Comparative public administration After the World War II, there was a misconception that public administrative system could be applied uniformly across the world. However, this was not the case as the western kind of weberian bureaucracy could not apply in some areas.
This then brought a need for a comparative study, considering the environment that the system is to apply, a study of which brought the advent of Comparative Public Administration. This is the study and analysis of different administrative systems from different social, geographical and cultural backgrounds, then putting them on a balance.Robert Jackson believes that there is need to come up with a science of Public Administration. To achieve this, the various patterns of administrative behaviour across different administrative systems need to be brought together then subjected to rigorous systematic analysis. This would bring about a body of knowledge in Public Administration.
Jackson argues that there should be a full exploration of the administrative systems across other cultures for purposes of analysis with empirical findings being put together for scientific analysis.By doing this, hypotheses may be drawn on administrative patterns, and then those that are found to be universally applicable integrated into a general Public Administration theory. The Comparative Administrative Group has expanded their definition of Comparative Public Administration to include the practice and the theory of the subject. They define it in terms of theory of applied Public Administration across cultures and national sceneries, as well as the accurate data by which it can be inflated and tested. Nature of Comparative Public AdministrationFerral Heady has categorised Comparative Public Administration into four.
The first category is the modified traditional focus of research, and has to do with administrative institutions and organisations, organisational structure, local administration and administrative system of public sector industrial units. This is characterised by a comparison of administrative functions and systems in the west on the basis of their civil service. The second focus is on the development oriented research. This deals with the omnipresent socio-economic and political changes.
Due to the current trend of globalisation, these changes have to find a way of being harnessed for the better of society: public administration has to provide a solution for this. General system model building is the third focus. It has no specific area or system of focus, but rather the whole complexity of Public Administration. It studies the whole administrative system relative to the environment in place. The middle range theory is then the last focus and this considers a particular administrative system.
It is the mirror image of the general system model building.Fred Riggs has laid three trends he believes are taking place in the study of Comparative Public Administration. The first one is the shift from normative to empirical orientation. According to him, traditionally the study was centred on norms rather than factual basis. Thanks to Behaviouralist Revolution, current studies are based on hard facts. The second shift is one from ideographic to nomothetic orientation.
Ideographic concentrates on particularities or unique cases, as opposed to nomothetic which focuses on generalities and regularities. The final one is the shift from non-ecological to ecological orientation.Initially, administration did not consider environment in its study. There is always interaction between the people and the environment, and so a society cannot be understood without regard to environments, thus the need for the shift.
Scope of Comparative Public Administration Just like the scope of Public Administration, the scope of Comparative Public Administration is in doubt, though the ubiquity is not. However, attempts have been made at setting the scope, with scholars arguing that it studies public administrative system of a country or a culture and of different countries and cultures.Comparative public administration studies the democratic institutions an Comparative public administration studies the democratic institutions and systems of different countries, the causes of success or failure of distinct democratic institutions, how the concept is applied and the level of success of a democratic system. Political systems are also studied, as of the working of a parliamentary system in one country, as compared to another with the same system or different like the presidential in the United States.
The different methods of controlling administration are also studied.Different political systems have different ways of administration. The way administration in a unitary totalitarian regime works is different from the way operations of administration are run in a decentralised liberal democracy. The workings of the three traditional arms of government also vary with the political system in place. Control and management of human resources is also within the scope of the study. It does not only consider methods of employee administration but also individual employees in their social life.
Thus problems and grievances are addressed in Comparative Public Administration. In the developing world, there are often cases of industrial action on the base of working conditions and remunerations, issues which are not pronounced in the affluent societies. Work place discipline is also relatively higher in the developed world as opposed to the least developed countries which wallow in the miasma of poverty, corruption and political impunity. In the hobbesian sate of nature, life was brutish, short, and characterised by fratricidal bloodletting.The state came in to bring sanity and order. A welfare state therefore emerged to take care of its citizens, and so Comparative Public Administration studies the different ways of administering a welfare state with due cognisance of the social, economic and cultural environment.
The workings of the traditional three arms of government are studied relative to different political systems. The role of the head of state in a parliamentary system like in the United Kingdom where real power rests with the monarch, and that of , say, the United States where real power is vested in the President.In such cases, the study considers the influence of the head of state in administration of the state. The subject also studies administrative systems in presidential systems, like in France and the United S the United States has separation of powers with a strict system of checks and balances. Comparative Public Administration studies institutions at international levels. The changing paradigms in international relations brought about by globalisation, terrorism, piracy, global warming, etc all are within the scope.
It studies the operations of local self institutions in different countries, as well. As the study intensifies, the scope of study widens. With globalisation developing at an ever faster rate, so is the exchange of ideas on public administration reforms. International conferences and seminars have been organised around the world to have a way for public administration and has worked to widen the scope of study. An example is the introduction in Kenya and Zimbabwe of a mixed system of a president and a prime minister.
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