Introduction to Public Administration Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The definition of administration as determined action taken in pursuit of a conscious purpose is attributed to Z.A. Vieg, as the answer key records. The definition stresses that administration is purposeful and goal directed, not casual activity.

Pfiffner, Nigro and Marshall Dimock are also well known writers on public administration, but each is cited for differently worded definitions, such as Pfiffner's description of getting the work of government done by coordinating people's efforts, so they are not the source of this sentence.

Answer: A

The first statement, that public administration aims at social welfare while private administration is profit oriented, is not one of the three distinctions made by Simon.

Simon summarised the popular distinctions as: public administration is bureaucratic while private administration is business like, public administration is political while private administration is non-political, and public administration is characterised by red tape from which private administration is free. The contrast of welfare and profit is a commonly given difference in textbooks, but it is not among those three, and so it is the answer.

Answer: D

The statement that Woodrow Wilson was the Chairman of the American Society for Public Administration is not correct. The Society was founded in 1939, many years after his time, and he was not its chairman.

The other statements are correct. Wilson was a professor of political science and later the President of the United States, and he is regarded as the first comparativist in public administration, since his 1887 essay 'The Study of Administration' advised learning from European administrative systems.

Answer: D

All four statements are major concerns of the discipline, so the answer is (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv).

Public Administration is concerned with how administration absorbs democratic principles such as accountability and participation, how sensitive it is to policy, how innovative, proactive and willing to take risks it is, and how well the administration and government cope with the demands of a changing and challenging environment. Each of these is a live concern of the modern discipline.

The options with fewer items each leave out at least one of these concerns, and nothing in the stem excludes any of them, so only the full set is right.

Answer: B

The key assigns this definition to the Third Minnowbrook Conference (2008), whose participants reworked the field around relationships, dialogue and collective action for human flourishing, instead of narrow efficiency or market ideas.

New Public Administration (the first Minnowbrook, 1968) stressed social equity and relevance. New Public Management stressed markets, performance and managerial freedom. New Public Service, of Denhardt and Denhardt, stressed serving citizens and not steering. Each has its own emphasis and none uses this wording.

Answer: A

The key credits the view that the scope of public administration is limited to three factors, men, materials and methods, to P. McQueen. It is a narrow managerial view, which looks only at the means of getting work done and leaves out the content of policy.

Mooney and Reiley are known for their principles of organization, namely coordination, the scalar process, the functional principle and staff-line, not for a three-factor scope. 'None of the above' is wrong because the statement is attributed to one of the persons named.

Answer: D

POSDCORB activities are not a matter of difference between public and private administration. Planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting are needed in every large organization, public or private, so they are common ground.

The differences lie elsewhere. Public bodies aim at public welfare and satisfaction, not profit. Their actions and decisions are open to public scrutiny, by legislatures, courts and the press. They must also act with consistency and impartiality, as equal treatment is a legal duty in government.

Answer: B

Felix Nigro lists four basic similarities between public and private administration: the bureaucratic element (both are large organisations with hierarchy and rules), the concept of techniques of scientific management, the human relations approach, and the use of similar management techniques. The key gives service and cost as the item that is not among the four. Both sectors do differ in service motive and cost recovery, so this is a point of difference more than a similarity, which is why the second option is the answer. Nigro and Nigro treat the two sectors as alike in their management methods, though they differ in their goals and in the public accountability that applies.

Answer: B

An economy in which the public sector and the private sector both grow and play significant roles is a mixed economy. A socialist economy is owned and run by the state, a capitalist economy depends on private ownership and the market, and a planned economy is one directed by a central plan. India chose the mixed economy in the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1948 and later. So mixed economy is the answer. The Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 later set out which industries were left to the state and which to private enterprise.

Answer: A

The statement that public administration is constrained by the Constitution and relatively unconstrained by market forces, and is a public trust exercised on behalf of the sovereign, is attributed to Rosenbloom, who writes on the constitutional approach to public administration.

Wallace Sayre is known for the remark that public and private administration are alike in all unimportant respects. Lipsky wrote on street-level bureaucracy and Peter Blau on organisations, so those options are not the source.