Introduction to Public Administration Optional
Prepare public administration optional for UPSC civil services exams with Abhishek Sir online live with answer writing and personal mentoring. The details of the program are as follows;
- Mode of delivery: recorded lectures + live answer writing sessions
- Duration: 3 months approx.
- Fee: 50,000/
- Detailed syllabus: http://civilservicesonline.com/public-administration-optional-syllabus/
- For admissions call/WhatsApp: 9888016531
- Live online batch- lecture recordings are made available progressively.
- Press the curriculum button to watch free demo lectures.
Is Public Administration an ideal choice as an Optional Subject for the UPSC exam?
Public Administration is a highly sought-after optional subject in the UPSC examination, ranking among the top five subjects with a proven track record of success. It shares significant overlap with GS Paper-II, GS Paper-III, and GS Paper-IV in the following ways:
1. GS Paper-II: The syllabus derived from Indian Administration covers concepts related to Polity, Constitution, and governance, contributing around 120 – 150 marks to this GS paper.
2. GS Paper-III: Public Administration aids in areas concerning Social & Economic Development, Security Issues, and Disaster Management, accounting for approximately 70 – 90 marks in this GS paper.
3. GS Paper-IV: It covers at least 40% of the syllabus regarding Ethics, Integrity, and aptitude, including case studies, amounting to around 150 – 180 marks in GS Paper-IV.
Studying Public Administration can potentially earn a candidate 500 marks for the Optional Subject and 340 – 400 marks for General Studies, leading to a cumulative score of over 840 marks out of 1500 marks (combined Optional + GS).
Reasons for choosing Public Administration as an Optional Subject:
1. It significantly covers GS Paper-II, addressing Polity, Constitution, and Governance, contributing around 100 – 125 marks.
2. It aids in GS Paper-III, covering areas related to Social & Economic Development, Security Issues, and Disaster Management, totaling around 60 – 80 marks. Additionally, it encompasses 40% of the GS Paper-IV syllabus, including Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude, aligning with various topics in GS Paper-IV, amounting to approximately 150 – 180 marks. Altogether, it contributes to roughly 300 – 350 marks in GS.
3. Public Administration’s weightage as an Optional Subject itself is 500 marks, leading to a total of 800 – 850 marks out of 1500 marks (GS + Optional). An interesting aspect is that a Public Administration-related topic is also part of the Essay Paper, carrying 125 marks.
Detailed syllabus for Public administration optional for UPSC
PAPER-1
1. Introduction:
Meaning, scope, and significance of Public Administration; Wilson’s vision of Public Administration; Evolution of the discipline and its present status; New Public Administration; Public Choice approach; Challenges of liberalization, Privatisation, Globalisation; Good Governance: concept and application; New Public Management.
2. Administrative Thought:
Scientific Management and Scientific Management movement; Classical Theory; Weber’s bureaucratic model– its critique and post-Weberian Developments; Dynamic Administration (Mary Parker Follett); Human Relations School (Elton Mayo and others); Functions of the Executive (C.I. Barnard); Simon’s decision-making theory; Participative Management (R. Likert, C. Argyris, D. McGregor).
3. Administrative Behaviour:
Process and techniques of decision-making; Communication; Morale; Motivation Theories – content, process and contemporary; Theories of Leadership: Traditional and Modern.
4. Organisations:
Theories – systems, contingency; Structure and forms: Ministries and Departments, Corporations, Companies, Boards and Commissions; Ad hoc and advisory bodies; Headquarters and Field relationships; Regulatory Authorities; Public-Private Partnerships.
5. Accountability and control:
Concepts of accountability and control; Legislative, Executive, and Judicial control over administration; Citizen and Administration; Role of media, interest groups, voluntary organizations; Civil society; Citizen’s Charters; Right to Information; Social audit.
6. Administrative Law:
Meaning, scope, and significance; Dicey on Administrative law; Delegated legislation; Administrative Tribunals.
7. Comparative Public Administration:Historical and sociological factors affecting administrative systems; Administration and politics in different countries; Current status of Comparative Public Administration; Ecology and administration; Riggsian models and their critique.
8. Development Dynamics:
Concept of development; Changing profile of development administration; ‘Anti development thesis’; Bureaucracy and development; Strong state versus the market debate; Impact of liberalization on administration in developing countries; Women and development – the self-help group movement.
9. Personnel Administration:
Importance of human resource development; Recruitment, training, career advancement, position classification, discipline, performance appraisal, promotion, pay and service conditions; employer-employee relations, grievance redressal mechanism; Code of conduct; Administrative ethics.
10. Public Policy:
Models of policy-making and their critique; Processes of conceptualization, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and review, and their limitations; State theories and public policy formulation.
11. Techniques of Administrative Improvement:
Organization and methods, Work study and work management; e-governance and information technology; Management aid tools like network analysis, MIS, PERT, and CPM.
12. Financial Administration:
Monetary and fiscal policies; Public borrowings and public debt Budgets – types and forms; Budgetary process; Financial accountability; Accounts and audit.
PAPER-2
1. Evolution of Indian Administration:
Kautilya’s Arthashastra; Mughal administration; Legacy of British rule in politics and administration – Indianization of public services, revenue administration, district administration, local self-government.
2. Philosophical and Constitutional framework of government:
Salient features and value premises; Constitutionalism; Political culture; Bureaucracy and democracy; Bureaucracy and development.
3. Public Sector Undertakings:
The public sector in modern India; Forms of Public Sector Undertakings; Problems of autonomy, accountability and control; Impact of liberalization and privatization.
4. Union Government and Administration:
Executive, Parliament, Judiciary – structure, functions, work processes; Recent trends; Intra-governmental relations; Cabinet Secretariat; Prime Minister’s Office; Central Secretariat; Ministries and Departments; Boards; Commissions; Attached offices; Field organizations.
5. Plans and Priorities:
Machinery of planning; Role, composition, and functions of the Planning Commission and the National Development Council; ‘Indicative’ planning; Process of plan formulation at Union and State levels; Constitutional Amendments (1992) and decentralized planning for economic development and social justice
6. State Government and Administration:
Union-State administrative, legislative, and financial relations; Role of the Finance Commission; Governor; Chief Minister; Council of Ministers; Chief Secretary; State Secretariat; Directorates.
7. District Administration since Independence:
Changing role of the Collector; Union-state-local relations; Imperatives of development management and law and order administration; District administration and democratic decentralization.
8. Civil Services:
Constitutional position; Structure, recruitment, training, and capacity-building; Good governance initiatives; Code of conduct and discipline; Staff associations; Political rights; Grievance redressal mechanism; Civil service neutrality; Civil service activism.
9. Financial Management:
Budget as a political instrument; Parliamentary control of public expenditure; Role of finance ministry in the monetary and fiscal area; Accounting techniques; Audit; Role of Controller General of Accounts and Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
10. Administrative Reforms since Independence:
Major concerns; Important Committees and Commissions; Reforms in financial management and human resource development; Problems of implementation.
11. Rural Development:
Institutions and agencies since independence; Rural development programs: foci and strategies; Decentralization and Panchayati Raj; 73rd Constitutional amendment.
12. Urban Local Government:
Municipal governance: main features, structures, finance, and problem areas; 74th Constitutional Amendment; Global-local debate; New localism; Development dynamics, politics and administration with special reference to city management.
13. Law and Order Administration:
British legacy; National Police Commission; Investigative agencies; Role of central and state agencies including paramilitary forces in maintenance of law and order and countering insurgency and terrorism; Criminalisation of politics and administration; Police-public relations; Reforms in Police.
14. Significant issues in Indian Administration:
Values in public service; Regulatory Commissions; National Human Rights Commission; Problems of administration in coalition regimes; Citizen-administration interface; Corruption and administration; Disaster management.
Credits: upsc.gov.in
Curriculum
- 2 Sections
- 87 Lessons
- Lifetime
- Paper -1: Administrative TheoryUPSC optional subject paper-1 for Public Administration53
- Paper 2- Indian Administration34