UPSC CSE (Main) 2019 · Optional
Public Administration · Paper I · 2019
28 questions from UPSC's own paper, Administrative Theory.
UPSC's question paper: official PDF ↗ · archived copy ↗
- Section A
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Q1(a) · 10 marks · 150 words
"Public Administration is constantly being reinvented because it is contextual." Elaborate.
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Q1(b) · 10 marks · 150 words
"Bureau pathology denigrates competence in organizations." Explain.
2. Administrative Thought Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q1(c) · 10 marks · 150 words
"If there is ever to be a science of Public Administration it must derive from an understanding of man's behaviour." Explain.
2. Administrative Thought Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q1(d) · 10 marks · 150 words
"Chester Barnard in 'The Functions of the Executive' injected 'the social' in the study of organization. Explain in this context how the executive is expected to play a much greater role than a manager."
2. Administrative Thought Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q1(e) · 10 marks · 150 words
"Delegated legislation has become a strategic tool in the hands of the executive despite its utility." Comment.
6. Administrative Law Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q2(a) · 20 marks
"Governance is neither a paradigm nor a panacea for all the ills of government. It may be a more useful approach when other methods fail in providing public service." Critically evaluate.
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Q2(b) · 15 marks
With the entry of the concept of 'good governance' the discipline of Public Administration has shed its statist character. Explain.
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Q2(c) · 15 marks
Has New Public Management failed in promoting a democratic polity? Analyse in the contexts of individual as a citizen and individual as a customer.
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Q3(a) · 20 marks
"Globalization has constructed the administrative state to save and serve corporate power structure." Discuss how transnational corporations impact government and public administration in the contemporary era.
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Q3(b) · 15 marks
"Red light and Green light theories provide contrasting approaches to the role of administrative law." Which of the two theories will be effective in achieving the objectives of administrative law? Justify your choice.
6. Administrative Law Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q3(c) · 15 marks
"The advent of the regulatory regimes indicates the demise of the arbitrator state." Comment.
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Q4(a) · 20 marks
Contingency theory of organization is founded on the interplay of 'external fit' and 'internal fit'. Discuss.
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Q4(b) · 15 marks
Mary Parker Follett traced the foundational value of business and enterprise on her way to understand the organism of governmental machinery. Comment.
2. Administrative Thought Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q4(c) · 15 marks
"Media, the fourth estate, is in chains." Examine the statement in the context of governmental accountability.
5. Accountability and Control Write this answer — get it evaluated →
- Section B
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Q5(a) · 10 marks · 150 words
Contractualism has become a favourite policy of the neoliberal forces, but not without its share of controversy. Argue.
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Q5(b) · 10 marks · 150 words
The failure to discard its elitist character and west-centric orientation has led to the decline of Comparative Public Administration. Explain.
7. Comparative Public Administration Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q5(c) · 10 marks · 150 words
"Maximum social gain" in public policy making is an attractive goal which is rarely found in practice. Discuss.
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Q5(d) · 10 marks · 150 words
A narrow view of information comes in the way of successful implementation of MIS in organizations. Analyse.
11. Techniques of Administrative Improvement Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q5(e) · 10 marks · 150 words
Has e-governance led to debureaucratization and decentralization? Assess its impact on bureaucratic inertia.
11. Techniques of Administrative Improvement Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q6(a) · 20 marks
"Development dynamics is marked by a dilemma: the concept of development has a built-in participatory orientation but the practice of development has been inherently exclusionary." Discuss.
8. Development Dynamics Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q6(b) · 15 marks
A more effective system of performance appraisal should acknowledge the subjective elements in it and be less obsessed with the objective criteria. Elucidate.
9. Personnel Administration Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q6(c) · 15 marks
Is William Niskanen's "Budget Maximising Model" relevant today? Argue.
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Q7(a) · 20 marks
Performance measurement remains an emerging issue but it is relegated to exclusively monitor and assess the use of funds. In light of the statement discuss various non-financial parameters of performance measurement to evaluate public sector organizations.
12. Financial Administration Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q7(b) · 15 marks
The imperatives of administrative ethics are necessarily an antidote to "I was only obeying the orders" argument by public officials. Explain.
9. Personnel Administration Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q7(c) · 15 marks
Discuss the major areas of change in the Tax-Reforms of the post liberisation era. How do you justify the importance of the direct tax reform in this context?
12. Financial Administration Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q8(a) · 20 marks
In a society marked by social inequity and gender inequality women self-help groups are bound to play a marginal role. Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer.
8. Development Dynamics Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q8(b) · 15 marks
In the era of increasing stress on productivity work study provides the road ahead for the administrators. Identify the positive attributes of work study in the light of the statement.
11. Techniques of Administrative Improvement Write this answer — get it evaluated →
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Q8(c) · 15 marks
In the absence of a merit-based, fair and objective civil service a more partisan and corrupt government will emerge. Is the statement justified? Give reasons.
9. Personnel Administration Write this answer — get it evaluated →