Public administration consists of the management of the services provided by the State.
Public administration is the management of the services provided by the State . The term also refers to the group of state entities that are dedicated to developing these functions.
It should be noted that administration is a term from administratĭo , a Latin word. The first meaning of the concept mentioned in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) refers to the act and result of managing (directing, governing, organizing or ordering something).
The public , on the other hand, is that which belongs to the State and, therefore, to the community in general . Public is the opposite of private (whose property is held by an individual or a group of people).
What is public administration
It is important to note that the definition of public administration is not precise. In general, it is related to the different public organizations that administer State services. Among these organizations there are also corporations that have legal status.
Managed by the Executive Branch , public administration allows the State to establish a direct link with neighbors. People turn to public administration to obtain answers to different problems or concerns.
The idea of public administration can refer to all of the State agencies.
Set of state workers
Sometimes the notion of public administration is used to refer to all State workers .
When it is said that the public administration is carrying out a strike, it is being reported that the state agencies will not serve the public since their employees will not carry out their usual tasks. In a similar sense, a salary increase for the public administration implies a salary increase for those who work for the State.
Public administration as structure and activity
If it is taken as an organic structure , it is possible to affirm that the public administration is created by the State itself and that its regulation is in charge of positive law. The concept of positive law, for its part, refers to the group of legal norms that establish sovereignty ; That is, the set of legal creations in charge of the State body that exercises the legislative function.
As an activity , public administration can also be understood as a public function that establishes the legal system of the Nation. We understand by legal system the group of legal norms that, at a particular time and place, have validity and validity.
Different views
It is important to note that both function and organization are also associated with certain technipolitical characteristics that correspond to various fields of study outside the legal field, such as political science and the theory of administrative organization.
Therefore, the concept of public administration depends on the main study approaches (political, technical or legal) or the discipline , given that there is no general science that can harmoniously combine the set of approaches and elements that revolve around public administration.
In the 19th century , the political thinker and progressive author Charles-Jean Baptiste Bonnin , originally from France , formulated a broad and concise definition, which even today serves as a reference to analyze this object of knowledge:
The public administration manages matters related to the persons, actions and property of the citizen as a participant in the State, as well as his own person, his actions and his property from the point of view of their impact on public order..
Given the complexity and lack of rigidity of this concept, its scope may seem overwhelming at first glance. And in addition to the aforementioned characteristics, the public administration also manages and directs the ordinary business of the State. On the other hand, there are those who point out that it is regulated by administrative law and that it is part of the executive power.