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UPSC CSE Mains 2018 — Public Administration Questions with Answers
All 56 Public Administration previous-year questions from UPSC CSE Mains 2018, each with the correct answer and a full explanation. Practise them as a free, timed mock test with instant scoring.
Practice Public Administration as a timed test →- Q1.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“The scope of the discipline of Public Administration is determined by what an administrative system does.” Does it mean that the scope of this discipline is boundaryless? Explain.
- Q2.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“The concepts of rationality and efficiency are intertwined in the bureaucratic analysis of Max Weber.” Comment.
- Q3.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“New Public Service approach is an improvement over its predecessor, New Public Management.” Discuss.
- Q4.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“A leader is a people’s developer” (Napoleon). Which aspects of subordinates’ development can be positively influenced by a leader? Discuss.
- Q5.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“Herbert Simon’s book Administrative Behavior presents a synthesis of the classical and behavioural approaches to the study of Public Administration.” Explain.
- Q6.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
Dwight Waldo in his book, The Administrative State emphatically mentions that the roots of administrative theory lie in political theory. Critically examine Waldo’s contention.
- Q7.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“The Phenomenological Approach advocated by the New Public Administration has obstructed the path of theory building in Public Administration.” Comment.
- Q8.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
Discuss the essential characteristics of public sector-centred and market-centred perspectives in Public Private Partnerships and also compare the two.
- Q9.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
Communication represents the “Nerves of Government” (Karl Deutsch). How can the communication system in the government be made more effective, responsive and motivational?
- Q10.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“Political and administrative systems have reciprocal relationship.” Discuss.
- Q11.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“An effective Management Information System (MIS) is the key to successful headquarter-field relationships.” Comment.
- Q12.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“Form of an organisation influences the success of a public enterprise, but the choice of a form has always remained problematic.” Discuss the statement in the context of the comparative merits and limitations of departments, corporations, companies and boards. Give illustrations.
- Q13.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“Chester Barnard’s model of ‘Contribution-Satisfaction Equilibrium’ is still considered a logical model of organisational motivation.” Do you agree? Give arguments.
- Q14.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“The political approach to Public Administration stresses on the values of representativeness, political responsiveness and accountability through elected officials to the citizenry” (David H. Rosenbloom). Comment.
- Q15.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“The Journey of Administrative Law has moved much beyond A. V. Dicey.” Comment.
- Q16.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
Edward Gibbon, the author of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire remarked: “Corruption, the most infallible symptom of Constitutional liberty.” Critically examine this statement.
- Q17.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
To what extent has e-governance made the administrative system more citizen-oriented? Can it (e-governance) be made more participative?
- Q18.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“The issue of development of women is closely related to the issue of women in development.” How can women become equal partners in the process of socio-economic development?
- Q19.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“The process of administrative development is generally slower than the economic development.” How can the speed of administrative development be made faster?
- Q20.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
In order to be development-oriented, bureaucracies need to be innovative, flexible, citizen-centric and result-oriented, but they are slow in imbibing these virtues in a democratic system. Do we need to go beyond the traditional models of bureaucracy and create alternative structures? Elaborate.
- Q21.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“Administrative values have no value unless they are valued by all stakeholders of the governance system.” Comment.
- Q22.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“Lateral entry is an antidote to the complacency in civil service.” Discuss.
- Q23.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
How does ethnocentrism impact development administration in achieving sustainable goals? Argue with examples.
- Q24.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“Monetary policy of a country can help or hinder its development process.” Discuss.
- Q25.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“Sound Performance Auditing is impossible without systematic Performance or Outcome Budgeting.” Explain the relationship between the two.
- Q26.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“Administrative systems across the world can be understood only in their respective historical and social contexts.” Explain the statement giving examples.
- Q27.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
Currently, administrative training focusses more on improving efficiency than on transforming the attitudes and behaviour of civil servants. What type of training will you suggest to fill this gap? Elaborate.
- Q28.Public Administration Optional — Paper I
“A public policy without the active involvement of people in its formulation, implementation and evaluation is only a facade.” How can this anomaly be corrected?
- Q29.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“A government next-door is the government that matters most for the people.” Discuss the statement with special reference to the values of local government.
- Q30.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“The philosophy of the Westminster model is at odds with the political culture of India.” Critically analyse.
- Q31.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“The attached offices and subordinate offices are integral to the functioning of the Cabinet Secretariat.” Discuss.
- Q32.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
It is apprehended that lateral entry will lead to politicisation of bureaucracy. Do you agree? Justify.
- Q33.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Contracting out tasks without effective accountability mechanisms can be counter-productive for effective service delivery.” Comment.
- Q34.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“The market-driven profitability concerns have shaken the foundation of the public sector undertakings.” Do you agree? Give reasons.
- Q35.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
It is argued that the NITI Aayog has broken the edifice of planning into fragments. Comment.
- Q36.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Autonomy of civil society is crucial for responsive and effective administration.” Examine the statement.
- Q37.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
Critically examine the criteria adopted by the 15th Finance Commission for allocation of resources to States. What have been the major issues of contention since the 10th Finance Commission?
- Q38.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“In the coalition era with elusive majority of a single party in the State Legislature, the role of the Governor becomes even more challenging.” Discuss.
- Q39.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Development management advocates self-sustaining customer-friendly institutions at the district level.” Comment.
- Q40.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Climate change issues pose new challenges for district administration to be proactive.” Elaborate.
- Q41.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Judicial overreach to a large extent is a consequence of ineffective executive.” Examine.
- Q42.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“In the transition from the State-led economy to the market economy, India should rely more on ‘indicative planning’.” Do you agree? Explain your position.
- Q43.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“The ‘enablers’ and ‘facilitators’ are yet to replace the ‘inspectors’ and ‘controllers’ in the civil service in India.” Do you agree? Justify.
- Q44.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Financial inclusion needs legal backing but it also requires increasing awareness for it to become a reality.” Discuss.
- Q45.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Gender budgeting requires rethinking beyond allocations to become a powerful tool of gender mainstreaming.” Discuss.
- Q46.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Social audit has lent a critical edge to the implementation of programmes such as MGNREGA.” Comment.
- Q47.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“The AFSPA debate reveals that the Indian paramilitary forces are caught between the imperatives of national security and protection of human rights.” Discuss.
- Q48.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Competency mapping is important for effective allocation of responsibilities to administrators.” Do you think that a generalist administrator can handle all issues as effectively as a specialist? Discuss.
- Q49.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“The recommendations of various commissions on administrative reforms have not made a radical departure from the Paul Appleby Report.” Do you agree? Give reasons.
- Q50.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Performance management requires identification of indicators and measures to ensure that goals are achieved efficiently.” Discuss.
- Q51.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Rural development programmes have failed to effectively address the problems of small and marginal farmers.” Analyse and give suggestions.
- Q52.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“In the Network Era the TRAI has the challenging task of protecting the Net Neutrality from digital aggression.” Comment.
- Q53.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Neighbourhood management provides an appropriate global strategy of dealing with social exclusion in the urban development scenario.” Comment.
- Q54.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Effective public grievance redressal requires administrative commitment. But process reengineering can help prevent some grievances.” Discuss.
- Q55.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“Institutional change is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for reducing criminalisation of politics.” Examine.
- Q56.Public Administration Optional — Paper II
“The disempowerment and depoliticisation of urban local government has happened in multiple ways.” Comment.
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