National
Government and
Administration
SPA 212
INTRODUCTION AND CLASS
You areGUIDELINES
not allowed to enter class if you 20 minutes after the
lesson has started.
All the phones to be on silent.
Absenteeism is not condoned.
You are allowed to ask questions at any point during the lecture
presentation.
All answers given during the lesson are correct, as long as you can
substantiate them.
Exercise mutual respect.
You write notes as the lecture is being presented.
In a classroom, the Lecturer enjoying academic immunity to
discuss any topic for academic purposes.
GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION –
MEANING AND DEFINITION
What is Government?
Government can be said to be the agency or the machinery
through which common policies are determined and by which
common affairs are regulated and common interests promoted.
It consist of all persons, institutions, and agencies by which the will
and policy of the state is expressed and implemented. E.g Police,
Doctors, Teachers, ZRA, TEVETA, RTSA.
It is a misnomer or incorrect to equate government with its
controlling element, for instance the President and his cabinet in
Zambia.
While those maybe elements of the government, they are not the
government entirely.
When we talk of change of government, we really imply change in
the “controlling elements” of the government and not a change
GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION –
MEANING AND DEFINITION
What then is the Government in summary?
Government is the organization of the state: its working
machinery.
A state is a community formed by people and exercising
permanent power within a specified territory.
The state has authority inherent of itself whereas as the
government has no inherent powers.
The government can only perform such functions as is specifically
authorized to do in accordance with the provisions and limitations
set forth in the state’s constitution.
The state is the principle, the master, to which authority the
government must ultimately bow.
The government therefore is the administrative organ of the state.
GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION –
MEANING AND DEFINITION
What is Administration?
The term administration has been variously defined by different
writers;
J M Pfiffner, (1960); the organization and direction of human and
material resources to achieve desired results.
Marx, F. M (ed) (1964); determined action taken in pursuit of a
conscious purpose. It is the systematic ordering of affairs and the
calculated use of resources aimed at making those things happen
which one wants to happen.
Therefore the two essentials of administration are:
1. • Cooperative effort
2. • Pursuit of common objectives
GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION –
MEANING AND DEFINITION
The Functions of Government (World Bank, 1997);
1. Establishing a foundation of law
2. Maintaining a non- distortionary policy environment
including macroeconomic stability
3. Investing in basic social services and infrastructure
4. Protecting the vulnerable, and
5. Protecting the environment
Operations of all government entities and organisations
are centred around the above stated functions.
GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION –
MEANING AND DEFINITION
The Concept of Public Administration
Woodrow Wilson (1887), defines Public Administration as a
“detailed and systematic execution of public policies and laws”.
For Pfiffner, In his opinion, Public administration consists of
“getting the work of government done by coordinating the efforts
of the people so that they can work together to accomplish their
set tasks.”
Public administration is any kind of administration in the public
interest.
Public Administration simply means governmental administration.
Public administrators work at all levels of government, both at
home and abroad, and they manage non-profit organizations,
associations, and interest groups of all kinds.
POLITICS-ADMINISTRATION DICHOTOMY
This discussion began with the publication of Woodrow’s
The Study of Administration in 1887. Some arguments in
favor are as follows;
It is argued that whereas politics has to do with policies or
expressions of the state will, administration was concerned with
implementation of political policy decisions.
Politics is concerned with formulation of law while administration
in concerned with implementation of it.
Politicians are close to the people than administrators
Politicians are elected while administrators are appointed
It is argued that politicians are amateurs while administrators
are professionals.
Politicians have direct mandate from the citizens while
administrators do not have such
POLITICS-ADMINISTRATION DICHOTOMY
Some arguments in against the dichotomy are as follows;
It is very difficult to distinguish and separate politics from the
administration because in most cases, the elected leaders have the
authority and mandate to appoint, demote, promote and sack
leaders in the administration.
Due to this, the appointed leaders will always be under the
jurisdiction and control of the elects.
Politics and administration cannot also be distinguished and
separated because there is a close relationship between their roles.
E.g, elected leaders will make laws in which the administrators play
their daily activities within.
The administrators also gives advice to elected leaders before some
policies and laws are made and implemented.
Both serve the interest of the state and its people.
They all operate in the sphere of public service
PUBLIC VS PRIVATE ADMINISTRATION
The differences between the two types of administration;
Political direction/Ministerial responsibility: Public administration is subjected to
more political direction in most policy matters.
Marginal return/profit motive: Public administration is service oriented and profit
making is not its goal while a private business will never undertake a venture which is
not likely to yield any profit.
Social necessity: The scope of private administration is narrower. It is concerned
with providing marketable consumer goods to the public, catering to the economic
needs of the citizens. Public administration caters to social needs and public utilities.
Public responsibility: The public sector operates with much greater public visibility
than private administration. Public administrators are trained and duty-bound to
respect the wishes of the public and cater for their needs.
Uniformity of treatment: There has to be consistency in procedure and uniformity
in public dealings. This principle is more applicable to public administration then
private administration, because it is mostly regulated by common and uniform laws
and regulations. E.g procurement processes.
Conformity to laws and regulations: Public administration cannot do anything
contrary to, or in excess of legal power. It has to function within the legal framework;
it can never break the law. Private administration has no such responsibility.
ASSIGNMENT 1 GUIDE- APA REFERENCING
STYLE
ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS
ASSIGNMENT GUIDE- APA REFERENCING
STYLE
Authored Book- Print
Last name, Initials. (Year). Book title. City or Town: Publisher.
Musangu, O. K. (2011). The Functions of the Executive. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press.
Authored Book- Online
Last name, Initials. (Year). Book title. Publisher. DOI or URL
Musangu, O. K. (2011). The Functions of the Executive. Harvard University Press.
http://
www.bu.edu/honoringeve/files/2009/09/paranoid-reading-and-reparative-reading.
pdf
Journal article
Last name, Initials. (Year). Article title. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Page
range. DOI or URL
McCabe, D. P., & Castel, A. D. (2008). Seeing is believing: The effect of brain
ASSIGNMENT GUIDE- APA REFERENCING
STYLE
APA in-text citation style
APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name
and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005)
or According to Field (2005),.
For direct quotations, include the page number as well,
for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14) or According to Field
(2005, p. 14),.
For direct quotations, put the quoted words in quotation
marks(“”)
END!
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