Political Science  
                                    Paper- II 
                                          
              Administrative Theory: Principles and Approaches 
                                          
           
           
                                          
                                     Author  
                                          
                           Dr. Jayanta Kumar Dash 
                                        & 
                               Ratnaprava Barik 
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
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                            UNIT-I 
                                
        1.1: Objectives 
         
        After going through this unit, you will be able to know: 
           The concept of  Administration,  Public Administration 
           Meaning, Nature and Scope of Public Administration  
           Different approaches to the Study  of Public Administration 
           The role of Public Administration in Developed and Developing Countries 
         
        1.2: Introduction to Administration 
         
        Public Administration is one of the important concept of the study of administration. 
        Therefore, before understanding the meaning of Public Administration, it is necessary to 
        understand  the  meaning  of  the  word  „Administration‟.  The  word  „Administration‟  is 
        derived from the Latin word „ad and ministrare‟ which means „to serve‟ or „to look after 
        the people‟ or „to care for‟ or to manage. Thus, literally the term administration means 
        management  of  affairs-  public  or  private.  Administration  is  as  old  as  the  human 
        civilization and human existence. It is the administration which controls and stabilizes the 
        society.  The  whole  society  has  been  guided  by  the  norms  and  values  of  the 
        administration.  So  the  society  without  administration  is  not  effective.  It  is  the 
        administration which brings society from a set of ignorance to the brightened antiquity. 
        The  society  is  the  best  whose  administration  is  the  best.  So  knowledge  about 
        administration is very important for the students of Political Science. 
         
        1.3. Definition and Meaning of Administration 
         
        The concept of administration is defined by various writers in the followings:  
         
        According to E.N. Gladden “Administration is a long and slightly pompous word, but it 
        has a humble meaning, for it means, to care for or look after the people, to manage affairs 
        …is determined action taken in pursuit of a conscious purpose.”   
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        According to L.D. White “The arts of Administration is the direction, coordination and 
        control of many persons to achieve some purpose or objective.” 
         
        According  to  F.A.  Nigro  “Administration  is  the  organization  and  use  of  men  and 
        materials to accomplish a purpose.” 
         
        According to H.A. Simon“In the broadest sense administration can be defined as the 
        activities of groups cooperating to accomplish common goals.” 
         
        According toK. Henderson “Administration is the arrangement of men and materials in 
        the rational carrying out of purposes.” 
         
        According to D. Waldo “Administration is the type of cooperative human effort that has 
        a high degree of rationality.” 
         
        According to James McCanny “Administration is the organization and use of men and 
        materials to accomplish a purpose. It is the specialized vocation of managers who has 
        skills of organizing and directing men and materials just as definitely as an engineer has 
        the  skill  of  building  structures  or  a  doctor  has  the  skill  of  understanding  the  human 
        ailments.” 
        According to J.E. Berkley“Administration is a process involving human beings jointly 
        engaged in working towards common goals.” 
        According to Brooks Adams “Administration is the capacity of coordinating many and 
        often conflicting social energies in a single organism, so adroitly that they shall operate as 
        a unity.” 
        According to Ordway Tead “Administration is a variety of component elements which 
        together in action, produce the result of a defined task done. Administration primarily, is 
        the direction of people in association to achieve some goal temporarily shared. It is the 
        inclusive process of integrating human effort so that a desired result is obtain. It is the 
        central  power  house  of  the  motivational  impulsion  and  the  spirit  which  makes  the 
        institution drive to fulfil its purpose.” 
         
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        According to F.M. Marx “Administration is a determined action taken in pursuit of a 
        conscious  purpose.  It  is  the  systematic  ordering  of  affairs  and  the  calculated  use  of 
        resources  aimed  at  making  those  things  happen  which  one  wants  to  happen  and 
        foretelling everything to the contrary.”  
         
        According to John A. Veig “Administration is determined action taken in pursuit of 
        conscious  purpose.  It  is  the  systematic  ordering  of  affairs  and  the  calculated  use  of 
        resources,  aimed  at  making  those  things  happen  which  we  want  to  happen  and 
        simultaneously preventing developments that fail to square with all our intensions. It is 
        the marshalling of available labour and materials irorder to gain that which is desired at 
        the lowest cost in energy, time and money.” 
         
        According to Luther Gluck “Administration has to do with getting things done; 
        with the accomplishment of defined objective.” 
        According to James L.  Mc Canny Administration is the organization and use of 
        men  and  materials  to  accomplish  a  purpose.  It  is  the  specialized  vocation  of 
        managers who have skills of organizing and directing men and materials just as 
        definitely as the engineer has the skill of building  structure or a doctor has the 
        skill of understanding human ailments. 
         According  to  Piffner  and  Presthus  “Administration  is  the  organization  and 
        direction  of  human  and  material  resources  to  achieve  desired  ends.  Thus,  it 
        becomes  clear  that  administration  is  essentially  a  group  activity  which  involves  co-
        operation and co-ordination to achieve desired goals.” 
         
        From the above, in a broader sense the term “Administration” signifies the following 
        fourdifferent  perspectives  taking  under  different  context  it  is  used.  They  are  (i)  As  a 
        Discipline,  (ii)  As  a  vocation,  (iii)  As  a  process,  (iv)As  a  synonym  for  the  word   
        Executive or Government.  
         
        As a discipline it deals with the name of a branch of learning or intellectual discipline as 
        tought and studied in colleges and universities. As a vocation it deals with the types of 
        work or trade or profession or occupation specially one that involves knowledge and 
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