efficient police work, than the formal principles of organisation,

personnel management, coordination or finance and it is the same with

other services too. Therefore, the study of public administration should
deal with both the processes (that is POSDCoRB techniques and the
substantive concerns). We conclude the scope of public administration
with the statement of Lewis Meriam: “Public administration is an
instrument with two blades like a pair of scissors. One blade may be
knowledge of the field covered by POSDCoRB, the other blade is
knowledge of the subject matter in which these techniques are applied.
Both blades must be good to make an effective tool”.

We may conclude the discussion with the observation of Herbert Simon

who says that Public administration has two important aspects, namely
deciding and doing things. The first provides the basis for the second.
One cannot conceive of any discipline without thinking or deciding.
Thus Public administration is a broad-ranging and an amorphous
combination of theory and practice.

1.7 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ADMINISTRATION

The major concern of administration is to properly organise men and

material for achieving desired ends. As a co-operative group activity,
administration is truly universal and operates in all types of public and
private organisations. In other words, administration occurs in both
public and private institutional settings. Its nature depends upon the
nature of the setting and goals with which it is concerned. On the basis
of the nature of the institutional setting, public administration can be
roughly distinguished from private administration. Public
administration is governmental administration concerned with achieving
state purposes, determined by the state. Private administration, on the
other hand is, concerned with administration of private business
organisation and is distinct from public administration. Let us elaborate
this

1.7.1 Distinction between public and private administration

John Gaus, Ludivig Von Mises, Paul H. Appleby, Sir Josia Stamp,
Herbert A. Simon, Peter Drucker, etc., in their writings, have made
distinction between public and private administration.

According to Simon, the distinction between public and private

administration relates mainly to three points:

• Public administration is bureaucratic whereas private

administration is business like;

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• Public administration is political where as private administration
is non-political; and

• Public administration is characterised by red-tape where as

private administration is free from it.

Felix A. Nigro has pointed out that government is also different from
private organisation, as no private company can equal to it in size and
diversity of activities.

According to Sir Josiah Stamp, the four principles, which differentiate

public from private administration, are:

• Principle of Uniformity: Common and uniform laws and

regulations mostly regulate public Administration.

• Principle of External Financial Control: the representatives of the

people through a legislative body control Government revenues and
heads of expenditure.

• Principle of Ministerial Responsibility: Public administration is

accountable to its political masters and through them to the people.

• Principle of marginal Return: The main objective of a business

venture is profit, however small it may be. However, most of the
objectives of public administration can neither be measured in
money terms nor checked by accountancy methods.

According to Paul H. Appleby public administration is different from

private administration. He remark, “In broad terms the governmental
function and attitude have at least three complementary aspects that go
to differentiate government from all other institutions and activities:
breadth of scope, impact and consideration; public accountability;
political character. No non-governmental institution has the breadth
of government.

Appleby notes that the political character of Public Administration

differentiates it from private administration. Public Administration is
subject to political direction and control. This is the primary distinction
between the two. He further argues, “Administration is politics since it
must be responsive to the public interest. It is necessary to emphasise
the fact that popular political processes, which are the essence of
democracy, can only work through governmental organisation, and that
all governmental organisations are not merely administrative entities,
they are and must be political organisms.”

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Appleby reflects further on the distinction between public and private
administration in the context of public accountability “Government
administration differs from all other administrative work to a degree not
even faintly realised outside, by virtue of its public nature, the way in
which it is subject to public scrutiny and outcry. This interest often runs
to details of administrative action that in private business would never
be of concern other then inside the organisation.

According to Appleby private administration cannot claim the breadth

of scope, impact and consideration of the public administration. He
observes, “The organised government impinges upon and is affected by
practically everything that exists or moves in our society. It involves
policies and actions of immense complexity. Its fullest possible
understanding requires the wisdom of many specialists as will as the
key participants in public and private life.

The more important distinguishing features of Public administration

may be described under the following sub-heads:

Political Direction: Public administration is political, while private

administration is non-political, public administration takes place in a
political context.

Absence of profit motive: The absence of profit motive from the

Public administration is another feature, which distinguishes it from the
private administration. The primary purpose of governmental
organisation is to provide services to the people and promote social
good.

Prestige: Public administrators who serve in the Government enjoy

high status and prestige in comparison to their counterparts in private
enterprises especially developing countries.

Public Gaze: All the actions of public administration are exposed to

wide public gaze because the public closely watches it. This does not
happen in private administration.

Service and Cost: Most governments spend more money than their
income or revenues. That is the reason for finding generally a deficit
budget that is, expenditure exceeding income. Conversely, private
administration income often exceeds expenditure without which they
cannot survive.

Legal framework: Public administration operates within a legal

framework. It is rule oriented. The responsibilities of public
administrators are fixed by a set of constitutional practices, laws and

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regulations. Government officials are obliged to act within their legal
powers and not outside the law.

Consistency of treatment: A government official is required by law to

maintain a high degree of consistency in his dealings with the public.
He has to observe the principle of equality of treatment in serving the
people. It is a legal obligation to not to discriminate against any person.

Public accountability: Public accountability is the hallmark of

Public administration in a democracy. Public administration is
responsible to the public, though not directly but indirectly through
political executive, legislature, judiciary, etc.

Large-scale administration: Public administration is large-scale

administration. It is said that almost anything under the sun is directly
or indirectly under the domain of public administration. It is by all
means larger than any big private concern in terms of size., complexity
and diversity of activities.

Monopolistic and Essential Services: In the field of public

administration, there is generally a monopoly of the government and it
does not generally allow private parties to compete with it. For
example, no person or bodies of persons are allowed to establish or
perform functions related to public services like national security,
foreign relations, law and order, mint and currency, as these are the
exclusive fields of the government and thoroughly important for the
community and polity to prosper.

Officials remain Anonymous: In public administration, even the most

senior officials remain anonymous and their identity is not disclosed.
This is so because whatever they do, they do in the name of the
government and not in their own name.

Financial meticulousness: Public administration has to be very careful

in financial matters because it is working as custodian of people’s
money.

Lower level of Efficiency: Efficiency is said to be the cornerstone of

any organisation. However, due to varied responsibilities, lack of
effective control, less accountability, involvement of a large number of
levels and job security of employees, efficiency has not been there in
public organisations to the effect desired. When compared to private
administration, one finds that the degree of efficiency in public
organisations is at a lower level. With profit as the major motive
coupled with excessive control and flexibility in personnel
administration the level of efficiency in private organisations is much
higher.

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