HERITAGE

By: Phoenix

From a very broad perspective, public administration may be viewed to refer not only to those activities involved in carrying out or in implementing the policies and programs of the government but also the processes and contents of these policies and programs. From an even broader perspective, public administration may refer to cooperative human action whether organizations aimed at delivering services to the people.

Public administration is also a distinct field of study; it is considered both a professional and scholarly discipline. As such, it is concerned with public policies and programs, their formulation and implementation and the sociocultural, economic, and political factors bearing on them. It deals with the systematic study of institutions and processes and the interplay of factors involved in authoritative decision making on goals, in implementing them, and in achieving desired results.
As mentioned above, public administration is considered both as a professional and scholarly discipline. It is generally offered in the Philippines at the graduate level and serves as a second filed of specialization. More than sixty universities, colleges, and schools now offer degree programs in public administration. But what is being taught to the students – American or Philippine public administration? Reference is made to the Americans because many books still used are on American public administration, and, at one time, in the College of Public Administration there was even a course on “State Government in the U.S.” but not many courses on the Philippine Administrative System.
Additional questions could be asked: Would curricular programs in public administration enable the students to acquire a broad understanding of the process of social change and the various cultural, social, economic and political factors which influence the development efforts in the country? Would the program equip the students with the specialized knowledge on and the analytical ability to understand the development goals, the structure and the dynamics of political administrative institutions, policy issues, and programs/project implementation problems? Would the programs and the component courses be too “theoretical,” academic, and prescriptive in approach? Would there be discussion on ethical questions and issues?
During the early years (the 50s and the early 60s) in the then Institute of Public Administration, the emphasis in the curricular program was on internal management – and the staff functions in government – organization and management, personnel and fiscal administration – with some courses in local government. Later on, courses on public administration and politics, the economy, and social change were introduced to give students a better understanding of the ecology of public management in the country and of the dynamics of social change.
In the seventies, courses on program administration and public policy were added to give students better acquainted with at least some major policy areas or programs, e.g., health, agriculture, education and housing a feel of problems in “line” or program/project management. In the eighties there is renewed concern about accountability in government which resulted in the reintroduction of course on ethics in public service.
More recently, there has been a reexamination of the concept of “public” in public administration. For a long time, that has been interpreted to mean “governmental” and therefore teaching and research efforts have been focused primarily on problems of the public bureaucracy and on the issue of increasing its administrative capability. Now, “public” is being interpreted to refer to “people” – public administration is administration or delivery of services to the people. If this interpretation is fully accepted, then the students of public administration could rightfully look into alternative delivery channels, e.g., the private sector, nongovernmental organizations and cooperatives and on how to strengthen the capability of receiving systems in the benefiting from the services.
There is still the continuing problem of achieving relevance and realism in the teaching of public administration in the country. The needs are the following: (1) getting faculty members who have both the academic qualifications and administrative experience; (2) the production and use of indigenous teaching materials; (3) the use of innovative teaching methods and techniques; and (4) the formulation of more relevant models and analytical concepts.
It has been observed that public administration is inevitably ethnocentric or culture-bound. The sociocultural, economic and political setting in which public management operates has long been recognized as a major determinant of the patterns of administration that evolve. Similarly, the influence of the environment of public administration is an increasingly strong determinant for changes in the system.

SOURCE: Victoria A. Bautista, et. al.
Introduction to Public Administration in the Philippines: A Reader