Chapter One Ecology of Public Administration

Ecology of Public Administration
Administration and its environment influence each other. The understanding of the dynamics of this process is
necessary to understand the administration. The term “ecology” is borrowed from the biology. It deals with the
science concerned with the inter-relationship of organism and their environment. It is concerned with the interplay of
living organism and their physical and social environment and how organisms and environment are kept in balance for
survival and other important objectives. The ecology of public administration, being the interaction of administration
and its environment, requires a deeper understanding of the society and various factors affecting its functioning.
The ecological approach in the study of public administration was initiated by JM Gaus , Robert A. Dhal and Robert A
Merton. However, FW Riggs, made the significant contribution to develop this approach.
• Ecology of Administration is concerned with the interaction between administrative system and their various
environment.
• The administration is produced by the social-cultural, economic, political, economic and geographical factors
of particular country.
• There is the close and effective relationship between the administration and other different environmental
factors.
• The environment and the administration always interact and significantly influenced each other.
• Robert Dahl said that the principles of administration produced by the any particular country is not equally
suitable for all over the world. He also said that the environmental factors of a particular country helps to
determine the principles of administration. According to him the administration or the theory or its execution is
always influenced by particular culture, values, ethics, economy, politics etc. of the country.
• It is the important discipline for the study of administration which studied interaction and inter-relationship
between the bureaucracy and different social, political, economic factors.
• John M. Gaus said that administrative ecology is interdependence of public bureaucracy and its environment.
• F.W. Riggs was recognized as the father of ecology of public administration because he focused on the
comparative study of public administration and the environment always made the influence on the
administration.
• Riggs further said that if developing countries like Asia, Africa and Latin America, blindly adopted the theory
or principles of administration developed by the developed countries, these are not fruitful for these developing
countries.
Structural Functional Approach
• In analyzing the administrative systems from ecological point of view, Riggs mainly used structural functional
approach.
• Talcott Parsons, Robert Merton, Almond etc. are the other thinkers who adopted this approach in their works.
• This approach envisage that in every society certain important functions have to be carried out by a number of
with the application of certain specified methods.
• Structures may mean the administrative mechanism or any other mechanism by which the functions are
discharged.
• Structural functional approach is a method of analyzing the functions that are carried out in
a society, the structures that are responsible to discharge the functions and the method that
are adopted in undertaken the functions.
• All social structures perform some functions. In structural functional terms, a functions
involves a pattern of interdependence between two or more structures, a relationship
between variables. It refers to any consequences of a structure in so far as they affect other
structure or the total system of which they are part.
• According to the Riggs, in every society five important functions are discharged:
i. Economic
ii. Social
iii. Communication
iv. Symbolic and
v. Political functions
The same set of functional requisites apply to an administrative sub system in which various
structures carry out a number of functions in a specified manner.
• In structural functional analysis, social structure is viewed as “any pattern of behaviour
which has become a standard feature of a social system.
• Two types of structure must be distinguished :
Concrete structure: which are present in every day life, such as government
departments, families, courts, and churches
Analytic structure: which are abstracts derived from realistic relationships, which
include such as the structure of authority.
• This method is important to analyze the social system. A one to one relationship
between structure and functions should not be assumed.
• The functional effects of particular structures are a matter of empirical research.
• It provides a realistic basis of analysis of functional dimensions on the interactions
the administrative sub-system and the other social sub system.
• This framework clarifies that
Similar structures in different settings may not perform similar functions,
That the absence of any structure may not imply the absence of the functions
and
That structure may be multifunctional.

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Ecology of Public Administration

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