Public administration

Public administration, also known as public policy and administration or public management, is the implementation of public policies, which are sets of proposed or decided actions to solve problems and address relevant social and economic issues. Administrative effectiveness refers to the consistent performance of administrative duties and the timely achievement of set objectives (Akinfolarin, 2017). This implementation generally occurs through the administration of government programs in the public sector, but also through the management of non-profit organizations in the community sector, and/or businesses in the private sector that provide goods and services to the government through public-private partnerships and government procurement. It has also been characterized as the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens experience every day." In an academic context, public administration has been described as the study of government decision-making; the analysis of policies and the inputs that have produced them, as well as those necessary to produce alternative policies. It is also a subfield of political science taught in public policy schools where studies of policy processes and the structures, functions, and behavior of public institutions and their relationships with broader society take place. The study and application of public administration is founded on the principle that the proper functioning of an organization or institution relies on effective management. In contemporary literature, it is also recognized as applicable to private businesses and nonprofit organizations. The mid-twentieth century saw the rise of German sociologist Max Weber's theory of bureaucracy, bringing about a substantive interest in the theoretical aspects of public administration.