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Political Science and Public Administration are two closely related fields which deal with the scientific study of political and administrative subjects.
The discipline of Political Science analyses the processes by which resources are allocated and values are developed and discussed within a political system.
The discipline of Public Administration analyses the processes by which decisions and policies are made within administrative systems and particularly within the state.
Political Science is a social discipline that deals with systems of government and the analysis of political activity and political behavior. Public Administration is a part of it because it is the coordination of collective efforts to implement public policy. It covers everything the civil agencies of government do, or could do, to help the body-politic attain its purpose. It is really a part of political science because public administration referred to the work involved in the actual conduct of the affairs of the government.
political science is study of political administration
Political Science tends to be theoretical, whereas Public Administration is practical. For example, if you're studying the national government in Public Administration you'd learn how it's set up, what agencies exist therein, who does what and how. On the other hand, if you study the national government in Political Science you would examine what type of government it REALLY is, how it's set up and why. You would question if you really need such a government and determine why. You would make prescriptions on how to make it "better". Ultimately, Public Administration is concerned with "how" while Political Science is concerned with "why". Public Administration will teach you how to do certain things in the government (e.g.,formulating a budget) while Political Science will build your critical thinking, analytical, writing, and oratory skills
Public Administration deals with the administrative activities of government and Pfiffner defines it “as the co-ordination of collective efforts to implement public policy.”
It covers everything the civil agencies of government do, or could do, to help the body-politic attain its purpose.
Public administration is really a part of Political Science, though it is now regarded and accepted as a separate subject of study. This dichotomy arose because of the two senses in which the term public administration was used in the nineteenth century.
In a broader sense, public administration referred to the work involved in the actual conduct of the affairs of government, regardless of the particular branch concerned. In a narrow sense, it referred to the operations of the administrative branch only, with defined functions of enforcing the policy as distinct from the policy determining function.
They both focus on the public area of human society.Political Science analyses the processes by which resources are allocated and values are developed and discussed within a political system. Where public administration analyses the processes by which decisions and policies are made within administrative systems and particularly within the state. They both are interconnect to each other.
Politics deals with the theory and practice of political systems and political behavior. Public Administration is concerned with the way government operates. Political science deals with political philosophy and theory, comparative politics, conflict process, Law and courts, legislative studies, political parties, representation and electoral system, political methodology, religion and politics, Political economy etc. While public administration is a part of political science, it is a sub-category of politics that relates to Inter-governmental relations and federalism, public accountability and ethics, public organization theory, public organizational behavior, public leadership, public strategic management, public personnel management, social justice and equity etc. Political science is more than just examining government structures and discussing elites currently in office. It is the study of who has the power to make laws for a society, the institutional structures that guide how this power is used, who benefits and who loses when this power is used, and the relationship between and policies in a society. Political science students therefore study voting, elections, the structures of government institutions, and how governments around the world differ and interact .Public Administration deals with formulation and execution of policies and plans by the government or bureaucrats for the development of the country .Public administration attempts to explain how decisions in government are made as well as administrating projects to carry out those decisions.
Political Science and Public Administration are very closely related subjects at Masters’ Level. Around% of the courses in these two disciplines are same and may be taught together in same class room.
However, Political Science is more targeted towards researchers who would like to build up their career in teaching /research profession. Political Science put a bit more emphasis on History, Political Structure of the country and Development of Govt. structure and processes.
The Public Administration program is targeted to existing civil servants, aspiring civil servants, NGOs, Donor Agencies, International Humanitarian Agencies(like Red cross, MSF) International Developing agencies like UN, World Bank etc. and the course content targets towards economic analysis, project management, development of Public Infrastructure and Public Services
Public Administration is a child of Political Science, therefore Political Science is macro in nature because it deals with the state and systems of government and its bureaucracy, while Public Administration is micro in nature because it deals with the people or the bureaucrats who serve as the machinery of the state and systems of government. In other words, Political Science is like a car that cannot move or operate without a driver and that driver is Public Administration.So they are not just related but a family in nature.
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