NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

An Introduction: The new approaches in Public Administration like Comparative Administration and Development Administration have emerged mainly in the context of developments to meet the requirements of developing societies. On the other hand, the administrative systems of developed societies like USA, Canada and Britain etc were  facing new challenges. And in response to these challenges, the concept of New Public Administration arises.

What will we learn here?

• the significance of New Public Administration
• the context of New Public Administration
• the features pf New Public Administration and
• the relevance of New Public Administration in developing societies.

NEW TRENDS IN USA(The Context) In post WWII America, many administrators and scholars were rethinking and giving suggestions at various platforms for reforms to the theory and practice of Public Administration. Example - F.C. Mosher's publication titled "Governmental Reorganization: Cases and Commentaries (1967)" dealt with administrative reorganization and reform to strengthen administrative capability and responsibility. At the same time, in response to the rapidly changing environment, many view points for changes in administrative systems did emerge in various forums which resulted in the organisation of several conferences in America. The most important of these conferences were organised at Philadelphia in 1967 and organised at Minnowbrook in 1968. 

1. Changing Environment of Social Unrest: The second half of the 20th Century marked with the America's greater prosperity and power but at the same time raising social tensions and unrest among the minority groups, the unemployed and certain youth groups. And these  unrest and protests became a matter of growing concern to the elected officials, the administrators, the intellectuals and the public leaders. After several public debates and discussions many changes in policies and institutions began to be undertaken and some others were debated to strengthen political and administrative capabilities for coping with the rapidly changing environments: economic, social, political, technological and human.

2. Philadelphia Conference(1967): Major viewpoints are summarized below :

• The responsibilities and functions of the government have increases considerably with the progressive transformation of the limited function state into a welfare state. So, scope of the subject of Public Administration should remain flexible to accommodate any future transformation. Administrators are also involved in policy making process as advisers and facilitators, so the dichotomy between policy and administration and between the study of government and study of Public Administration are meaningless.
• Rigidity due to rigid hierarchy and internal processes in administrative organisations detract from its relevance and efficacy in rapidly changing environments; organisational innovations and management flexibility,are therefore appropriate.
• The subject and practice of Public Administration should pay increased attention to the social problems of urban squalor/neglect, unemployment, poverty, environmental pollution and degradation.
• Social Equity should be given due attention to reduce socio-economic disparities between classes of people. For promoting equity as an administrative value along with the existing values(efficiency, accountability), administrative responsiveness and people's participation should be institutionally provided.
• Education and training programmes not only to provide management abilities and technique skills but should also deepen the social sensitivity or consciousness of students/trainees as well as of the public personnel at work in various governmental agencies. Moreover administrative ethics needs due emphasis in education programmes so as to prevent or minimize the chances of malpractices and corruption.

3. Minnowbrook Conference(1968): Why? - to critically review the relevance of the study and practice of Public Administration in terms of rapidly changing environment posing challenging problems before the government and social system. But the participants were mainly young scholars and administrators.
Though these were not much dissimilar to the ones at the Philadelphia Conference. But it was New Public Administration which was the distinctive feature of the meet at Minnowbrook. 

• It advocated for a normative approach in place of the value-free efficiency approach of the classical theory.  
• That is, concerned sections of people should be freed from deprivations, wants and social disabilities. 
• Therefore, the administrative organisations and administrative systems should be continuously adapted to the environmental changes. 
• And should also facilitate clientele or citizen involvement in administrative processes to improve administrative effectiveness.

Moreover, this was followed later on by small group to keep up the tempo of their viewpoints as well as to elucidate these for publicity or dissemination. 

FEATURES OF NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

George Frederickson has summarized the main features of the new approach to Public Administration, passionately advocated at Minnowbrook -conference and afterwards, in several of his writings. He even titled one of his books as New Public Administration.

Social equity is the key concept stressed as an additional administrative value by the advocates of the new approach - George Frederickson

 Various features of the New Public Administration are :

1. Change and Administrative Responsiveness: The Administrative organisations should increase effectiveness and relevance of their decisions and actions in accordance to the changing context or environment. There organisational and operational flexibility or adaptability to meet environmental changes should be in-built in the administrative system and in each of its departments and agencies. 
2. Rationality: There is great emphasis on rationality as the main criterion for administrative decisions and actions i.e., the Administration rationality of the administrator. But, here, the administrator needs to consult the citizens as well not only about what is proposed to be done but also about what ought to be done and by whom.
3. Management-Worker Relations: Human Relations approach within an administrative organisation enhances both morale and productivity (efficiency) among employees but these are not to be end in themselves. The main objective should be the satisfaction of the citizens with the performance and attitudes of the administrative employees whose morale and productivity would have risen due to any human relations approach within an organisation.
4. Structures: There must have appropriate decentralization of authority and modification of hierarchies of control and subordination so that the structure becomes relevant to the changing needs of environment. One standardized organisational structure based upon POSCORB or other principles stressed by the advocates of the traditional approach to Public Administration is not appropriate for this new approach.
5. Education-in public Administration: The subject of Public Administration has been enriched by several streams of knowledge (concepts, ideas and insights). Heterogeneity is characteristic of this subject. The management approach, the human relations approach, political approach and public participative choice approach continue to contribute to its growth. This is how it should be. Since public affairs, in which the government is engaged, are highly varied and complex, no single approach or theory or concept would be adequate to guide action or understand its rationale.

GOALS OF NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 
There are four important goals: relevance, values, equity and change. Let's see all of them now:

1. Relevance: Public Administration is criticized as having little to say about contemporary problems and issues (as it has emphasized efficiency and economy only). The participants at the Conference highlighted the need for policy-oriented Public Administration and emphasized that it must explicitly deal with political and normative implications of all administrative actions. Another aspect of relevance that was voiced was Public Administration knowledge and the following questions were raised which are challenging the status quo in Public Administration: 

•  What standards of decision do we use to select?
• Which questions ought to be studied and how to study them? 
• Who defines our questions and priorities for us?
• To what extent are we aware of the social and moral implications of knowledge in Public Administration? 
• What are the uses of Public Administration as a social and political science? 
• Does Public Administration presently yield knowledge useful to certain institutions in society (usually the dominant ones) and not to others?

2. Values: New Public Administration is explicitly normative. It rejects both value neutral behaviouralism and procedural neutrality of traditional Public Administration. The participants of the conference clearly espoused that value neutral Public Administration is impossible and the public officials have to advocate the interests of the disadvantaged people. 

3. Social Equity: Public Administration is indicated as an instrument of status-quo, denying social justice to the less privileged groups. The leaders of New Public Administration emphasize realization of the principle of social equity should be the purpose of Public Administration. 

Frederickson: "A Public Administration which fails to work for changes, which tries to redress the deprivation of minorities, will likely be eventually used to repress those minorities". 

Client-focus administration is a major goal of New Public Administration. Other goals are de-bureaucratization,democratic decision-making and decentralization of administrative process in the interest of more effective and humane delivery of public services. 

4. Change: Achievement of social equity requires promotion of change by the public administrators. Change is necessary to prevent Public Administration from coming under the dominance of powerful interest groups. New public administrators should regard change as a constant fact of administrative life. 

Conclusion: the focus for New Public Administration movement was that the administrator should be given less "generic" and more "public" than his predecessor, less "descriptive" and more prescriptive", less "institution oriented" and more "client-impact oriented", less "neutral" and more "normative", and 'it is hoped, no less scientific.

COMMENTS ON NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 

According to Alan Campbell many of the issues brought to the surface vigorously by advocates of New Public Administration were not new. But proponents of  NPA had raised these issues very forcefully and with a strong commitment to social change. Their strong emphasis on citizen's participation in decision-making, on normative value of social equity, and human relations approach oriented largely to service to people shows the need for reorientation of theory and practice of Public Administration. Enterprise of Public Administration (1980, by Dwight Waldo) has pointed out New Public administration projects three perspectives clearly - 

1. client (citizen) oriented bureaucracy, 
2. representative bureaucracy and 
3. people's participation. 

The public perspectives if woven into Public Administration appropriately would tend to democratize it even more than before. 

Carter and Duffey (in New Public Administration in the International Journal of Public Administration, 1984) have expressed doubt whether the objective of social equity is actually getting recognized as the great disparities of wealth and income continue to raise in USA. Since in USA the main emphasis has been on free competition and individual initiative, adoption of social equity as a policy and administrative objective is not an easy proposition. 

Recent trends in the study and practice of Public Administration in several countries, both developed (e.g. France, Sweden and Britain) and developing (e.g., India, Pakistan) also, indicate similar revision and additions. The intensity and extent of the impact of the trends however, vary from one country to the other, depending upon their respective historical heritages, national resources, character of political system, cult wall and demographic patterns and role of the state in national development. On the whole, these trends indicate:

1. Growing emphasis on social equity in public policies and administrative actions;
2. Devising of institutional arrangements to facilitate increased public participation in administrative processes (i.e. decision-making, operations, etc. at local and grass-root levels;
3. Strengthening of political direction of administration as wall as of administrative accountability to the political authorities within the government;
4. Adoption of innovative (new) types of organisations as well as of modern management practices,and techniques and technologies to raise the administrative capability (i.e., efficiency and effectiveness) to deal with highly diverse, complex end numerous governmental tasks.
5. Growth of unionism among the public personnel (government employees) of various grades and Wing of organised arrangements for government-employee consultation and negotiation as well as for-arbitration of disputes.

Because of these trends in administrative-Systems, the scope of the study of the subject of Public Administration has increased considerably. Moreover, the study has no longer content with the description and analysis of administrative phenomena, polices, organisations and processes. It is also becoming increasingly normative as it now deals with questions of social equity orientation democratic orientation, ethical behavior and citizen's within continuously expanding administrative systems. Besides, it is also beginning to be increasingly comparative as it now examines and conceptualizes the administrative policies and organisations and operations in various national environments comprising several aspects- political, social, economic, demographic, physical and technological. 

In short the New Public Administration both in practice and theory tends to be comprehensive in scope, descriptive-cum-normative in character and comparative besides multi-disciplinary in substance.

Some Terminologies:

Administrative Accountability: Accountability of the junior about their decisions and actions to the seniors-within the bureaucracy, and accountability of the executive branch of the government to the legislature. 
Administrative Capability: Ability of the administrative arm of government to perform or achieve its objectives.

Administrative Effectiveness: The degree or extent of objective/goal achievement by an organisation

Administrative Efficiency: The ratio of output to input in an organization.

Organisational Equity: Fair deal to all the employees, with particular attention at lower level of an organization

Social Equity: Delivery of services and goods by the administration should be directly related to the needs of less privileged people on a priority basis.