Types of Public Administration Approaches

As a discipline, public administration has been approached from different angles. These different approaches are briefly discussed below.

Different Approaches in Public Administration

Mechanical Approach: This approach is based on the belief that a country’s administration should remain separate from its political structure because administration is a mechanical process. Efficiency alone was considered as the sole goal of public administration.

Philosophical Approach: Known as the oldest approach in public administration, this approach had a comprehensive range and embraced within its scope all principles and ideals pertaining to public administration. The best known examples of this approach are explained in Shanti Parva of the famous Hindu epic, Mahabharatha and Plato’s famous work, Republic.

Structural Approach: This approach emphasizes on the institutional approach in public administration and studies its personnel management and financial administration. It goes into the finer details of how an organization functions.

Juridical Approach: This is considered as the oldest systematically formulated approach pertaining to public administration. It studies the concept of administration from a legal perspective and lays emphasis on its constitutional structure. It interprets public administration in legal terms. It also takes into account aspects such as language of various constitutions, decisions of judicial bodies, and codes of laws.

Behavioral Approach: As decision-making is an important activity of public administration, this approach takes into account organizational behavior and the psychology of human relations. Then, it analyses a suitable strategy within a broader political and governmental setting.

Case Method Approach: In the 20^th century, this became a popular approach in public administration. It involved reconstructing administrative realities and acquaints the students with the administrative process and conducting researches in fields that were unexplored before.

Historical Approach: This approach studies public administration from the perspective of chronological order of events that established the unique features of the administrative system. The approach fosters the belief that institutions for public administration can be understood better in the light of their past. All the above mentioned approaches in public administration are useful in one way or the other. In fact, it is understood that they are complementary to one another and therefore, each approach in public administration has its own utility.