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NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA COURSE CODE : POL 123 COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION COURSE GUIDE POL 123 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Course Team Dr. Justice Igbokwe (Writer) - NDC Dr. C. Nna-Emeka Okereke (Editor) - NDC Ifeyinwa M. Ogbonna-Nwaogu (Coordinator) - NOUN NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA ii POL 123 COURSE GUIDE National Open University of Nigeria Headquarters 14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way Victoria Island Lagos Abuja Office No. 5 Dar es Salaam Street Off Aminu Kano Crescent Wuse II, Abuja Nigeria e-mail: @nou.edu.ng URL: .nou.edu.ng Published By: National Open University of Nigeria First Printed 2009 ISBN: 978-058-823-X All Rights Reserved. iii CONTENTS PAGE Introduction …………………………………………………..…… 1 Course Aims…...…………………………………………………… 1 Course Objectives …………………………………………..…....... 1 Working through this Course …………………………………….... 2 Course Materials …………………………………………..…….… 2 Study Unit …………………………………………….………..….. 2 Textbooks and References…………………………………………. 3 Assessment ………………………………………………………… 3 Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA) …………………………….….. 4 Final Examination and Grading ……………………………..….…. 4 Course Marking Scheme ………………………………………….. 4 Course Overview/Presentation Schedule ……………………..…… 5 How to Get the Most from this Course ………………………..…… 6 Facilitators/Tutors and Tutorials …………………………………... 8 Summary ……………………………………………………….…... 8 iv Introduction Welcome to POL 123: Introduction to Public Administration. This course is a three credit unit course for undergraduate students in Political science. The materials have been developed with the Nigerian context in view. This course guide gives you an overview of the course. It also provides you with information on the organization and requirements of the course. Course Aims The aims are to help you understand new ideas and concepts of Public Administration. Hence, there is a requirement for orienting your mind to the contemporary social situations. The course attempts: i. Introducing you to Public Administration and the basic principles and concepts. ii. Demonstrating how these principles can be applied iii. To expose you to current affairs and iv. To help you in widening your horizon of knowledge. Course Objectives To achieve the aims set out above, POL 123 has overall objectives. In addition, each unit also has specific objectives. The unit objectives are at the beginning of each unit. I advise that you read them before you start working through the unit. You may want to refer to them during your study of the unit to check your progress. Here are the wider objectives for the course as a whole. By meeting the objectives, you count yourself as having met the aims of the course. On successful completion of the course, you should be able to: • Define the basic concepts of Public Administration • Explain the importance of Public Administration • Differentiate Publiceness from Privateness • Relate Public Administration to other social sciences • Understanding that Politics is a key to understanding of Public Administration • Discover what has influenced the study of Public Administration • Know the basis on which departments are organized • Know the approaches to the study of public administration • Find out why Bureaucracy is greatly needed now. POL 123 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION • Identify if the civil servants in Nigeria have honestly endeavoured to implement the policies and programmes of government. • Express what is collective responsibility in a parliamentary system of Government • Explain why legislative control on administration is indirect. Working through this Course To complete the course, you are required to read the study units and other related materials. At the end of each unit, you will be required to submit written assignments for assessment purposes. At the end of the course, you will write a final examination. Course Materials The major materials you will need for this course are: i. Course Guide ii. Study unit iii. Assignments file iv. Relevant textbooks including the ones listed under each unit Study Units There are 26 units (of 6 modules) in this course. These are listed below: Module 1 Unit 1 Basic Concept of Public Administration Unit 2 Public and Private Administration Unit 3 The Scope of Public Administration Unit 4 Public Administration as an Art and as a Science Module 2 Unit 1 Public Administration and Other Social Sciences Unit 2 New Dimensions of Public Administration Unit 3 General Aspects of Administration Unit 4 Approaches to the Study of Public Administration Unit 5 Environment of Public Administration ii POL 123 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Module 3 Unit 1 Principles of Public Administration Unit 2 Public Administration and Bureaucracy Unit 3 The Problem and Failure of Bureaucracy in Africa Unit 4 Chief Executive Unit 5 Legislature as a Board of Directors Module 4 Unit 1 Executive Control over Administration Unit 2 Parliamentary Control Administration Unit 3 Judicial Control over Administration Unit 4 The Community Control over Administration Unit 5 Internal Controls Module 5 Unit 1 Management – A Conceptual Analysis Unit 2 Leadership Unit 3 Policy Formation Unit 4 Decision- Making Unit 5 Administration and Nigeria Experience Module 6 Unit 1 Planning Unit 2 Coordination Unit 3 Delegation Unit 4 Communication Unit 5 Supervision Textbooks and References Certain books have been recommended in this course. You may wish to purchase them for further reading. Assessment File An assessment file and a marking scheme will be made available to you. In the assessment file, you will find details of the works you must submit to your tutor for marking. There are two aspects of the assessment of this course, the tutor marked and the written examination. The marks you obtain in these two areas will make up your final marks. The assignment must be submitted to your tutor on or before the deadline stated in the presentation schedule and the assignment file. The iii POL 123 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION work you submit to your tutor for assessment will count for 30% of your total score. Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMAs) You will have to submit a specified number of the (TMAs). Every unit in this course has a tutor marked assignment. You will be assessed on four of them but the best three performances from the (TMAs) will be used for your 30% grading. When you have completed each assignment, send it together with a Tutor Marked assignment form, to your tutor. Make sure each assignment reaches your tutor on or before the deadline for submission. If for any reason, you cannot complete your work on time, contact your tutor for a discussion on the possibility of an extension. Extensions may not be granted after the due date unless under exceptional circumstances. Final Examination and Grading The final examination will be a test of three hours. All areas of the course will be examined. Find time to read the unit all over before your examination. The final examination will attract 70% of the total course grade. The examination will consist of questions, which reflects the kind of self assessment exercises and tutor marked assignment you have previously encountered. And all aspects of the course will be assessed. You should use the time between completing the last unit, and taking the examination to revise the entire course. Course Marking Scheme The following table lays out how the actual course mark allocation is broken down. Assessment Marks Assignments (Best three assignments out 30% of four marked) Final Examination 70% Total 100% iv POL 123 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Course Overview and Presentation Schedule Units Title of work Weeks Assignments Activity Course Guide Module 1 1 Basic Concept of Public Week 1 Assignment 1 Administration 2 Public and Private Week 2 Assignment 2 Administration 3 The Scope of Public Week 2 Assignment 3 Administration 4 Public Administration as an Week 2 Assignment 4 Art and as a Science Module 2 1 Public Administration and Week 3 Assignment 1 Other Social Sciences 2 New Dimensions of Public Week 4 Assignment 2 Administration 3 General Aspects of Week 4 Assignment 3 Administration 4 Approaches to the Study of Week 4 Assignment 4 Public Administration 5 Environment of Public Administration 3 General Aspects of Week 4 Assignment 3 Administration 4 Approaches to the study of Week 4 Assignment 4 Public Administration Module 3 1 Principles of Public Week 5 Assignment 1 Administration 2 Public Administration and Week 6 Assignment 2 Bureaucracy 3 The Problem and Failure of Bureaucracy in Africa 4 Chief Executive Week 7 Assignment 3 5 Legislature as a Board of Week 8 Assignment 4 Directors Module 4 1 Executive Control over Week 9 Assignment 1 Administration 2 Parliamentary Control over Week 9 Assignment 2 Administration 3 Judicial Control over Week 10 Assignment 3 Administration v POL 123 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 4 The Community Control Week 10 Assignment 4 over Administration 5 Internal Controls Week 11 Assignment Module 5 1 Management–A Conceptual Week 11 Assignment 1 Analysis 2 Leadership Week 11 Assignment 2 3 Policy Formation Week 12 Assignment 3 4 Decision-Making Week 12 Assignment 4 5 Administration and Nigeria Experience Module 6 1 Planning Week 12 Assignment 1 2 Coordination Week 13 Assignment 2 3 Delegation Week 13 Assignment 3 4 Communication Week 14 Assignment 4 5 Supervision Week 14 Assignment 5 Revision 1 Examination 1 Total 17 How to Get the Most from this Course In distance learning, the study units replace the university lecture. This is one of the great advantages of distance learning; you can read and work through specially designed study materials at your own pace, and at a time and place that suits you best. Think of it as reading the lecture instead of listening to the lecturer. In the same way a lecturer might give you some reading to do, the study units tell you where to read, and which are your text materials or set of books. You are provided exercises to do at appropriate points, just as a lecturer might give you an in-class exercise. Each of the study units follows a common format. The first item is an introduction to the subject matter of the unit, and how a particular unit is integrated with the other units and the course as a whole. Next to this is a set of learning objectives. These objectives let you know what you should be able to do by the time you have complete the unit. These learning objectives are meant to guide your study. The moment a unit is finished, you must go back and check whether you have achieved the objectives. If this is made a habit, then you will significantly improve your chances of passing the course. The main body of the unit guides you through the required reading from other sources. This will usually be either from your textbooks or from a reading section. The following are the practical strategies for working through the course. If you run into any trouble, contact your tutor. vi