The demand to provide for the people through the implementation of community and development oriented public policies has greatly increased the importance and role of Public Administration in all societies. Public Administration has become the most important factor in the lives of human beings since almost all spheres of human life depend on it. Its function has become more crucial in developed nations such as the USA, Canada, and European states as well as developing nations of Asia, Africa, and the Latin America. Really, in each state of the world, the role of the government has expanded in a huge way. The primary outcome of this is the establishment of many individual specialised public administration branches. It has developed over time into a large system of administration which performs the functions of the government aimed at ensuring the welfare and development of the society. It now constitutes the execution and the operational part of the government systems of each state. Public Administration has developed as a multifaceted discipline with the following subareas: Economic Administration, Social Administration, Educational Administration, Health Administration, Development Administration, and International Administration. Also, there are four parts of a modern Public Administration system such as State administration, Urban administration, Rural administration, Personnel administration, and Business administration. Nowadays, Public Administration has been doing a very important job in the social-economic reconstruction and development in the developing countries. It still has its due function in developed countries.
Role of Public Administration in Developing Countries
We can discuss the role of Public Administration in both developed and developing countries under the following Points:
- Public Administration as an instrument of Social Transformation. Public Administration is change-oriented. Change consists of the movements of the structural system from one point to another. Change is a tool for improving the capacity of an administrative system to survive external environment as well as a mechanism for the internal structures to operate. Public Administration is the main agent of change by providing the political executive with policy-making and decision-making functions and then faithfully carrying out the approved public policies. It has become the driving force of modernisation and development of the underdeveloped nations.
- Public Administration as a device for the attainment of political, economic, social, and cultural objectives. Administration is a collective human endeavour intended to accomplish definite special objectives. Every country has its development goals. The government makes policies and takes decisions to execute the finalized objectives, which are the aims or goals of society. These goals are backed by public administration. Weidner defines Public Administration as “the goal-oriented organized activity.” In the developed and developing countries, the role of Public Administration is very crucial in realizing political, economic, social, and cultural goals as outlined in public policies, decisions, rules, regulations, and laws. Most governments in the developing countries have taken up the program of rooting out socio-economic inequalities from the societies. The main goals of the government are abolition of poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, and ignorance. The practical part of the government, which is the Public Administration, has been acting as the yeoman of the process of achieving these goals.
- The Role of Public Administration in Providing Protection and Justice for All. Every government has the responsibility of maintaining law and order as the first duty. It is next to this that the responsibility to ensure justice and provision of basic services to the people is demanded. The government gets its functions performed by the appointed officials who manage the Public Administration. Public Administration is the government’s mechanism to actualize its objectives and goals. Civil administration is the instrument of the state to protect law and order and to realize development goals. Military governance secures the people from war, aggression, and terrorism across the border.
- Planning. To fulfill the needed and vital objectives, planning should be carried out and realized. Currently, every government in the world, including our own, develops a series of plans and policies for the purpose of achieving development goals. Planning is a strategy that helps in the efficient use of resources, human or material. Furthermore, in the case of poor countries with scarce resources, scientific and prudent planning and plan implementation are vital. Virtually all developing nations have taken on the idea of organized socio- economic planning as a development strategy. Public Administration is responsible for this task either by direct management of public enterprises or regulation, control, and co-ordination of the activities of private enterprises. It has the responsibility to intensify the development activity and to guide it through the limits and the goals of the national development plans. Public Administration is an important tool for the implementation of all developmental plans by the government.
- Role of Public Administration in Country’s Defence. When there is war and aggression, the government is supposed to mobilize the whole manpower and resources of the country. It is equally the responsibility of Public Administration. In war, Public Administration takes the lead in doing certain activities which are otherwise done by private enterprises in times of peace. A war is the domain of the military. The military governance becomes very active in a war. Nevertheless, the military can achieve its objective only with the assistance and tight collaboration of civil administration. The shift of the concept of war from simple war to total war has increased the importance of it. Public Administration performs a very important function during wartime. The government has to implement better law and order situation within the country in addition to mobilising all possible resources and man power for ensuring the supply of essential goods and services to the people. It has to organise civil defence activities, implement blackouts, and blood banks to be present in the blood banks. Hence during wars civil administration is an important support to the military administration. A military operation can succeed only under the support of a civil administration which is both active and committed.
- Accountability for the process of Administration to be efficient and economical. Public Administration is also responsible for discharging the important function of policy implementation and plans, but it should be done in an efficient and economical way. It is to be implemented through the use of funds and resources that have already been budgeted. It should be done without wastage and maximum usage of the national resources.
The public administration is a vital element of the society in the process of bringing about efficiency and economy. It assists the government to develop policies using the data which has been collected and classified by the public administration officials. The entity will implement the plan targets in an effective, efficient, and economical manner after that. These critical functions are undertaken by Public Administration in both developed and developing countries. Public Administration, in particular, has been one of the main players in the development process of developing countries. It has been proven to be irreplaceable tool for government in the execution of developmental policies, plans, and programs that the government undertakes. It undertakes specialized activities and covers a wide range of services related to development, relief, and public utilities for the society. Even in the present, when the atmosphere is full of privatization, market economy, and competition, state still makes and implements the public policies aimed at providing people with social security, social justice, health care, and educational facilities. Public Administration, however, continues to supervise and execute these and other public utility services for the people of the state. A properly functional system of Public Administration is the most important and natural demand of every country that is either developed or developing.
