POL 123: Introduction to Public Administration

214 Pages·2010·0.65 MB·English

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
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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.

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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
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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

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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
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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%

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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
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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.
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