THE ELEMENTS OF DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION (Edward W. Weidmer)

This paper was presented by J. B. Nangpuhan II (MPA Student) to Dr. C. G.  Song, Professor of Public Administration at Chonnam National University, South Korea. This topic is under 'Introduction to Public Administration'. Date presented: 15Dec2010.

SUMMARY

 

Key Terms:
·         Development – 개발
·         Change – 변경

INTRODUCTION

A decade ago, development administration was an unfamiliar and awkward label. Today, it is a term that identifies the professional interest of a substantial portion of the scholars of public administration and related disciplines. Since 1960, hundreds of articles and dozens of books have appeared on one or another aspect of development administration. It is now an accepted problem orientation in the social sciences. Let us look into certain developments in administration and the influence of these developments.


CONDITIONS OF DEVELOPMENT

Development is considered as planned growth in the direction of modernity or nation-building and socio-economic progress involving substantial differentiation and co-ordination. Contributions to the discussion of development have come from many sources outside the confines of development administration, e.g. from those in the economic, educational, or agricultural aspects of development. Always active and occasionally acrimonious, the discussion has nonetheless served to emphasize three major facets of change pertinent to the student of development administration:

1.       A general distinction is now made between change in the output of a system and change in the system itself. Changes in the output of a system leading to greater quantity are labeled growth, and those that lead to the reverse direction are labeled as lack of growth or decline. For instance, the growth of public services in one society may be twice as slow as similar growth in another. Thus, four possibilities emerge when it comes to change within the administrative system: growth with system change, growth without system change, lack of growth (or decline) with system change, and lack of growth with no system change.

2.       Distinctions have been drawn among the different goals or outputs of an administrative system. Of course, no two societies, persons, or groups have identical goals. One goal of less developed societies and even developed societies is modernization. The value of modernization will lead to greater economic and political participation – urbanization, literacy or education, and media production and consumption. Another goal is nation-building, the deliberate fashioning of an integrated political community within fixed geographic boundaries in which the nation state is the dominant political institution. Nation-building results to national identity or solidarity, structuralization, and participation. Another goal is socio-economic progress, it means the sustained and widely diffused improvement in material and social welfare. There are ways of measuring socio-economic progress, such as rise in per capita income, greater number of students completing secondary school, etc.

3.       Development administration requires a reciprocal approach, not unidirectional approach. Environmental factors in general and cultural factors in particular are important to those who attempt to bring about major change in a society. Changes in man’s culture and environment are among the goals of highest priority in the countries most committed to change.

 

It is entirely possible that some growth in the direction of modernity, nation-building, and socio-economic progress can come about without being specifically planned or even intended. On the other hand, it is also likely that most development on a major scale will be planned at least to the extent of encouraging environmental factors favorable to unplanned development. Still, many of the accomplishments of any large organization such as government are clearly not planned or even intended – at least by authorities that be. Thus, below is a table showing the conditions of change leading to development.

Sets of Conditions Leading to Development
		Characteristics
	Type	Directional growth	System change	Planned or intended
1	Ideal	+	+	+
2	Short-run payoff	+	-	+
3	Long-run payoff	-	+	+
4	Failure	-	-	+
5	Environmental stimulus	+	+	-
6	Pragmatism	+	-	-
7	Crisis	-	+	-
8	Static society	-	-	-

 

One of the necessary task for development administration is identification of the circumstances under which modernity or nation-building and socio-economic progress take place. Several sets of conditions are possible, using directional growth, system change, and planned or intended change as varying elements. Let’s examine each of these sets of conditions.

1.       The Ideal: Planned Directional Growth with System Change

To effect change, the need for planning is important. In fact, many planning commissions have been created in the less developed countries. One reason for the creation of planning commissions is to modernize their own country to be the same as their neighboring countries. The planning bodies represent a judgment that planned, intended, and even orderly change is the most likely way in which development – both system alteration and growth – can be achieved. A central planning body is thought to be the capstone of the process. An example of this is the land reform in Taiwan in the 1960s.

2.       The Short-run Payoff: Planned Directional Growth with No System Change

The purpose of this condition is to maximize development despite limitations of the present system. It has a maximum payoff in the short run in terms of consumption or in terms of nation-building and socio-economic progress. It is also the easy way and is less offensive politically than system change. However, the returns are relatively limited because the basic system remains intact. An example is the promotion of native arts and crafts, such as cottage industry programs in India and Pakistan.

3.       The Long-run Payoff: Planned System Change with No Directional Growth

Planned system change without an accompanying growth in the direction of modernity or nation-building and socio-economic progress is a common short-run occurrence, and may also obtain over relatively long period of time. Planned system change with little or no immediate growth in a development direction may result from an emphasis on production rather than on consumption. If the leaders seek major growth in the future and have a strong support base, they may decide to pull in on immediate gains so that in the longer view much more gains will be realized. An example is that of Indonesia during Sukarno’s regime.

4.       Failure: Planning with No Growth or System Change

When planning takes place, there should be a remarkable change. But it is difficult to change the whole system. In the case of Vietnam, in general, it is a failure since the plan involved a major government-wide change, although it is successful in part. Vietnam was successful in reforming the employees in the finance sector but not in other agencies hence, the change did not take place for the general welfare of the whole Vietnamese people.

5.       Environmental Stimulus: Unplanned Directional Growth with System Change

Many of the changes brought about in any society come by reaction of leaders or groups to certain environmental factors. To the extent that such environmental factors can be augmented, non-directed major change may take place. In the case of the private sector, an entrepreneur may be encouraged to embark upon a new undertaking because of the “environment” of government policies, even without formal government approval or informal request for establishing a new enterprise. There may be planning for the encouragement of business, but no detailed planning as to who does what where.

In the case of government, major system changes can be brought about by ad hoc pragmatic adaptation to the conditions in which an agency finds itself. Environmental stimulus is a potent force for change.

6.       Pragmatism: Unplanned Directional Growth with No System Change

Decentralized initiative, competition, adaptation, and emulation are far more likely to be instrumental in bringing growth in the direction of modernity, nation-building, and socio-economic progress. Unplanned growth in a development direction accompanied by no system change is probably the most common form of development to be found in mildly liberalizing regimes the world around. The customs agency increases its services because the number of visitors to the country sharply increases. Without strong controls or “strings” attached to technical assistance, unplanned directional growth is a natural strategy to fall back on. It is also a natural and most important supplement to extensive programs of planned change.

7.       Crisis: Unplanned System Change with No Directional Growth

Unplanned changes largely come about as the result of decentralized initiative, competition, adaptation, and emulation. For the most part, unplanned system change with no directional growth is the result of adjustment to emergencies. The ravages of war, international or civil, have inflicted their misfortunes on many a less developed country, and brought quick unplanned system change in their wake. Crisis results might be in the form of refugee problems, starvation, uncontrolled epidemics, floods, drought, etc.

8.       Static Society: No Plans, No Change

Few societies are totally static under the conditions that obtain in the world today. But there are segments of societies that approach a static change. The reason is because there is no plan made and so the result is that there is no change to be done.

 

CONCLUSION

A review of these eight types will be instructive to both the scholar and the administrator. The formal planning process has three major strategies: emphasis on production, emphasis on consumption, and emphasis on both. A similar group of three types exists for unplanned change.

In the administrative system, the administrator would have to make changes from one condition to another or from one of the administrative system to another. Planning and system change are important. The ideal type, though it is the standard condition for change, it was never fully attained. Public agencies actually prefer to encourage unplanned change and planned changes that avoid major alterations in the system.

As for the scholars, development administration could legitimately focus on some of the end results of the policies or goals of the political administrative systems, such as modernity or nation-building and socio-economic progress – these should be the main dependent variables. The scholar needs to concern himself with a dynamic research model that will assist in answering a basic question: What strategies, policies, or programs make for the most effective growth toward modernity, toward nation-building and socio-economic progress? In answering this question, the social scientist will be aided by the general concurrence that has been achieved from ten years of debate and research on what constitute some of the major elements of the process of developmental change.

 

Reference: Korean Association for Public Administration (1980). Selected Readings in Public Administration. South Korea: Da San Publishing Company. 343-361