Question : How far do you agree with the view that the growing influence of media comes in the way of agenda-setting by the Government?
(2015)
Answer : Agenda-setting theory is associated with Maxwell McCombs & Donald Shaw (1972).
Premise: Media does not tell us what to think, but rather what to think about.
Evidence: Mass media have not been proven effective in determining how audiences will accept opinions and point of view in media reports. But mass media are effective in determining what audiences see as newsworthy. By the issues they cover, media can legitimize a story or marginalize either the entire story or ....
Question : “Right from the days of the ‘Peoples’ Charter’ to the new concept of `Precariat Charter’, the concept of Citizen’s Charter and its scope is constantly evolving.” Comment.
(2015)
Answer : Citizen’s Charters (CC) are rights given to the citizen in pursuance of learning and governance.
The evolution of CC
People’s Charter - Bare minimum rights in a Monarchy
People’s charter was the innovation of 19th century in Britain. It gave right to vote to all men (removed income as a basis - women excluded); gave salaries to the Members of Parliament so that common man can participate in election. PC represents the modest beginnings of CC.
Equality in a ....
Question : “Legislative action is not subject to the rules of natural justice.” Explain the exceptions to the rule of natural justice.
(2015)
Answer : Natural Justice refers to the doctrine of “duty to act fairly”. Its two principles include - “Rule against bias” and “Right to fair hearing”. In the application of law - Legislative action is treated as an exemption to Natural Justice.
Some Examples
Question : “Voluntary organizations have become tools of sensitization of governmental agencies.” Comment.
(2014)
Answer : Stability of system in a developed democracy is ensured by voluntary organizations. They act as a catalyst in the empowerment of people as well as proper functioning of government.
They not only sensitize governmental agencies but also people. And it’s not ending there they work more than that:-
Question : “The notion of informal organization 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’ organization?
(2014)
Answer : Idea of informal organization was either not included or rejected in classical theories. Many thinkers like Barnard, Simon, Gouldner etc wrote on informal organization/group in following period. Informal organizations have following characteristics like:
In formal organization features ....
Question : “The Right to Information is not all about citizens’ empowerment; it essentially redefines the concept of accountability.” Discuss.
(2014)
Answer : RTI act has brought a paradigm shift from the era opaqueness to an era of openness in the field of administration. Earlier the citizens who were treated as subject and were living under era of opaqueness are now empowered to take informative decisions.
Empowerment can be measured in terms of: willingness, ability and instrumentality.
Question : “For those who use the euphemism of ‘shared power’ for participation, the appropriate literature for guidance is practical politics and not organization and Management.” “Stronger state and strong civil society are the need to develop both participatory democracy and responsive government as mutually reinforcing and supportive.” Bring out the myths and realities associated with public participation.
(2013)
Answer : With globalisation, privatisation, and liberalisation making strides in the global scenario since 1980’s, the centralist, hierarchical, secretive and authoritarian traditional bureaucratic state has found itself with new tasks and challenges. The new wave of reforms called for decentralisation, role for civil society, people’s participation in administration, administrative responsiveness, public-private partnerships, FDIs, downsizing, cost cutting, etc
Progressive political goals in a society involve participation of the people in governmental affairs. The notion of participation gains added importance ....
Question : Discuss the view that “tribunals should have the same degree of independence from the executive as that enjoyed by the Supreme Court and High Courts, especially for those tribunals that look over the functions of High Courts.
(2013)
Answer : Under welfare state model, there has been a phenomenal increase in the functions of the government, which has lent enormous powers to the executive and has also led to increase in the legislative output. This has led to more litigation, restrictions on the freedom of the individuals and constant frictions between them and the authority. Administrative tribunals have emerged with the objective of providing a new type of justice - public good oriented justice. Important ....
Question : How did the traditional Public Administration “resolve the fundamentally irresolvable problem- creating an administration strong enough to be effective but not strong enough to endanger accountability”?
(2013)
Answer : The three concepts of authority, responsibility and accountability are the integral parts of the process of administration. Authority is the right to command, responsibility is the duty to carry out the command, and the accountability is the term used to denote the proper discharge of the duties in letter and spirit. A person’s responsibility is complete only when the duties are done according to the letter and spirit of the command.
Responsibility denotes the accountability of ....
Question : Public Administration in the neo-liberal era is government less by the instruments of internal accountability and more by those of external accountability. Elaborate.
(2013)
Answer : Major themes that are currently in vogue in public administration viz., the New Right, Neo-Conservatism, Public Choice theory, and ‘globalisation’ itself, are all closely related to the Neo-liberal thinking. The Neo-liberal’s conception of the minimalist State approximates Classical Liberalism’s emphasis on the State being a mere protectionist (law and order) outfit leaving the individuals free to pursue their self-interest in a manner deemed in the best possible way by them. Early positive Liberalism and its ....
Question : (a) ‘Open access to government records is … the hallmark of a democratic government’, but ‘governments are not hesitant about destroying records - very deliberately - in order to prevent investigations, as well as to generally weaken accountability’. Do you think that in this situation right to information can go to the extent of demanding complete declassification and ‘de-archivization’ of government records? Argue.
(b) Should media exposure be included in rules for administrative accountability in India ? State your views.
(c) Comment on the role of Civil Society in facilitating administrative accountability with special reference to the ‘Janlokpal’ issue in India.
(2012)
Answer : (a): Right to Information to people is bedrock for healthy and working democracy. An educated and active citizenry is that fundamental element in making of democratic societies who powerful rulers fear the most and hence suppress the people. Experience tells us that the more information is held by the citizens, more will be their participation, readiness and motivation in playing an effective role in decision making which impact their life and property in economic welfare. ....
Question : Whereas ‘value for money’ audit aims at economy and ‘performance’ audit seeks efficiency, ‘social’ audit goes beyond both, to examine the effectiveness of a programme or activity. Examine this statement with suitable illustrations.
(2011)
Answer : ‘Value for money’ (VFM) is a term used to assess whether or not an organisation has obtained the maximum benefit from the goods and services it both acquires and provides, within the resources available to it. Achieving VFM is also often described in terms of the ‘three Es’ - economy, efficiency and effectiveness. In other words, VFM is an independent audit of a not-for-profit organization (government agency or unit, charity, trust, etc.) to assess the ....
Question : ‘Media is a Parliament of citizens.’ Explain.
(2011)
Answer : Press is often termed as ‘fourth’ pillar of Parliament, the other three being the President,Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. In the globalised world, where information has become a key to the empowerment of the masses, the media, a component of press, plays an important role in restoring people’s faith in the democracy and making the Parliament accountable to the electorates as evidenced by the Anna’s movement against corruption. In fact, the media constitute the ....
Question : Explain the basic principles underlying citizen’s charter with special reference to
(2010)
Answer : (a). There has been significant reform of the public sector. A wide range of initiatives have affected every area of activity, including central government, the National Health Service and local government.A common feature of these initiatives is the drive to improve value for money. Amongst the more important individual initiatives have been the creation of Next Steps Agencies to undertake many of the executive functions of central government, market testing and compulsory competitive tendering of ....
Question : ‘Instruments of public accountability can be truly effective only if the people and their associations, backed by a responsible media, are assertively pro-active.’ Comment.
(2008)
Answer : The concept of accountability connotes the obligation of the administrators to give a satisfactory account of their performance and the manner in which they have exercised powers conferred on them.
Its main aim is to check wrong and arbitrary administrative actions and increase efficiency and effectiveness of administrative process.
Modern democratic states are characterized by welfare orientation. Hence, government has come to play an important role in the soio-economic development of the nation. People’s participation has become ....
Question : “Right to information promotes transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority.” Explain.
(2007)
Answer : The twentieth century belonged to the Industrial Revolution, in the same manner, the twenty-first century is going to belong to the Information Revolution. The Right to Information to citizens is a great step in making above statement more encompassing and meaningful.
In all free societies, the veil of secrecy that has traditionally shrouded activities of governments is being progressively lifted and this has had as salutary effect on the functioning of governments. In most democratic countries, ....
Question : Define the term ‘civil society’. How does civil society influence the public policy?
(2006)
Answer : Civil society is defined variously by different theorists, but a minimal definition would include the idea of a non-state autonomous sphere; empowerment of citizens; trust building associational life; interaction with rather than subordination to the state. Hence civil society represents the realm of an organised social life that is voluntary, self-generating, largely self-supporting, and bound by a legal or set of shared values.
A civil society is a non-state institution which covers a large space of ....
Question : Discuss the legal and political implications of Right to Information. Is it a feasible concept in the developing countries?
(2004)
Answer : In all free societies, the veil of secrecy that has traditionally shrouded activities of governments is being progressively lifted and this has had as salutary effect on the functioning of governments. In most democratic countries, the right of people to know is now a well-established right created under law. It is right that has evolved with the maturing of the democratic form of governance. Democracy is no longer perceived as a form of government where ....
Question : “Citizens charter is the most important innovation in the context of promotion of customer orientation of administration”. Discuss.
(2003)
Answer : Citizens charter is actually a tool for upgrading or streaming the public services by making public serice providers more accountable and responsive to their users. It is the result of a search for administrative accountability in a democratic system. The concept of citizen charter was introduced by John Major of UK in 1991.
Basically, the citizen charter seeks to spell out in great detail, the services of what quality and at what time government and services ....
Question : “Civil society exists to ensure that government does provide good governance”. Discuss.
(2002)
Answer : The term ‘civil society’ has come to enjoy much political administrative and intellectual currency in recent years. The civil society organizations play an important role in the welfare and development administration.
Coming to the role to be played by civil society organizations in good governance, it could be said that the most important role played by these organization is to create political awareness among the people at the local level. In doing so they should be ....
Question : The field of administrative law after a century of litigation and adjudication, remains alive with simmering issues.
(1995)
Answer : Administrative Law, shows a whole body of law relating to public administration. It is the law of official powers and responsibility or the law which determines the amount of discretion permitted to administrative officers and agencies.
The clear picture of Administrative Law as we observed can be seen in “France” polity, where there is a definite regulating material in terms of administrative point of view. But in India and England the concept of Rule of Law, ....
Question : Describe the methods by which the Public Accounts Committee and the Estimates Committee control administration
(1995)
Answer : The Estimates Committee and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) both provide the parliament an opportunity to control the executive. These both committee are the tools in the hand of parliament in financial matters. Both the committees are made up of the members of parliament.
The Public Account Committee (PAC) works in a different way then the estimates committee. They both have their unique way of working. The PAC set up first in India in 1921 under ....
