KSLU Solved Question Papers
Political Science (Public Administration)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 4
2022 Apr Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 4 Political Science (Public Administration) 2022 Apr Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2022 Apr examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2022 Apr examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2022 Apr examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 80 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and short note/problems is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer should be written either in English or Kannada completely.
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1
Unit I
(a)Explain the nature and importance of Public Administration.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: a one-line meaning; the nature of public administration on five questions: (1) which activities it covers, the integral and the managerial views, with Willoughby's two senses (1927) and Gulick's POSDCORB (1937); (2) its relation to politics, from Wilson (1887) and Goodnow (1900) to Appleby (1945) and Waldo (1948); (3) whether it is a science or an art, with Simon (1946) and Dahl (1947); (4) its public, legal and accountable character; (5) its changing, environment-bound character; then its importance in five relationships (to the legislature, the political executive, the citizen, the economy and democracy); a conclusion.
Meaning in one line
Public administration is the organised work of carrying out the laws and policies of the State. Woodrow Wilson called it "government in action".
Nature of public administration
1. Which activities does it cover?
There are two views. On the integral view, public administration includes every activity done to carry out a public policy. The clerk, the typist, the field inspector and the Secretary all take part in it. On the managerial view, only the work of those who plan, organise, direct, coordinate and control counts as administration. Routine and technical work is left out.
W. F. Willoughby (1927) noted a related distinction of scope. In its broadest sense, administration "denotes the work involved in the actual conduct of governmental affairs, regardless of the particular branch of government concerned". In its narrowest sense, it denotes "the operations of the administrative branch only".
Luther Gulick's POSDCORB (1937) is the classic statement of the managerial view. It lists the seven functions of a chief executive: planning, organising, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting. The integral view is wider and suits a study of how a whole department works.
2. Is it separate from politics?
Early writers kept the two apart. Wilson wrote in 1887 that "administration lies outside the proper sphere of politics. Administrative questions are not political questions." Frank Goodnow (1900) divided government into "the expression of the will of the state", which is politics, and "the execution of that will", which is administration.
Later writers rejected this sharp line. Paul Appleby argued in Big Democracy (1945) that "government is politics", and that administrators help to make policy. Dwight Waldo's The Administrative State (1948) also challenged the old separation. Today public administration is seen as working inside the political process. It advises on policy, shapes it in detail and carries it out.
3. Is it a science or an art?
Wilson called for a "science of administration". In the 1930s, Gulick and others tried to state fixed principles of organisation. Herbert Simon replied in "The Proverbs of Administration" (1946) that these principles were contradictory proverbs. Robert Dahl, in a 1947 article, named three problems for any such science. Values cannot be removed from administrative questions. It must study human behaviour, which is not uniform. And a finding from one country may not hold in another social setting.
The balanced view is that public administration is a social science in its method of study. It is also an art in practice, because applying knowledge to real people and situations needs judgement, skill and experience.
4. It is public, legal and accountable.
Unlike private management, it works only within the law. Wilson described it as the "detailed and systematic execution of public law". It spends public money, uses the coercive power of the State and must treat citizens equally. It is therefore answerable to the legislature, the courts, the auditors and the public. Appleby made the same point in his chapter "Government Is Different".
5. It changes with its environment.
Public administration is not the same everywhere or at all times. It grew from keeping law and order and collecting revenue into running a welfare State. It reflects the country's constitution, economy, culture and technology, which is why Dahl warned against copying another nation's methods blindly.
Importance of public administration
1. To the legislature. Parliament makes laws, but it cannot apply them. Administration applies every law to particular cases. It also makes detailed rules under the powers Parliament gives it.
2. To the political executive. Ministers decide the main policy, but they rely on officials for facts, options and advice. Officials then turn the decisions into schemes, orders and services.
3. To the citizen. Most people meet the State through its offices: the ration shop, the school, the police station and the land records office. Their experience of government is their experience of administration.
4. To the economy. Administration regulates markets, collects taxes, builds infrastructure and runs public enterprises. Investors and businesses depend on its speed and honesty.
5. To democracy. Votes and laws mean little if services fail. An honest and efficient administration builds trust in democratic government, and a corrupt or slow one destroys it.
Conclusion. Public administration is government in action. In nature it may be seen narrowly, as management, or broadly, as all the work of carrying out policy. It is no longer seen as separate from politics, after Appleby and Waldo. It is a social science in study and an art in practice, as Simon and Dahl showed. It is public, legal and accountable, and it changes with its environment. Its importance runs through its relations with the legislature, the ministers, the citizen, the economy and democracy itself.
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