Public Administration is an optional subject with 2 papers (Paper I and Paper II) in the UPSC Civil Services Mains Examination. There are 9 papers in the mains stage of the IAS exam. Public Administration is one of the 48 subjects given in the optional list for UPSC.
This article provides you IAS Public Administration Syllabus for UPSC Exam Options.
Public Administration as an optional course is a very popular choice among the UPSC Aspirants. Its popularity arises from the nature of the Public Administration curriculum and its implementation in the civil services. If IAS aspirants perform well in the optional exam then their total score in UPSC Mains increases.
UPSC CSE notification contains the list of all optional subjects for IAS along with their syllabus.
UPSC Public Administration Optional Course
Each paper is of 250 marks and the total is 500 marks. If one follows the correct UPSC Public Administration Syllabus by referring to books then Public Administration optional is a scoring subject.
Public Administration Syllabus for UPSC (Paper-I)
Paper-I: Administration Principles
1. Introduction:
Meaning, scope and importance of public administration, Wilson’s view of public administration, the evolution of the discipline and its present status. New Public Administration, Public Choice Approach; Challenges of liberalization, privatization, globalization; Good Governance: Concept and Applications; New Public Management.
2. Administrative Considerations:
Scientific management and scientific management movement; Classical theory; its criticism and Weberian development following Weber’s bureaucratic model; Dynamic Administration (Mary Parker Follett); Human Relations School (Elton Mayo and others); Functions of the Executive (C.I. Barnard); Simon’s theory of decision making; Participative Management (R. Likert, C. Argyris, D. McGregor.)
3. Administrative Behavior:
Decision-making processes and techniques; Communications; morale; Motivation theory content, process and contemporary; Leadership Theories: Traditional and Modern:
4. Organization:
theory system, contingency; Structure and Nature: Ministries and Departments, Corporations, Companies; Boards and Commissions; ad hoc, and advisory bodies; Headquarters and field relations; Regulatory Authority; Public Private Partnerships.
5. Accountability and Control:
Concepts of accountability and control; Legislative, executive and judicial control over administration; Civil and Administration; Role of media, interest groups, voluntary organisations; civil society; Citizen’s Charter; Right to Information; Social Audit.
6. Administrative Law:
Meaning, scope and significance; Dicey on Administrative Law; delegated legislation; Administrative Tribunal.
7. Comparative Public Administration:
Historical and sociological factors influencing administrative systems; Administration and politics in different countries; Current status of comparative public administration; Ecology and Administration; Riggsian models and their criticism.
8. Dynamics of Development:
Concept of development; The changing contours of development administration; ‘Anti-evolution thesis’; Bureaucracy and Development; The strong state versus market debate; Impact of liberalization on governance in developing countries; Women and Development Self Help Group Movement.
9. Personnel Administration:
Importance of human resource development; Recruitment, training, career advancement, position classification, discipline, performance appraisal, promotion, solicitation and service conditions; Employer-employee relations, grievance redressal mechanisms; Code of conduct; Administrative ethics.
10. Public Policy:
Models of policy-making and their criticism; The processes of conceptualization, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and review and their limitations; State theory and public policy making.
11. Techniques of Administrative Reforms:
Organization and methods, work-study and work management; e-Governance and Information Technology; Management support tools like Network Analysis, MIS, PERT and CPM.
12. Financial Administration:
Monetary and fiscal policies: types and forms of public borrowing and public debt budget; budgetary process; financial accountability; accounting and auditing.
Public Administration Syllabus for UPSC (Paper-II)
Paper-II: Indian Administration
1. Development of Indian Administration:
Kautilya Arthashastra; Mughal administration; The legacy of British rule in politics and administration was the Indianization of public services, revenue administration, district administration, and local self-government. ,
2. Philosophical and Constitutional Framework of Government:
Key features and price range; Constitutionalism; political culture; Bureaucracy and Democracy; Bureaucracy and development.
3. Public Sector Undertakings:
Public Sector in Modern India; Nature of public sector undertakings; Problems of autonomy, accountability and control; Effect of liberalization and privatization.
4. Union Government and Administration:
Executive, Parliament, Judiciary – structure, functions, working procedures; recent trends; intergovernmental relations; Cabinet Secretariat; The Office of the Prime Minister; Central Secretariat; Ministries and Departments; plank; commission; attached office; Field organization.
5. Plans and Priorities:
machinery of planning; Role, structure and functions of Planning Commission and National Development Council; ‘Indicative’ plan; The process of planning at the Union and State levels; Constitutional Amendment (1992) and decentralized planning for economic growth and social justice.
6. State Government and Administration:
Union-State administrative, legislative and financial relations; Role of Finance Commission; Governor; Chief Minister; Council of Ministers; Chief Secretary; State Secretariat; Directorate.
7. District Administration since Independence:
The changing role of the collector; Union-State-Local Relations; Essentials of Development Management and Law and Order Administration; District Administration and democratic decentralization.
8. Civil Services:
constitutional status; structure, recruitment, training and capacity building; Good Governance Initiative; Code of Conduct and Discipline; employee unions; political rights; Grievance Redressal Mechanism; civil service neutrality; Civil service activism.
9. Financial Management:
Budget as a political instrument; Parliamentary control of public expenditure; Role of the Ministry of Finance in the monetary and fiscal area; Accounting Techniques; audit; Role of Comptroller General of Accounts and Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
10. Administrative Reforms since Independence:
major concerns; Important Committees and Commissions; improving financial management and human resource development; Implementation problems.
11. Rural Development:
Institutions and agencies since independence; Rural Development Programme: Focus and Strategies; Decentralization and Panchayati Raj; 73rd constitutional amendment.
12. Urban Local Government:
Municipal Administration: Main Features, Structures, Finance and Problem Areas; 74th Constitutional Amendment; the global-local debate; new field; Development dynamics, politics and governance with special reference to city management.
13. Law and Order Administration:
British heritage; National Police Commission; Investigative agencies; The role of central and state agencies, including paramilitary forces, in maintaining law and order and countering extremism and terrorism; criminalization of politics and administration; Police-Public Relations; Police reforms.
14. Important Issues in Indian Administration:
Values in Public Service; Regulatory Commission; National Human Rights Commission; Problems of administration in coalition governance; Civil Administration Interface; Corruption and Governance; disaster management.
Must Read:
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