Q. 1
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
Who is universally recognized as the 'Father of Public Administration' following his seminal 1887 essay 'The Study of Administration'?
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Woodrow Wilson's 1887 essay 'The Study of Administration' argued that administration lies outside the proper sphere of politics and established public administration as an independent field of study (Politics-Administration Dichotomy).
Q. 2
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
The famous administrative acronym 'POSDCORB' was coined by which administrative theorist(s)?
💡
Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
In their 1937 work 'Papers on the Science of Administration', Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick coined POSDCORB: Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting, and Budgeting.
Q. 3
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
In the acronym POSDCORB, what does the letter 'CO' stand for?
💡
Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
In Luther Gulick's POSDCORB formulation, 'CO' stands for Coordinating—the inter-relating of the various parts of the work.
Q. 4
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
According to Max Weber, which type of authority forms the foundation of modern public bureaucracy?
💡
Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Max Weber categorized authority into Traditional, Charismatic, and Legal-rational. Legal-rational authority is based on impersonal rules, written laws, and formal procedures, forming the basis of modern modern bureaucracy.
Q. 5
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Max Weber's ideal-type bureaucracy?
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Weber's ideal bureaucracy is characterized by strict impersonality, official hierarchy, formal rules, merit appointments, and comprehensive written records (files), explicitly eliminating subjective nepotism and personal whim.
Q. 6
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
Henri Fayol, known as the father of Classical Management Theory, formulated how many general principles of management?
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
In his 1916 work 'Administration Industrielle et Générale', Henri Fayol formulated the 14 Principles of Management, including Division of Work, Unity of Command, Unity of Direction, and Scalar Chain.
Q. 7
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
Under Fayol's 14 principles of management, 'Unity of Command' dictates that:
💡
Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Unity of Command requires that an individual subordinate should receive instructions from, and be directly answerable to, only one immediate supervisor to prevent conflicting directions.
Q. 8
Public Administration
Difficulty: Medium
(1 Mark)
In Fayol's management theory, the concept of 'Gang Plank' refers to:
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Fayol introduced 'Gang Plank' (or Level Bridge) as an exception to the strict scalar chain, allowing direct lateral contact between officers of equivalent rank across departments in urgent situations with superior consent.
Q. 9
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
What does the principle of 'Span of Control' denote in public administration?
💡
Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Span of Control (or span of management) refers to the number of subordinates who report directly to a single supervisor or executive.
Q. 10
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
Frederick Winslow Taylor is celebrated as the founder of which administrative school of thought?
💡
Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Frederick Winslow Taylor established Scientific Management (Taylorism) with his 1911 monograph 'The Principles of Scientific Management', emphasizing time-and-motion studies, standard procedures, and scientific selection of workers.
Q. 11
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
The famous 'Hawthorne Studies' (1924–1932) conducted by Elton Mayo and his associates led to the emergence of:
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
The Hawthorne Experiments at Western Electric Company revealed that social factors, group informal norms, recognition, and interpersonal relationships significantly affect worker productivity beyond mere physical conditions or financial incentives.
Q. 12
Public Administration
Difficulty: Medium
(1 Mark)
The landmark 1968 Minnowbrook Conference convened by Dwight Waldo gave birth to which paradigm in public administration?
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
The Minnowbrook Conference I (1968) spearheaded by Dwight Waldo and young scholars launched New Public Administration (NPA), rejecting value-neutral efficiency and emphasizing social equity, relevance, values, and change.
Q. 13
Public Administration
Difficulty: Medium
(1 Mark)
What are the four foundational pillars of New Public Administration (NPA) formulated at Minnowbrook?
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
NPA defined four core themes: Relevance (addressing societal crises), Values (rejection of value-free administration), Social Equity (improving conditions of the underprivileged), and Change (overcoming bureaucratic rigidity).
Q. 14
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
The doctrine of 'New Public Management' (NPM) popularized by David Osborne and Ted Gaebler in their 1992 book 'Reinventing Government' advocates for:
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
NPM focuses on 'steering rather than rowing', customer-driven government, performance measurement, contracting out, competition, and treating citizens as consumers of public services.
Q. 15
Public Administration
Difficulty: Medium
(1 Mark)
In Osborne and Gaebler's 'Reinventing Government' ten principles, 'Catalytic Government' refers to:
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Catalytic government means governments should concentrate on setting policy directions, regulating, and catalyzing private and non-profit actors (steering) rather than doing all operational service delivery themselves (rowing).
Q. 16
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
The 'Ecological Approach' to the study of Comparative Public Administration was pioneered by which prominent scholar?
💡
Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Fred W. Riggs pioneered the Ecological Approach, analyzing how social, cultural, political, and economic environments influence public administration in developing nations (his famous 'Prismatic Model').
Q. 17
Public Administration
Difficulty: Medium
(1 Mark)
In Fred Riggs' structural-functional model, developing societies undergoing transition from agrarian to industrial structures are termed as:
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Riggs classified societies into Fused (traditional/agrarian), Prismatic (transitional/developing), and Diffracted (modern/industrial). Prismatic societies exhibit formalistic laws, heterogeneity, and 'Sala' model administration.
Q. 18
Public Administration
Difficulty: Hard
(1 Mark)
In Riggs' Prismatic Model, what administrative phenomenon describes the gap between official enacted laws/rules and actual administrative practice?
💡
Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Formalism in Riggsian theory refers to the degree of discrepancy between what is prescribed on paper by rules and constitutions and what is actually practiced on the ground by civil servants.
Q. 19
Public Administration
Difficulty: Medium
(1 Mark)
Who authored the influential administrative book 'Functions of the Executive' (1938), introducing the concept of the organization as a cooperative social system?
💡
Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Chester Barnard view an organization as a system of consciously coordinated personal activities and developed the 'Acceptance Theory of Authority' and the 'Zone of Indifference'.
Q. 20
Public Administration
Difficulty: Medium
(1 Mark)
According to Chester Barnard's 'Acceptance Theory of Authority', authority resides in the:
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Barnard revolutionized authority theory by asserting that authority is not inherent in the superior's position, but exists only if the subordinate accepts it as authoritative.
Q. 21
Public Administration
Difficulty: Hard
(1 Mark)
Chester Barnard defined that region of orders which a subordinate will accept without conscious questioning of the authority as the:
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Barnard called this the 'Zone of Indifference'. (Later Herbert Simon modified it slightly and termed it the 'Zone of Acceptance').
Q. 22
Public Administration
Difficulty: Medium
(1 Mark)
Who is known as the 'Prophet of Management' for her pioneering work on constructive conflict, integration, and circular response?
💡
Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Mary Parker Follett introduced human-centric concepts like 'Integration' for resolving conflict, 'Power-with' rather than 'Power-over', and the 'Law of the Situation'.
Q. 23
Public Administration
Difficulty: Medium
(1 Mark)
According to Mary Parker Follett, what is the best method for resolving organizational conflict where neither party surrenders and both desires are integrated?
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Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Follett identified three ways of resolving conflict: Domination, Compromise, and Integration. She advocated Integration because neither party sacrifices their core desire and a creative win-win solution is found.
Q. 24
Public Administration
Difficulty: Easy
(1 Mark)
In administrative theory, 'Delegation of Authority' involves the transfer of:
💡
Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
Delegation involves assigning work and granting necessary decision-making authority to a subordinate, but the superior cannot delegate ultimate accountability to higher authorities.
Q. 25
Public Administration
Difficulty: Medium
(1 Mark)
Which classical administrative principle asserts that accountability can NEVER be delegated?
💡
Step-by-Step Explanation & Concept Rationale
The Principle of Absoluteness of Accountability states that while authority may be delegated, the delegating manager remains unconditionally accountable for the actions of their subordinates.
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