Public administration | History, Examples, Types, & Principles

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[{"p":6,"t":482290},{"p":10,"t":1449402},{"p":3,"t":84999},{"p":6,"t":6108},{"p":8,"t":467721},{"p":4,"t":125544},{"p":1,"t":2078660},{"p":4,"t":345572},{"p":9,"t":482436},{"p":1,"t":1084748}], "sequence": 1, "topics": {} }); </script> <article class="article-content container-lg qa-content px-0 pt-0 pb-40 py-lg-20 content md-expanded" data-topic-id="482290"> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/public-administration">public administration</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/topic/public-administration">Introduction</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref36927"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/History">History</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref36928"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/History#ref36928">Early systems</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref36929"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/History#ref36929">Modern developments</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref36930"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/History#ref36930">Prussia</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref36931"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/France">France</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref36932"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/France#ref36932">The British Empire</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref36933"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/France#ref36933">The United States</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref36934"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/The-Soviet-Union">The Soviet Union</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref36935"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/The-Soviet-Union#ref36935">China</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref36936"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/The-Soviet-Union#ref36936">Japan</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref36937"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/The-Soviet-Union#ref36937">Developing nations</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref36938"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/Principles-of-public-administration">Principles of public administration</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref36939"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/Principles-of-public-administration#ref36939">The classical definition</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref36940"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/Principles-of-public-administration#ref36940">Recent interpretations</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref36941"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/Responses-to-incrementalism">Responses to incrementalism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref36942"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/Responses-to-incrementalism#ref36942">Public policy approach</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref36943"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/public-administration/Responses-to-incrementalism#ref36943">Education and training</a></li></ul></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/public-administration/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/public-administration">Quick Facts & Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" 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Author of <i>The Profession of Government </i>and others.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Brian Chapman</span>, <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 qa-editor-popup gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/contributor/Frederick-C-Mosher/2060" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">Frederick C. Mosher</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Henry L. and Grace Doherty Foundation Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 1968–80. Author of <i>Democracy and the Public Service.</i></div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Frederick C. Mosher</span><span class="text-gray-700 mx-5">•</span><a class="see-all border-gray-700 gtm-byline" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/public-administration/additional-info#contributors">All</a> </div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 qa-editor-popup font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2025-01-30T00:00:00CST" >Jan 30, 2025</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/public-administration/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn btn-sm border-2 btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 module-spacing js-inline-ai-ask-button p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Key People: </dt> <dd><a href="/biography/Napoleon-I" topicid="402943">Napoleon I</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Justinian-I" topicid="308858">Justinian I</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Catherine-the-Great" topicid="99597">Catherine the Great</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Frederick-II-Holy-Roman-emperor" topicid="217800">Frederick II</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Henry-II-king-of-England" topicid="261477">Henry II</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Related Topics: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/administrative-law" topicid="6108">administrative law</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/civil-service" topicid="119404">civil service</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/bureaucracy" topicid="84999">bureaucracy</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/e-government" topicid="1918152">e-government</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/institutional-performance" topicid="1930059">institutional performance</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>On the Web: </dt> <dd><a href="https://www.academia.edu/30097948/PRINCIPLES_OF_PUBLIC_ADMINISTRATION" target="_blank">Academia - Principles of Public Administration (PDF)</a> (Jan. 30, 2025)</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/public-administration"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref417504"></span>public administration</strong>, the implementation of <span id="ref663326"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/government" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">government</a> <span id="ref417505"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/policy-government" class="md-crosslink ">policies</a>. Today public administration is often regarded as including also some responsibility for determining the policies and programs of <span id="ref417507"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/state-sovereign-political-entity" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">governments</a>. Specifically, it is the planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling of government operations.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Public administration is a feature of all nations, whatever their <span id="ref417508"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-system" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">system</a> of government. Within nations public administration is practiced at the central, intermediate, and local levels. Indeed, the relationships between different levels of government within a single nation <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constitute" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitute" data-type="MW">constitute</a> a growing problem of public administration.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In most of the world the establishment of highly trained administrative, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/executive-government" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">executive</a>, or directive classes has made public administration a distinct profession. The body of public administrators is usually called the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-service" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">civil service</a>. In the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">United States</a>, the elitist class <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="connotations" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/connotations" data-type="MW">connotations</a> historically attached to the <span id="ref417510"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-service" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">civil service</a> were consciously abandoned or from the early 20th century, with the result that civil servants were recognized as professionals and valued for their expertise.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Traditionally the civil service is contrasted with other bodies serving the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/state-sovereign-political-entity" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">state</a> full time, such as the military, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/judiciary" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">judiciary</a>, and the police. Specialized services, sometimes referred to as scientific or professional civil services, provide technical rather than general administrative support. Traditionally, in most countries, a distinction is also made between the home civil service and those persons engaged abroad on diplomatic duties. A civil servant, therefore, is one of a body of persons who are directly employed in the administration of the internal affairs of the state and whose role and status are not political, ministerial, military, or constabulary.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In most countries the civil service does not include local government or public corporations. In some countries, however—particularly those unitary states in which provincial administration is part of the central government—some provincial staffs are civil servants. In the United States, all levels of government have their own civil services—federal, state, and local—and a civil service is specifically that part of governmental service entered by examination and offering permanent <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="tenure" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenure" data-type="MW">tenure</a>.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Certain characteristics are common to all civil services. Senior civil servants are regarded as the professional advisers to those who formulate state policy. In some countries entry requirements for a career in the higher civil service stress qualifications in technical fields such as accounting, economics, medicine, and engineering. In other countries legal training is deemed appropriate, and in others no specific technical or academic <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="discipline" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discipline" data-type="MW">discipline</a> is required among candidates for senior posts. Whatever their precise qualifications, senior civil servants are professional in the sense that their experience of public affairs is thought to provide them with the knowledge of the limits within which state policy can be made effective and of the probable administrative results of different courses of action. Civil servants in every country are expected to advise, warn, and assist those responsible for state policy and, when this has been decided, to provide the organization for <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="implementing" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implementing" data-type="MW">implementing</a> it. The responsibility for policy decisions lies with the political members of the executive (those members who have been elected or appointed to give political direction to government and, customarily, career civil servants). Customarily, civil servants are protected from public blame or <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="censure" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/censure" data-type="MW">censure</a> for their advice. The acts of their administration may, however, be subject to special judicial controls from which no member of the executive can defend them.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Civil services are organized upon standard hierarchical lines, in which a command structure rises pyramid-fashion from the lowest offices to the highest. This command implies obedience to the lawful orders of a superior, and in order to maintain this system the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="hierarchy" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy" data-type="MW">hierarchy</a> of offices is marked by fixed positions, with well-defined duties, specific powers, and salaries and privileges objectively assessed. In some countries there may be direct appointment to higher office of persons not previously employed by the service, but even then a recognized system of internal promotion emphasizes the nature of the hierarchical pyramid.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=august-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">This article discusses the growth of public administration through history as well as its development under different political systems. Special attention is paid to the problems of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/administrative-law" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">administrative law</a> and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="bureaucratic" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bureaucratic" data-type="MW">bureaucratic</a> structure. For discussion of a subject <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="integral" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/integral" data-type="MW">integral</a> to public administration, <em>see</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/government-budget" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">government economic policy</a>. For further discussion of the various regimes under which public administration operates, <em>see</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-system" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">political system</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature font-12"><a href="/contributor/Frederick-C-Mosher/2060">Frederick C. Mosher</a></span> <span class="md-signature font-12"><a href="/contributor/Brian-Chapman/527">Brian Chapman</a></span> <span class="md-signature font-12"><a href="/contributor/Edward-C-Page/2230">Edward C. 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Public administration | History, Examples, Types, & Principles | Britannica