Scope of Public Administration

Q). Explain the scope of public administration. While reviewing the scope of public administration we come across 2 views: a) Broader view and b) Narrower view A. Broader view : in its broader view the study of public administration is conceptualized to include the areas and activities of all the three branches of government ie legislative, executive and judiciary. It refers to all the activities undertaken for the implementation of all public policies, civil as well as military. Acceptance of such a view of public administration makes its scope very wide and large and it becomes even ambiguous and unwieldy. B. Narrower view or Managerial View: As per this view the scope of public administration is concerned only with the executive branch of government at all levels ie, national, state and local. It studies only those matters of organization procedures and methods common to all or most of the administrative agencies. According to this view, public administration is not the activities undertaken for the implementation of public policies, on the contrary, it only involves the managerial activities which unite, coordinate and controls the activities of public officials engaged in the implementation of public policies. An administrator is the one who performs management functions. All officials working in government departments are not administrators. Administrators are only those who are performing managerial functions, and public administration only covers their functions.
Within the broad parameters of each of the above views, several scholars have defined the scope of public administration in varying terms and to varying lengths. We will check the below mentioned scholars view about the scope of public administration.
Pfiffner, Luther Gullick, Lewis Merriam and Walker.
According to Pfiffner, Public administration is concerned with the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the government. Administration consists in ‘what to do’ and ‘how to do’.
Luther gullick