UPSC IAS Mains Public Administration Solved Exam Paper - 2014 (Paper -I)

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Online Course

UPSC IAS Mains Public Administration Solved Exam Paper - 2014

Paper - I

Time Allowed: Three Hours

Maximum Marks: 250

SECTION A

1. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10x5=50

(a) What are the implications of the post-structuralist perspective on the discrete aspects of Public Administration, coming from its epistemological positions? (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(b) "Adaptive, problem-solving, temporary systems of diverse specialists, linked together by coordinating executives in an organic flux—this is the original form that will gradually replace bureaucracy." Discuss, in the light of this statement, the 'end of bureaucracy' thesis and its strengths and limitations. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(c) "Karl Marx's interpretation of bureaucracy was rooted in the history of the nature of the State." Evaluate. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(d) "The conceptual division between administrative and constitutional law is quite porous, and that along many dimensions, administrative law can be considered more constitutional in character than the constitutions." How would you justify the statement? (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(e) Is Peter Drucker justified in saying, "Management principles should not tell us what to do,. but only tell us what not to do"? Comment. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)

2.

(a) "Governance theory and the notion of governmentality have many points of convergence, but they run on parallel lines." Comment. 20 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(b) "Taylor's ideas need modification in the context of post-industrial economics in contemporary era." Justify with reasons. 15 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(c). How does the Strategic Contingencies Theory of organizational design deal with problems arising from sub-unit centrality and non-substitutability? 15 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)

3.

(a) According to McGregor, "True professional help is not in playing God with the client, but in placing professional knowledge and skill at the client's disposal". In the light of the above, justify how theory Y is indicative and not prescriptive. 20
(b) "The notion of informal organisation is a residual or cafeteria concept of diverse and sprawling contents”. How does Gouldner establish the need for understanding the interdigitations between the ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ organisation?15
(c) "The Right to Information is not all about citizens' empowerment, it essentially redefines the concept of accountability." Discuss.15

Answer:

McGregor considers traditional or classical theories as theory X and presented his theory Y as a response to theory X. He classified theories on the basis of variables like direction and control.

Theory X assumes that employees are naturally unmotivated and dislike working, and this encourages an authoritarian style of management. According to this view, management must actively intervene to get things done. This style of management assumes that workers:

Dislike working.
Avoid responsibility and need to be directed.
Have to be controlled, forced, and threatened to deliver what's needed.
Need to be supervised at every step, with controls put in place.
Need to be enticed to produce results; otherwise they have no ambition or incentive to work.

X-Type organizations tend to be top heavy, with managers and supervisors required at every step to control workers. There is little delegation of authority and control remains firmly centralized. McGregor recognized that X-Type workers are in fact usually the minority, and yet in mass organizations, such as large scale production environment, X Theory management may be required and can be unavoidable.

On the other hand theory Y assumes a participative style of management that is de-centralized. It assumes that employees are happy to work, are self-motivated and creative, and enjoy working with greater responsibility. It assumes that workers:

Take responsibility and are motivated to fulfill the goals they are given.
Seek and accept responsibility and do not need much direction.
Consider work as a natural part of life and solve work problems imaginatively.

This more participative management style tends to be more widely applicable. In Y-Type organizations, people at lower levels of the organization are involved in decision making and have more responsibility.

With the changing scenario where consumers/clients are educated and well aware of their rights and when their choices are changing with time, theory Y is more successful model for professional-client relationship. Now people are empowered and can take decisions that when they should visit doctor.

(b) "The notion of informal organisation is a residual or cafeteria concept of diverse and sprawling contents”. How does Gouldner establish the need for understanding the interdigitations between the ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ organisation? 15

Formal organization refers to the systematic and organized structure in a workplace. It is carefully administered by the organization and it is always in total control of the management. Informal organizations, as the name suggests, are organizational structures that are created informally. Observe any working group or organization and you will notice that how much people interact with each other. Moreover, this interaction on the workplace is not always about the job. People do interact informally with each other and get connected personally. This is what leads to informal structures within an organization.

In short, informal organizations are created by the employees to satisfy their psychological and social affiliation needs at the workplace.

Unlike formal organizations that are created by the management, informal organizations are created by the employees themselves.
There is no definite structure or role assignment in an informal organizational structure.
Communication is the most important aspect of an informal structure.This communication process – which is also called the Grapevine – is in no particular order, method or route.
Unlike formal organizations, informal organizations are heavily dependent on the individuals’ personalities, emotions and values.
Informal structures are created spontaneously. Similarly, they are not micro-managed as the formal structures.
The informal organizations are created for the satisfaction of the workers, and therefore, they do not directly contribute to the organization’s goals.The informal structures cannot be officially listed.
The focus of an informal organization is built around the people – not their jobs. It is, therefore, influenced by the employees of an organization, not the management.

Residual concept because the formal organisation design comes first, where roles and authority relationships are set through the organisational chart. Diverse and sprawling contents because study of informal organisations would involve study of human behaviour, psychology, sociological factors etc. According to Gouldener if taken in isolation informal organisation will not make any sense. Such type of informal organisation would be short lived. An effective informal organisation will integrate the ethos of organisation while relaxing the normal authority and power associate with it. This integrated approach will help both employee and organisation in achieving their goals. This way the interdigitations of both should be seen.

(c) "The Right to Information is not all about citizens' empowerment, it essentially redefines the concept of accountability." Discuss.15

The right to information is an effective tool to control corruption, make governments accountable and curb arbitrary use of power. Over the last ten years, the RTI has been used extensively by ordinary Indian citizens to demand a vast range of information from their government. One should not forget that the RTI Act aims to create an ‘informed citizenry’ and to curb corruption and to hold government and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed.

In a country when we want to promote social accountability, efforts should be made to come up with more innovative tools to ensure it rather than devising ingenious techniques to ensure a Right and then limit it by doing away with the core ideology behind it.

To strengthen the “demand side” of good governance which entails strengthening the voice and capacity of citizens to directly demand greater accountability and responsiveness from public officials and service providers, and should be made more responsive, responsible and accountable.

Empowerment can be measured in terms of : willingness, ability and instrumentality. RTI act has not only empowered but also redefined the concept of accountability. Usually accountability is defined in terms of answerability and enforcement. Access to information is indeed one of the powerful tools of social accountability which has been achieved after much deliberation.

India’s RTI Act as “the most fundamental law this country has seen as it can be used from the local panchayat(a unit of local government) to parliament, from a nondescript village to posh Delhi, and from ration shops to the 2G scam.”

4.

(a) "New Public Management and post-New Public Management reforms initiatives have affected the balance between managerial, political, administrative, legal, professional and social accountability." Analyze. 20 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(b) "Delegation to independent agencies has taken place in an interdependent process driven by emulation." Discuss in the context of independent regulatory agencies in the modern regulatory State. 15 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(c) "Voluntary organizations have become tools of sensitization of governmental agencies." Comment. 15 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)

SECTION—B

5. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:

(a) Critically examine the Riggsian concept of differentiation in the context of post-globalization era. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(b) "The term Development Administration can be used only in a broad sense to mark the variety of approaches and points of view." Discuss. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(c) "The bottom line for governance is outcomes rather than the outputs of government." Analyze in the context of e-government and e-governance. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(d) "Policies determine politics as governments constrain." Attempt a critique of this statement. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(e) "Instead of reforms to budgetary process, Wildaysky proposes to redefine the role of political institutions and rules by which politics leads to agreement on budget." Explain. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)

6.

(a) "The fact that we call something performance auditing means that we imply salient features which can distinguish it from other forms of inquiry." Discuss with reference to the main measures or indicators of performance measurement. 20 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(b) "The Output Studies Approach to public policy analysis overstresses the rational techniques and allocative dimension of public policy." Analyse the statement. 15 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(c) "The field of MIS is not necessarily an extension of computer science, but of management and organization theory." Elucidate. 15 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)

7.

(a) "The technical and multidisciplinary nature of e-government has created an interdependent relationship within government between policymakers, programme administrators and technical specialists." Analyze in the context of generalist-specialist relationship. 20 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(b) "Self-Help Groups have not only empowered women, but have also brought about attitudinal change among all stakeholders towards women development." Discuss. 15 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(c) "Many Asian and African countries have inherited the colonial idea of civil service as a privileged elite. Hence, the social status of the civil service is an important aspect of the bureaucracy's unsuitability for change." Comment. 15 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)

8.

(a) Identify the main elements of Program Budgeting, Output Budgeting and 'New' Performance Budgeting. What do they have in common with PPBS? 20 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(b) According to Y. Dror, "The Science of Muddling through is essentially a reinforcement of pro-inertia and anti-innovation ideas in policy-making". Comment. 15 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
(c) "British philosophy of administration is based on a unification of science of administration with ethics." Analyze. 15 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)