Difference Between Public And Public Administration

Public Administration

Bradley Shelburg

Ashford University

PPA601 (NBS1430A)

Dr. Leah Raby

July 28, 2014 Public Administration

Public administration has grown through the years into the independent course of study as it is known for today. What was once known as a purely political environment has expanded to include business, legislative, and judicial influence. Many claim public administration lacks the same disciplinary unity found in other fields while others claim it includes a diversified background gained through the application of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of administration. Public administration has grown far beyond its initial boundaries of political science to embrace theories, concepts, and tools from

Managers in both the private and public sectors are concerned with the three broad functions of management. Strategy which involves setting organizational objectives and priorities, as well as planning to achieve those objectives. Managing internal components, which involve establishing organizational structures and procedures for coordinating actions, staffing, directing personnel, and the personnel management system. It also includes monitoring organizational performance. Finally managing external constituencies, which involve interacting with different units and managers within the same organization, interacting with other organizations, and interacting with the press and the public at large. To be successful in either public or private organizations, managers must be competent in all three functions. While these functions are common across both sectors, significant differences exist in terms of the opportunities and constraints managers face in successfully performing these functions (Cropf,

Many believe the Master’s in Public Administration degree is the central element of academic public administration’s efforts to educate public managers. Specialists are still needed in accounting, contracting, finance, personnel, and other fields. Administrators with competence in the techniques and methods of organization and management and with the understanding of the political, social, and economic environments in which they operate are currently and projected to be needed (Cleary,