Public administration is defined as the implementation of government policy as well as an academic discipline that studies this implementation and prepares civil servants for working in the public service (Wikipedia). It is considered to be mainly concerned with the organization of government policies and programs and the behavior of officials who are usually non-elected. Public administration is carried out by public servants at all governmental levels. While there are various definitions of the discipline including that of being a management role within the public service, it is also argued that the scope of the term is so great that it is easier to be explained than to be defined.
Public administration dates back to antiquity, but a highlight of the discipline is given here dating back to the 1940s in the United States of America, at a time when Woodrow Wilson, considered to be the father of public administration, first formally acknowledged public administration in an article he wrote. Wilson advocated the separation of politics and administration, which still plays a major role in public administration today.
From the 1950s onward the concept of public administration has gone through several changes. Some of these include the expanding of the concept to include policymaking and analysis, the development and inclusion of other social sciences knowledge, chiefly, psychology, anthropology, and sociology, and digital era governance, which includes digitalization.
As it relates to academia, the field of public administration has several sub-fields.
Globally, a number of international public administration organizations exists, two of which are the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management and the International Institute of Administrative Sciences, which is a worldwide platform that facilitates interactions that encourage knowledge and good practices to improve the organization and operation of public administration.
International Public and NGO Management is a new certificate that eCornell’s has added to its wide array of Ivy League certificates. This is for students who would like to learn how to address complex problems using results-based management, create and enforce international agreements, and coordinate services and support at the global and country level.
eCornell courses are approved by SkillsFuture Singapore for SkillsFuture Credit as well as by HRDF Malaysia under its SBL Scheme.