CSS Public Administration Foundations and Theories of Public Administration Flashcards

24 sample cards from the Foundations and Theories of Public Administration deck

Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.

1. What are the four 'I's of Transformational Leadership (Bass)?

   Idealized Influence (charisma/role model), Inspirational Motivation (vision), Intellectual Stimulation (encouraging innovation/questioning), and Individualized Consideration (mentoring/attending to individual needs).

2. What is New Public Management (NPM) and what are its core features?

   NPM (1980s, associated with Hood, Osborne & Gaebler's 'Reinventing Government') applies private-sector/market techniques to government: focus on results/outputs, performance measurement, competition, customer orientation, decentralization, contracting-out, and treating citizens as customers ('let managers manage').

3. What is the 'New Public Service' (Denhardt and Denhardt) and how does it differ from NPM?

   New Public Service emphasizes serving citizens (not customers), democratic citizenship, public interest, and value of people over productivity. Unlike NPM ('steer, not row'), it stresses 'serve, not steer', and treats the public interest as a shared goal arrived at through dialogue.

4. What is the New Public Administration movement and where did it originate?

   Originated at the Minnowbrook Conference (1968) led by Dwight Waldo's young scholars. It emphasized social equity, relevance, values, change, and client-orientation, rejecting value-neutral, efficiency-only administration.

5. What is 'Governance' / New Public Governance as a modern perspective?

   Governance shifts focus from government acting alone to networks of state, market, and civil-society actors; emphasizes collaboration, partnerships, networks, trust, and steering plural inter-organizational relationships rather than hierarchical command.

6. What is Public Choice Theory's view of bureaucracy?

   Public Choice Theory (Buchanan, Tullock, Niskanen) applies economic rational-actor assumptions to politics. Niskanen argued bureaucrats are budget-maximizers seeking to expand their agencies' budgets, leading to oversupply and inefficiency; the remedy is competition and market-like mechanisms.

7. What is Herbert Simon's concept of 'bounded rationality' and 'satisficing'?

   Bounded rationality holds that decision-makers are limited by incomplete information, cognitive limits, and time, so they cannot maximize. Instead they 'satisfice'—choose the first option that is 'good enough' and meets minimal acceptable criteria.

8. What were Herbert Simon's 'proverbs of administration' critique?

   In 'The Proverbs of Administration' (1946), Simon argued that classical administrative principles (e.g. unity of command vs specialization, narrow span of control) are contradictory 'proverbs'—for each there is an equally plausible opposite—so they lack scientific validity.

9. List Henri Fayol's 14 Principles of Management (name at least the framework and a few key ones).

   Fayol's 14 principles include: division of work, authority & responsibility, discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, subordination of individual to general interest, remuneration, centralization, scalar chain, order, equity, stability of tenure, initiative, and esprit de corps. He also defined 5 functions: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, controlling.

10. What is the difference between line and staff agencies?

    Line agencies directly carry out the primary mission/objectives of the organization and have command authority over operations. Staff agencies advise, support, and provide expertise (planning, personnel, budgeting) to line agencies but lack direct command authority over the main functions.

11. Define 'span of control' and its significance.

    Span of control is the number of subordinates a single superior can effectively supervise. A narrow span produces a tall hierarchy with close control; a wide span produces a flat structure with more delegation. V.A. Graicunas analyzed it mathematically via relationships count.

12. Distinguish a 'tall' from a 'flat' organizational structure.

    A tall structure has many hierarchical levels and a narrow span of control (close supervision, slow communication). A flat structure has few levels and a wide span of control (more autonomy, faster communication, less direct oversight).

13. What is the difference between centralization and decentralization?

    Centralization concentrates decision-making authority at the top of the hierarchy. Decentralization disperses authority downward to lower levels or field/local units, improving responsiveness and speed but risking inconsistency and coordination problems.

14. What is the difference between formal and informal organization?

    Formal organization is the officially prescribed structure—rules, hierarchy, roles, and channels deliberately designed to achieve goals. Informal organization is the unofficial network of personal relationships, groups, and norms that arises spontaneously among members (highlighted by the Human Relations school).

15. Define organizational culture and name a major model for analyzing it.

    Organizational culture is the shared values, beliefs, assumptions, norms, and practices that shape members' behaviour. Edgar Schein's model has three levels: artifacts (visible), espoused values, and underlying basic assumptions. Handy classified cultures as Power, Role, Task, and Person cultures.

16. What are the bases of departmentalization (Gulick's bases of organization)?

    Luther Gulick's '4 Ps' for grouping work: Purpose (function/service), Process (skill/technology), Persons or things (clientele/material dealt with), and Place (geographic area).

17. What is the Islamic concept of administration based on, and what is the principle of 'Shura'?

    Islamic administration is grounded in accountability to God (Amanah/trust), justice (Adl), and welfare of people. 'Shura' is the principle of mutual consultation in decision-making (Quran: 'and consult them in affairs'), embodying participative governance.

18. What administrative institution did the second Caliph Hazrat Umar (RA) establish, and what was its purpose?

    Hazrat Umar (RA) established the 'Diwan'—a register/department system for administering the public treasury (Bait-ul-Mal), recording soldiers and pensions/stipends, and managing revenue—an early organized bureaucracy and accountability mechanism.

19. What is 'Bait-ul-Mal' in the Islamic administrative tradition?

    Bait-ul-Mal is the public treasury in the Islamic state, responsible for collecting revenues (Zakat, Jizya, Kharaj, spoils) and distributing them for public welfare, defense, salaries, and support of the poor—reflecting the welfare-state and accountability ethos.

20. Trace the historical roots of Pakistan's civil service / bureaucracy.

    Pakistan inherited its bureaucracy from the British Indian Civil Service (ICS), via the Mughal administrative tradition before it. The ICS became the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) at independence in 1947, and was restructured by the Administrative Reforms of 1973 under Z.A. Bhutto into unified All-Pakistan and Federal services.

21. What was the significance of the 1973 Administrative Reforms in Pakistan?

    The 1973 reforms abolished the elite CSP cadre and the rigid class/service distinctions, introduced a unified grading structure (Grades 1-22 / the National Pay Scales), created the concept of equal opportunity across services, and aimed to reduce bureaucratic elitism—though critics say cadre dominance persisted.

22. Identify a major 'issue or tension' in Public Administration concerning democracy and bureaucracy.

    The tension between bureaucratic expertise/neutral competence and democratic accountability/political responsiveness: unelected expert administrators wield significant discretionary power, raising the problem of how to keep them accountable to elected representatives and the public (the 'democracy vs bureaucracy' dilemma).

23. What is the Friedrich-Finer debate about administrative accountability?

    Carl Friedrich argued accountability should rest mainly on inner, professional/moral responsibility and expertise (subjective/psychological control). Herman Finer insisted on external, political and institutional controls—administrators must be answerable to elected bodies (objective control), since reliance on conscience alone invites abuse.

24. What is the difference between 'public' and 'private' administration (Sayre's observation)?

    Public administration operates under political direction, legal constraints, public scrutiny, and aims at public interest/service (not profit), with monopoly and accountability to citizens. Wallace Sayre famously noted public and private management 'are alike in all unimportant respects', stressing the political and accountability context as the key difference.

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