PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SYLLABUS

Public Administration Syllabus for Preliminary Examination

1. Introduction :

- Meaning, scope and significance.

-Evolution and status of the discipline.

-Comparative Public Administration and Development Administration.

- Public and Private Administration: State versus market debate.

-New Pubic Administration.

- New Public Management perspective.

2. Basic concepts and principles :

- Organisation,

- hierarchy,

-Unity of command,

-Span of control,

-Authority and Responsibility,

-Co-ordination,

-Centralization and Decentralization,

-Delegation, Supervision, Line and Staff.

3. Theories of Administration :

- Scientific Management (Taylor and the Scientific Management Movement),

-Classical Theory (Fayol, Urwick, Gulick and others)

- Bureaucratic Theory (Weber and his critics).

-Ideas of Mary Parker Follett and C.I. Barnard;

-Human Relations School (Elton Mayo and others).

-Behavioral Approach, Systems approach.

4. Administrative Behaviour :

- Decision making with special reference to H. Simon,

-communication and control,

-leadership theories.

-Theories of motivation (Maslow and Herzberg)

5. Accountability and Control :

- The concepts of Accountability and control : Legislative, executive and judicial control.

-Citizen and Administration: Role of civil society, people's participation and Right to Information.

6. Administrative Systems :

-Comparative administrative features of:

USA,

Great Britain,

France and

Japan.

7. Personnel Administration :

- Role of Civil Service in developing societies;

-position classification, Recruitment,Training,Promotion, Pay and Service conditions.

-Relations with the Political Executive;

- Administrative Ethics.

8. Financial Administration :

-Budget: Concepts and forms.

-Formulation and execution of budget,

-deficit financing and public debt,

-Accounts and Audit.

9. Union Government and Administration in India. British legacy :

-Constitutional context of Indian Administration;

-The President, Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers;

-Central Secretariat;

-Cabinet Secretariat, Prime Minister's Office, Planning Commission;

-Finance Commission;

- Election Commission;

-Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.

-Public enterprises: Patterns, role performance and impact of liberalization.

10. Civil Services in India :

-Recruitment to All India and Central Services.

-Union Public Service Commission;

-Training of Civil Servants.

-Generalists and Specialists.

-Minister-Civil Servant relationship.

11. State and District Administration :

-Governor,

-Chief Minister,

-Secretariat,

-Chief Secretary,

-Directorates,

-District Collector: changing role.

12. Local Government :

-Panchayati Raj and Urban local Government:

Main features,

structures,

finances and problem areas.

- 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments.

Public Administration Syllabus for Main Examination

PAPER-1

Administrative theory

1. Introduction:

-Meaning, scope and significance of Public Administration;

-Wilson’s vision of Public Administration;

-Evolution of the discipline and its present status;

- New Public Administration; Public Choice approach;

-Challenges of liberalization, Privatisation, Globalisation;

- Good Governance: concept and application;

- New Public Management.

2. Administrative Thought:

-Scientific Management and Scientific Management movement;

-Classical Theory;

- Weber’s bureaucratic model – its critique and post-Weberian Developments;

-Dynamic Administration (Mary Parker Follett);

- Human Relations School (Elton Mayo and others);

- Functions of the Executive (C.I. Barnard); Simon’s decision-making theory;

-Participative Management (R. Likert, C.Argyris, D.McGregor).

3. Administrative Behaviour:

-Process and techniques of decision-making;

-Communication;

-Morale;

-Motivation Theories – content, process and contemporary;

- Theories of Leadership: Traditional and Modern.

4. Organisations:

-Theories – systems, contingency;

-Structure and forms: Ministries and Departments, Corporations, Companies, Boards and Commissions;

- Ad hoc and advisory bodies;

- Headquarters and Field relationships;

- Regulatory Authorities;

- Public - Private Partnerships.

5. Accountability and control:

-Concepts of accountability and control;

- Legislative, Executive and Judicial control over administration;

- Citizen and Administration;

- Role of media, interest groups, voluntary organizations;

- Civil society;

- Citizen’s Charters;

-Right to Information;

-Social audit.

6. Administrative Law:

-Meaning, scope and significance;

-Dicey on Administrative law;

- Delegated legislation;

-Administrative Tribunals.

7. Comparative Public Administration:

-Historical and sociological factors affecting administrative systems;

- Administration and politics in different countries;

- Current status of Comparative Public Administration;

-Ecology and administration;

- Riggsian models and their critique.

8. Development Dynamics:

-Concept of development;

-Changing profile of development administration;

- ‘Anti-development thesis’;

- Bureaucracy and development;

-Strong state versus the market debate;

-Impact of liberalisation on administration in developing countries;

- Women and development – the self-help group movement.

9. Personnel Administration:

-Importance of human resource development;

-Recruitment, training, career advancement, position classification, discipline, performance appraisal, promotion, pay and service conditions;

- employer-employee relations, grievance redressal mechanism;

-Code of conduct;

-Administrative ethics.

10. Public Policy:

-Models of policy-making and their critique;

- Processes of conceptualisation, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and review and their limitations;

-State theories and public policy formulation.

11. Techniques of Administrative Improvement:

-Organisation and methods, Work study and work management; e-governance and information technology;

-Management aid tools like network analysis, MIS, PERT, CPM.

12. Financial Administration:

-Monetary and fiscal policies;

- Public borrowings and public debt Budgets - types and forms;

-Budgetary process;

- Financial accountability;

- Accounts and audit.

PAPER-2

Indian Administration

1. Evolution of Indian Administration:

-Kautilya’s Arthashastra;

- Mughal administration;

-Legacy of British rule in politics and administration - Indianization of public services, revenue administration, district administration, local self-government.

2. Philosophical and Constitutional framework of government:

-Salient features and value premises;

-Constitutionalism;

-Political culture;

- Bureaucracy and democracy;

-Bureaucracy and development.

3. Public Sector Undertakings:

-Public sector in modern India;

- Forms of Public Sector Undertakings;

- Problems of autonomy, accountability and control;

- Impact of liberalization and privatization.

4. Union Government and Administration:

-Executive, Parliament, Judiciary - structure, functions, work processes;

- Recent trends;

-Intragovernmental relations;

- Cabinet Secretariat;

- Prime Minister’s Office;

- Central Secretariat;

-Ministries and Departments;

-Boards;

- Commissions;

-Attached offices;

-Field organizations.

5. Plans and Priorities:

-Machinery of planning;

- Role, composition and functions of the Planning Commission and the National Development Council;

-‘Indicative’ planning;

- Process of plan formulation at Union and State levels;

-Constitutional Amendments (1992) and decentralized planning for economic development and social justice.

6. State Government and Administration:

-Union-State administrative, legislative and financial relations;

-Role of the Finance Commission;

-Governor;

-Chief Minister;

- Council of Ministers;

- Chief Secretary;

-State Secretariat;

- Directorates.

7. District Administration since Independence:

-Changing role of the Collector;

-Union-state-local relations;

- Imperatives of development management and law and order administration;

-District administration and democratic decentralization.

8. Civil Services:

-Constitutional position;

- Structure, recruitment, training and capacity-building;

- Good governance initiatives;

- Code of conduct and discipline;

-Staff associations;

-Political rights;

-Grievance redressal mechanism;

-Civil service neutrality;

- Civil service activism.

9. Financial Management:

-Budget as a political instrument;

-Parliamentary control of public expenditure;

- Role of finance ministry in monetary and fiscal area;

- Accounting techniques;

- Audit;

-Role of Controller General of Accounts and Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

10. Administrative Reforms since Independence:

-Major concerns;

- Important Committees and Commissions;

-Reforms in financial management and human resource development;

- Problems of implementation.

11. Rural Development:

-Institutions and agencies since independence;

- Rural development programmes: foci and strategies; Decentralization and Panchayati Raj;

-73rd Constitutional amendment.

12. Urban Local Government:

-Municipal governance: main features, structures, finance and problem areas;

-74th Constitutional Amendment;

- Global-local debate;

- New localism;

- Development dynamics, politics and administration with special reference to city management.

13. Law and Order Administration:

-British legacy;

- National Police Commission;

- Investigative agencies;

- Role of central and state agencies including paramilitary forces in maintenance of law and order and countering insurgency and terrorism;

- Criminalisation of politics and administration;

-Police-public relations;

-Reforms in Police.

14. Significant issues in Indian Administration:

-Values in public service;

- Regulatory Commissions;

- National Human Rights Commission;

- Problems of administration in coalition regimes;

-Citizen-administration interface;

- Corruption and administration;

-Disaster management.