“Comparative Public Administration is a theory of public administration applied to the diverse cultures and national settings and the body of factual data by which it can be examined and tested”
– Comparative Administration Group (CAG)
Comparative Public Administration is essentially a post-second world war development. It was Woodrow Wilson’s, “The Study of Administration” published in the Political Science Quarterly which can be credited for introducing a comparative approach to Public Administration. He was the first comparativist who compared American government system to the cabinet system in United Kingdom. F.W. Riggs is considered as the father of Comparative Public Administration.
Approaches to the Study of Comparative Public Administration
A] Structural – Functional Approach
Riggs stated that in this approach, every society has various structures which perform specific functions namely, political, economic, social, symbolic and communicational functions. He stated that, same set of functional requisites apply to an administrative sub-system.
Based on the structural – functional approach, he constructed two ‘ideal (theoretical) models’ to explain the administrative systems in a comparative context, namely (1) Agraria – Industria Model (2) Fused – Prismatic – Diffracted Model
(1) Agraria – Industria Model
He distinguished between societies dominated by agricultural institutions (Imperial China) and societies dominated by industrial institutions (USA). According to him, all societies move from agraria stage to industria stage. The structural features of the agrarian and industrial societies are as follows:
| Agraria | Industria | |
| Ascriptive values | 1. (Values) | Achievement values |
| Particularistic norms | 2. (Norms) | Universalistic norms |
| Diffuse patterns | 3. (Patterns) | Specific patterns |
| Stable local groups and limited spatial mobility | 4. (Mobility) | High degree of social and spatial mobility |
| Simple and stable occupational system | 5. (System) | Well – developed occupational system |
| Deferential stratification system (class) | 6. (Class) | Egalitarian class system |
In 1957, Riggs postulated an intermediate model called ‘transitia’ which bears the features of both Agraria and Industria and thus represents a transitional society. Consequently, he abandoned this typology of Agraria – Transitia – Industria and formulated another improvised Fused – Diffracted Model.
(2) Fused – Prismatic – Diffracted Model
Undifferentiated — — — — Semi – Differentiated — — — — Differentiated
Fused (Agraria) — — — — Prismatic — — — — Diffracted (Industria)
Attributes
| Fused | Prismatic | Diffracted |
| Ascription | Attainment | Achievement |
| Particularism | Selectivism | Universalism |
| Functional Diffusion | Poly – Functionalism | Functional Specificity |
B] Ecological Approach
The supporters of this approach suggested that the study of Public Administration should be made keeping the local ecology and circumstances in mind. It state as all plants cannot grow in all climates, likewise all administrative systems cannot be useful or successful in the ecology of all countries.
E.g.: The Prismatic Sala Model of F.W. Riggs is based upon this approach
C] Behavioural Approach
Herbert Simon, Blow Merton, Calton etc are authors who have introduced Behavioural Approach in Comparative Public Administration. It has come into popular use in other sciences due to the inappropriateness of traditional approaches.
Herbert Simon states that everyone working in an organization harbors some feelings and aspirations and his behaviour is affected by psychological conditions and inspirations or motivations. The individuals and social conditions of an individual mould his behaviour The behavioural study can successfully express the behaviour of the person working in an organization.
Conclusion
The importance of Comparative Public Administration lies in its academic utility in terms of scientific and systematic study of public administration and in improving the knowledge about other administrative systems so that appropriate administrative reforms and changes can be brought about in different nations. However, it can truly emerge only against a cross – cultural setting.