Public administration is the implementation of government policy and prepares civil servants for working in National Government, Provincial Government and Local Government. Within the government as context, the Public Administration course seeks to create a theoretical understanding of underlying concepts of public administration and the role of effective public administration in government. Students will understand the inter-relationship between public administration function and other related functions, including financial management and ethical aspects of government.
The course will provide an overview of the field of public administration by focusing on its development and importance in modern government operations at the local, state, and federal levels. You should think of this course as an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the basic principles, concerns, and methods of public administration. These will appear in the other courses you take in public administration, though often in greater depth. Here, your objective should be to take a bird's eye view of the entire terrain of PA: a view to which you will periodically return in order to place your other classes in a broader context.
