Such a long journey: Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurating the Institute of Public Administration at Hyderabad House in New Delhi in 1954

Public administration is the study of public units and their relationships with each other and with the larger world. As a field, it can be compared to business administration. In fact, the masters in public administration (MPA) can be viewed as something similar to a masters in business administration (MBA).

An MPA often entails substantial ethical and sociological aspects not usually found in business schools. There are derivative and related degrees that address public affairs, public policy, and the like. Plato, Aristotle and Machiavelli were some of the early thinkers of public policy and administration.

What do I have to do?

Public administrators are expected to manage nearly every aspect of public service at the central, state and local levels offering the opportunity to help shape the future. Your focus will be on intangible factors such as providing services, processing documentation, setting and implementing policies, or the evaluation of social programmes. You may be involved in research and development, marketing, financial management, production, public relations, training and human resource development. With every passing day, governmental and non-governmental institutions are evolving, maturing, and overlapping in services which in turn is creating a higher demand for well-educated management specialists in public service. A degree in public administration or public policy prepares public / non-profit professionals to excel in this increasingly complex, politicised, intergovernmental environment.

As a public administrator, you will be expected to understand the complex administrative relations in networks of public and private organisations and their impact on the quality of public service provision, policymaking and the tensions often arising between different concerns (e.g. decisiveness versus public participation). To effectively evaluate problems you must have the ability to assess the usefulness and validity of existing knowledge and generate new, relevant knowledge.

The advent of globalisation presents a new challenge to public administration. Activated by technological improvements, a new international relationship has come into being. Trade and financial developments have tightened the economic linkages across boundaries. Foreign and domestic policies have evolved to control our future. The public administration professional learns to anticipate global developments and provides knowledge-packed inputs to policy makers.

What should I study?

You can study public administration after doing your graduation in any subject. Core courses often include human resources, budgeting and financial processes, information systems, policy and programme formulation, implementation and evaluation, decision-making and problem solving, political and legal institutions and processes, economic and social institutions and processes, organisation and management concepts and behaviour, and ethics.

What next?

A public administration degree provides an academic background for pursuing a career in both government and non-governmental / non-profit sectors. You can find employment in government departments, public fund foundations, statutory boards, non-profit organisations, educational and research institutes, mass media and publishing companies and private enterprises. In the private sector, you can work as a consultant for commercial firms. Several graduates also work as researchers and educators at universities. Public administration is also a popular subject for the civil services exams.

where to study

• Indian Institute of Public Administration, Indraprastha Estate, Ring Road, New Delhi-110002.
• Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
• University of Madras, Chepauk, Triplicane, Chennai-600005.
• Madras Christian College, Chennai.
• Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi.
• Indira Gandhi National Open University, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068.