanation. This is a matter of judgement, because one can also read the three dimensions as the structure of the concept; I follow the key. Codes C and D are wrong because both statements are true.

Discuss in Forum

27.

Supervision is to :

A.Check compliance with instructions
B.Deter or detect wrong doing
C.Fitting each person harmoniously into the working group
D.Control staff

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: C

The keyed answer is fitting each person harmoniously into the working group.

The key follows a textbook definition of supervision as the direct guidance of employees that gets each worker to see his place in the team and to work with the others for the purpose of the organisation. On that view supervision is about integrating the individual into the group, which is why the key prefers this option.

Checking compliance with instructions (A), detecting wrongdoing (B) and controlling staff (D) are also things supervisors do, and some texts list them as purposes of supervision. I could not identify the exact source of the definition the key uses, so this question rests on the keyed textbook reading and the other three options should not be called wrong in general.

Discuss in Forum

28.

Lateral entry is the form of recruitment normally considered for :

A.Lower level positions
B.Middle level positions
C.Higher level positions
D.Lower and middle level positions

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: C

Lateral entry is normally considered for higher level positions.

Lateral entry brings in specialists from outside the regular service, from the private sector, academia or other organisations, directly at senior or middle-to-senior levels, to supply expertise that the career service lacks. In India the government invited applications from 2018 for lateral entry at the level of Joint Secretary, and later at Director and Deputy Secretary, in central ministries.

Lower positions are filled by regular direct recruitment of young entrants, which is the normal career-service route. Lateral entry is useful precisely where specialised, mature expertise is needed, which is at higher levels.

Discuss in Forum

29.

Promotion means :

A.Change in responsibilities
B.Change in responsibility and designation
C.Transfer
D.Change in designation

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: B

Promotion means a change in responsibility and designation.

A promotion moves an employee to a higher post in the hierarchy. It brings greater duties and responsibilities, a higher designation or rank, and usually higher pay and status. Both elements are needed; promotion is upward movement, not merely a new title or new tasks.

A change in responsibilities alone may be a reallocation of work at the same level, and a change in designation alone may be only a renaming. A transfer is a move to another post of the same rank and pay, which is horizontal rather than upward, so it is the opposite of promotion.

Discuss in Forum

30.

Informal training is imparted through :

A.Syndicate method
B.Lecture method
C.Trial and Error method
D.Case study method

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: C

Informal training is imparted through the trial and error method.

Informal training is the learning that happens on the job, without a planned course: the employee picks up skills by doing the work, making mistakes, observing colleagues and correcting themselves over time. Trial and error is the typical way this happens.

The syndicate method (small groups studying a problem and reporting), the lecture method and the case study method are all techniques of formal training. They are planned, conducted by trainers and usually held in a training institution, which is what distinguishes formal from informal training.

Introduction to Public Administration Questions and Answers

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