WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) on the market, powering over 40% of all websites on the internet. However, as your website grows and attracts more traffic, it can start to slow down. This not only affects the user experience, but it can also negatively impact your search engine rankings.

In this article, we’ll go beyond the basic tips for improving your WordPress site’s speed and share some advanced techniques to help you take your optimization to the next level.

Before I begin I will show you the proof of the performance of my website in GTmetrix.

I achieved this performance by just blindly following this Udemy course of Mr Andrew Eaton. The course is dirt cheap as well as the instructor is better than the best when it comes to supporting, he answers all your queries within a few minutes as well as he goes beyond what he promises as a part of his course. The amount of expertise that he shares through his course is the knowledge and experience that he gathered over several decades and can’t be gathered from any degree from any college. So, consider yourself lucky if you happened to take his course.

Not only I achieved the perfect 100% but also I achieved a perfect A+ grade from ssllabs.com.

1. Move to a high-performance hosting provider

A high-performance hosting provider is a company that offers a range of hosting services, including web hosting, virtual private servers, and dedicated servers, with a focus on providing high levels of performance and reliability. These providers typically use high-end hardware and technologies to ensure that websites and applications hosted on their servers are able to handle large amounts of traffic and perform well under heavy loads. Some examples of high-performance hosting providers include Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, DigitalOcean, Vultr…etc.

Vultr provides the most value for money as well as the cheapest high-performance hosting among several hosting providers. They also provide a $100 signup credit when you signup to test their servers.

2. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A content delivery network (CDN) is a network of servers that are distributed around the globe. When a user requests your website, the CDN will serve the content from the server that is closest to their location. This can significantly reduce the load time for your website, especially for users who are far away from your server’s physical location.

Several popular CDN providers include Cloudflare, Akamai, and Amazon CloudFront. Most of these providers offer a free plan, so you can test out the service before committing to a paid plan. I used a free tier from Cloudflare to achieve the coveted perfect score of 100/100. The results can vary depending on the amount of static and dynamic content on your website. The more static content you have, the more effective CDN will be.

3. Minimize HTTP Requests

Each time a user visits your website, their browser needs to make a request to your server for every element on the page (such as images, scripts, and stylesheets). The more requests that need to be made, the longer it will take for the page to load.

To minimize the number of requests, you can:

• Merge multiple stylesheets into one
• Merge multiple scripts into one
• Use CSS sprites to combine multiple images into one
• Use lazy loading to only load images as they come into view

All these can be done using caching plugins.

4. Optimize Images

Images can take up a lot of space and can slow down your website if they are not optimized. There are several ways to optimize images, such as:

• Compressing images to reduce their file size
• Resizing images to the appropriate size
• Using the appropriate file format (such as JPEG for photographs and PNG for graphics)

You can use Photoshop or online tools like Kraken.io or TinyPNG to optimize your images. You can also use caching plugins or CDN that automatically optimizes images. At times they can cost money. I use the manual method and Cloudflare to do this job.

5. Use a Caching Plugin

Caching is the process of storing a version of your website’s pages and posts in the browser’s cache so that when a user returns to your website, their browser doesn’t need to request the content again. This can significantly reduce the load time for your website.

There are several caching plugins available for WordPress such as lightspeed cache, W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, and WP Rocket. These plugins will automatically create and store cached versions of your website’s pages and posts. I use LiteSpeed caching, which is free but exclusive to the LiteSpeed webserver. If you want to learn how to configure a WordPress website using the LiteSpeed server you can signup for this udemy course. I set up my website completeguide.in using this course by Mr Andre Eaton.

6. Use a Performance Optimization Plugin

Performance optimization plugins can help to improve the speed of your website by:

• Minifying your website’s code
• Combining multiple stylesheets and scripts into one
• Lazy loading of images and videos
• And more

Some popular performance optimization plugins for WordPress include Autoptimize and WP Optimize.

In conclusion, keep in mind that website speed is just one of many factors that search engines consider when determining your rankings, but it’s an important one.

Themes of FAQ

• Legacy in Public Administration
  • Indianisation of public service
  • Revenue Administration
  • District Administration
  • Features of British administration that are practised even now
    • Unity of Indian administration
    • Rational-legal authority
    • Centralization of Administration – RAO 1773
  • Br Legacy in Judicial Administration
  • Generalist – Neutralist Model
  • Macaulay’s idea of elitist ICS and its negative impact in present times
• Legacy in Local Self Government
  • Lord Ripon as a prophet of LSG
  • Negative impact on Village Self-rule
  • Evolution of LSG
• Legacy in Politics
  • Evolution of polity since British rule
  • The parliamentary system of democracy
    • Charter Act of 1853
    • Cabinet Committees
  • A contradiction of the Philosophy of the Westminster Model with the political culture of India

Legacy of British Rule in Public Administration

The context in which Br B’y was created

• weak central power
• Dependent on regional powers
• inward-looking society – feudalism
• divided by language, colour, race, religion & region
• economically backward

Objective of Br

• Political ambition followed economic success – Flag Followed trade
• Revenue – Economic Exploitation
• L & O – Political Subjugation

The character of Br Rule

• Absentee Sovereignty
• Racial Superiority
• The narrow base of Admins
• Exclusion in Political Admin

Impact on LEJ

• L – Political Legacy
  • Written Constitution
  • Parliamentary D’y
  • Bicameralism – GOI 1919
  • Portfolio System – ICA – 1861 by Canning
  • Cabinet System
  • Committee System – GOI 1935
  • 3 -Tier System – Royal Commission of 1907 for self-rule
• J – Judicial Legacy
  • Rule of Law
  • Anglo Saxon tradition
  • codification of law – CRPC
  • Integrated J
  • Hierarchy of Court
• E
  • Highly Centralised
  • DOP – Federalism – 1935
  • L & O focused

Impact on Bureaucracy

• Positive
  • Merit
  • Neutrality – stable & smooth transfer of power
  • Generalist
  • Tenure System – C & S – P.f & P.i
  • The district as a fundamental Unit of Governance
    • DC – Keystone admin
    • Mai Baap State (dependent on basic needs)
  • Elaborate and independent Civil Service system – recruitment, training, posting, promotions
• Negatives
  • Authoritarian Mentality
    • rule the subjects than serving the citizens
    • inaccessible
    • ivory tower mentality
  • Status Quo Mentality
    • Preserve the system as a catalyst of change
  • Resistant to Grassroot power decentralization
    • Reporting relationship with LSG
  • Elitist
    • Hierarchy & Class Conscious
    • Work above than with people
  • Status Conscious
    • Rural posting as a punishment posting
  • Accountability to superiors not people
  • Generalist not specialist
  • Dependency Syndrome

Themes of FAQ

• Nature of Mughal Administration
• Features of Mughal Administration
• Legacy of Mughal administration in
  • Revenue administration
  • Judicial administration
  • Provincial administration
  • Personnel administration
• Structure of Mughal Administration
  • Mansabdari System or Military Administration
  • Revenue Administration
  • B’y – Central, Provincial, Sub-provincial, Village Administration

Nature of Mughal administration

• Foreign Origin
  • Mansabdar system from central Asia(Uzbeks)
• Militaristic in nature
  • Mansabdar system – a dual role
    • Civilian Officer
    • Military Officer
• Centralised despot
  • King is ultimate
  • Waqaya Nafis – Spies
• Kagazi Raj or Paper Administration
  • Written orders & Record Keeping
  • Written communication
  • Furmons & Royal Orders
• Strong blend of Religion & Politics
  • Sharia Law
  • Jizya on non-muslims
  • Admin posts reserved for Muslims
  • Loyalty to Kalifa
  • Exception – Akbar
    • Introduced Mansabdari System
    • Overhauled revenue administration on scientific lines like taxation based on fertility like Sher Shah Suri
    • Din-i-ilahi – his own religion
    • Liberated from Ulema or Muslim clerics, interpreter’s of shariath
    • Secular
    • Admin posts based on merit – Raja Thodarmal
• Overemphasis on Revenue and Police
• Less emphasis on education, health & S&T
• Enterprising nature
  • Public corporation
  • Karkhanas
• Villages & Small towns
  • parochial self-government
  • Reasonable local autonomy & political freedom

Personnel Administration

• Perso-Arabic system in Indian settings
• No Senapati – so the authority of the King never questioned
• Issues with Unity of Command
• centralisation
• Specialisation – Division of work
• Coordination & Control
• Principle of Hierarchy & Job classification
• Officers are all interchangeable
• Mansabdari System

Mansabdari System by Akbar

• Mansab means position or office or rank
• Mansabdar had dual duties
  • Civil – peace
  • Military – war
• Dual Rank Classification of mansab
  • Zat = Rank
  • Sawar = Cavalry Rank (No of horseman to be maintained)
• Many grades of Ranks
  • < 500 Rank = Mansabdar
  • 500 – 2500 Rank = Amirs
  • > 2500 Rank = Amir-i-umda, Amir-i-azam, Omrahs
• Based on pay
  • Assignment of Jagirs – Jagirdars
  • paid in cash – naqdi
• Appointment, transfer and promotion by King based on merit
• Law or Doctrine of Escheat – Mansabdari not hereditary
  • After death – Property or Jagir confiscated
• Lacked uniformity among soldiers
  • The effectiveness of the army depended on Mansabdar

Jagirdari System

• Jagir is a group of revenue villages from where taxes are collected
• Jagirs were given to Mansabdars to maintain himself & Troops
• Watan jagir – local Chieftain who collects Jagir for Mansabdars
• Not all Jagirdars were mansabdars

Revenue Administration

• Personnel & structure of Revenue Admin
  1. Diwan – Head in Subha or province
  2. Amalgulzar – Sarkar Level or sub-provincial level
  3. Amil, Quanungo & Fotahddhar – Pargana Level
  4. Patwari – Village or Mawdah Level
• Had an elaborate revenue administration or tax collection system without any emphasis on health care, civil amenities

L & O Administration

• Empire – King
• Province – Subadhar 
• Sub-province or District – Faujdar with Kotwal
• Paragana or Tehsil – Shiqdhar
• Village – Chaukidar

Judicial Administration

• Emperor – Fountainhead of justice
• Chief Qazi – Judicial Head – Civil & Criminal
• Sadr-i-sudur – Civil case of a religious character
• Judicial Functionaries
  • Mufti – Interpreted the law
  • Qzai – Investigation
  • Miradi – Delivers Judgement
• Features
  • Sharia Law
  • Civil law depends on religion
  • Criminal Law Uniform

Bureaucracy

Central Admins

• Sultan or King
• Wakil – Imp post held by Biram Khan – later abolished
• Diwan = Like PM + FM = Also a Mansabdar
  • Link b/w king and rest of B’y
  • Stayed at capital
  • Controlled provicial Diwan
• Qazi – Judge
• Mir Bakshi – Army pay master

Provincial – Subha

• Empire divided into Subha
• Headed by Subadhar & Diwan
  • Subadhar or Nazim or Nizam(later)- L & O & Highest Court of Appeal in Subha
  • Diwan – Revenue Admin
• Provincial Bakshi
  • Appointed by King
  • On Mir Bakshi’s advice
  • Responsible for maintenance of Mansabdars and pay of soldiers

Sub-provincial Level

Sarkhar or District

• Subha divided into Sarkar or District
• Departments
  • Governed by Faujdar
    • Assisted & reported to Subadhars
  • Revenue admin by Amal Guzar
    • Assisted & reported to provincial Diwan
  • L & O by Faujdar
    • Ground duty by Kotwal assisting Faujdar
• Other officials
  • Kazhandahars – Treasury Officer

Paragana

• Sarkar divide into Paragana or Tehsil
• Departments
  • Governance & L & O – Shiqdhar
  • Revenue officials – Amin Quanungo (Record Keeper) & Fotahddhar

Village Level

• Tehsil divided into Villages
• Revenue – Patwari (VAO)
• Chaukidar – Watchmen
• Muqaddam – Headman

Legacy & Conclusion

• Provincial Administration – DOP & Federalism
• Revenue Administration – Patwari even now
• Benevolent Despot, yet backward in outlook
• Village Autonomy
• Merit System
• Codification and Compilation of records
  • Pioneer in Administration
  • Imp of Written communication – Modern B’y

Themes of FAQ

• Ethics in arthashastra
• Comparison b/w Weberian structure or bureaucratic model, Kautilyan practice, Gandhian rhetoric
• Political realism
• Written orders or communication
• Relevance of its principles in modern administration and principles that are used in modern times
• Relevance in IR & Foreign policy
• Was it theoretical/hypothetical/imaginary or real?

Summary

• Earlier political texts – moralistic, idealistic
• Arthasastra – pragmatic, realist, utilitarian, political realism, like an instruction manual to political problems and questions

It is real

• attention to detail
• elaborate organisational machinery
• detailed framework
• Maurya replaced the powerful Nandhas which even Alexander the Great failed
• Mauryan rule lasted for 300 years
• Largest empire ever

Science & Art

• Science – Universal theme, theory building, prescriptive nature & objective
• Art – subjective & experience based

Criticism

• Ends justify means
• harsh punishments
• Monarchical
• Highly centralized
• The state is built on checks & balances / mutual suspicion rather than trust & goodwill

Response to Criticism

• Context was different
  • volatility, uncertainty, confusion, ambiguity
  • Causes anarchy (Mathsyanyaya i.e during the chaos, when there is no ruler, the strong devour the weak, just as in periods of drought big fish eat small fish)
• Exaggeration of specific attributes
• Few attributes are taken out of context
• myopic understanding
• The basic philosophy is different

Basic Philosophy

• Good Governance – In the happiness of the subjects lies the happiness of the King
• King’s priority – Good Governance
  • Prajhahitha (subject’s interest)
  • to protect dharma can use Dhanda (force) but excessive, arbitrary or irrational dhanda can be pramatha (dangerous) bcos it provokes kopa (anger) and the public will get rid of the king just like an intoxicated elephant can be brought down by ants
  • If force is not used when required then it is allasya (inertia)[systems thory] and becomes Mathsyanyaya
  • provide Yogasema – Welfare approach i.e yoga – property Sema – security
  • The objective is Uriddi (Growth, advancement)
  • Rakshana & Palana (Protection & Maintenance)
• The single wheel does not move – so the state needs saptanga (7 elements)

Saptanga – 7 elements of state

• King – Raja
• Minister – Mantri or Amatya
• Treasury – Kosha
• People / Territory – Jana / Rashtra or Janapada
• Military – Bala or Danda
• Fort – Durga
• Friend – Mitra

Kings qualities

• Etha Raja – Dhata Praja – Subjects will behave as the king behaves
• Regularity of a clock, the energy of a Giant, the patience of a slave
• King is also subject to the law
  • constitutionalism
  • constitutional slave
  • Code of Conduct
  • King and servants are salaried – no whims & fancies
• Rule through utsahasakthi (motivation), Prabhu Sakthi (leadership), Manthra Sakthi (strategy)
• Disaster Management
  • 8 categories of calamities
  • compensate during loss when the army marches over the field
• Vijigishu – ambitious world conquerer

Ministers qualities

• The administration is a shared endeavour
• Min should provide – 3F = Free, frank, fair & 3A = Aid, advice, assistance
• Reflects synergy & symbiosis
• In modern times – CSL, LEJ, PM & COM, PD – Govt & Opposition, HQ & Field – Multi actor governance model
• King should ensure ministers of goal clarity, role clarity & loyalty to the state
  • Just like a bird’s flying path can’t be predicted. ministers’ intentions can’t be known
  • Similar to goal displacement in Weber’s B’y
• Detailed provisions for (like modern-day principles of management)
  • Recruitment
  • training
  • qualification
  • decoy test to judge morality, loyalty & integrity
  • Huge spy system (Vigilance & C&B)
  • separate department for different activities under an Athyaksha(superintendent)

Treasury

• Bureaucracy with money in hand is like fish in water – one can’t find if the fish is drinking or not
• 40 types of embezzlement (27 categories in the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988)
• So similar to modern-day Financial Management
• Collect taxes just like plucking fruits only when it is ripe
• Just like elephants are needed to capture elephants, money is needed to make money
• Mauryan State = Modern-day mixed economic state

Army

• Internal & external securities
• Vijigshu

Territory & people

• Rastra or Janapada (territory) without jana(people) is like a barren cow
• King can acquire territory but if he fails to gain public support then the territory is waste

Fort

• Reflection on security & defence

Friend

• Should be neither too strong nor weak
• Too strong – you will become his subordinate
• Too weak – you will fight his wars
• No permanent friend, no permanent enemies only permanent interest
• Mandala theory revolves around friendship

Mandala Theory – Circle of states

• Fundamental assumption
  • A geographical contiguous state is a natural enemy
  • King whose territory is contiguous to our enemy is an enemy of our enemy and hence our friend(Mitra)
  • Our enemy’s friend (Arimitra) is our enemy as well
• Four types of states
  • Vijigishu 
    • state that always looks for new territory – an ambitious world conqueror state
    • Such states should be thwarted
    • But you should be such a state
  • Ari 
    • Enemy Kingdom
    • Tries to create disturbances and conspiracies
    • Usually, the territory is adjacent to Vijigishu
    • Should be dealt with cautiously
  • Madhyama
    • Intermediary kingdom
    • May help or act against our kingdom depending on the circumstances
    • Befriend these kings
  • Udasina 
    • Neutral kingdom or Kingdom outside the neighbourhood
    • More powerful than that of Vijigishu, Ari, and Madhyama
• Shadguna or six-fold diplomatic policy – the recipe for a Vijigishu to become a world conquerorSandhi advice for weaker state vis-a-via stronger state make peace with states stronger than youVigrahaadvice for stronger state vis-a-via weaker state policy of hostility Defensive Offensive Based on CB analysis – Yana(seize) or Sandhi(peace)AsanaWhen the enemy is as strong as you keep quite till the enemy gets weaker and attack, Try to weaken through the proxy war as well the enemy is weak during an internal crisis or external war
  • Yana
    • when you are stronger than enemy
    • March or Expedition or Vigraha when you are sure of conquest
  • Sansraya
    • When you are under threat and weaker than your enemy
    • seeking shelter with another king to protect themselves – NATO
  • Dvaidhibhava
    • when you are strong enough to fight but need an ally to win
    • The double policy of Sandhi with one king and Vigraha with another at the same time

Instruments with Kings to overcome opposition

• Sama – Power of persuasion
• Dama – Incentives or gifts
• Danda – Punishments or force
• Bheda – exploiting the weakness while knowing it beforehand

Contemporary relevance of Arthashastra or Conclusion

• Comprehensive coverage
  • Macro + Micro = Holistic Text (Devil is in the detail)
  • Normative & positivist content
• Analytical, Rational, realistic understanding of Human Behaviour
• Resembles contemporary Fin Mgmt, HRM, Principles of Mgmt, motivation theory, leadership, decision making, comminication, SOP
• Strategic Thinking – SWOT & OODA loop (observe–orient–decide–act) or SIDA (sense-interpret-decide-act)
• Mathsyanya due to Alasya pramadaha – Systems Theory – all org move towards destruction
• Saptanga – weber’s bureaucratic model, federalism, LEJ, coalition
• Constitutionalism – King as constitutional slave
• Good Governance
• Spy System – C&B, detection & neutralising threats & capitalising of opportunities
• Foreign Policy & IR – Mandala Theory
  • Sansraya – Indo–Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation – 1971
  • Good relation with Afganistan & Iran (neighbours of Paksitan) and Mongolia, korea & Japan (neighbours of China)

The organization is made up of methods, materials and men. Therefore personnel administration is a core of organization management.

Importance of Human resource

Even classical thinkers Taylor realised human resource importance but they overemphasised structure and process – simplistically assumed that given the right incentive, technical training, hierarchical supervision, leadership, management and using principles of management would be sufficient. But Human relations schools offered insights into behavioural aspects and the power of informal organisations or groups i.e man responds both as an individual as well as part of a group. i.e individual motivation and collective or group dynamics.

Even though modern market-oriented philosophies (NPM, PC) tend to blame Bureaucracy for Public Sector inefficiency – yet they also acknowledge that ultimately he is the man who is the key to solving the problem and not just money or methods. Funds are valuable only when used by trained experienced and devoted Human resources. Committed Human resources can work even with minimal resources and compelling conditions (even without basic infra).

Human resource is a strategic differentiator among the organisation. The world public sector report treats Human resources as a key variable. In Africa and Latin America, the reports speak about lost decades (post-independence era) where the emphasis is on structural adjustment and transplanting institutions and less importance was given to Human resources – Knowledge, Skill and Attitude.

On the contrary, India could successfully emerge through the transition period since political leadership empowered civil services and they responded by demonstrating commitment and continuity with change. Even though the apex political leadership wanted to wind up ICS and start the Indian development service, deputy PM Patel was more pragmatic and realised the criticality of having civil service. The faith was proved right with Civil service playing an important role in the integration of princely states, they adapted, showed resilience and contributed to nation-building. Even in the current context where admin has become a shared space / multi-actor model civil service continues to be important as ever but in a different manner.

HDR – Human Development Report 2013 pointed out the importance of investing in Human resources leading to exponential returns and triggering a virtual cycle, there is growing consensus worldwide that public sector capacity building should be people-centric not just process-centric. Human resource is the 1st customer. Therefore motivated Human resource leads to a contingent/tipping point leadership/ripple effect. World Bank studies indicate a high correlation between the quality of governance, Human Development and Human resource management policies of the country. As demonstrated by Riggs, just by transplanting structure and functions objectives can’t be achieved. Governance deficit is a creation and a reflection of weak Human Resource management.

Importance of Human resource management

• Attract, train and retain the best talent
• Ensure ideal job fit – Right Person for the Right Job
• HRM + HRD established an organisational climate which enhances productivity, motivation, job satisfaction, promptness, and professionalism and stimulates every employee to achieve his full potential
• Synchronise self and organisational goals
• Achieve work-life balance
• Transform the organisation into learning entities – 360*, 365 days

Human Resource Development

• Sum total of KSA and organisational values of employees – Definition
• Acquisition of capabilities required to do present Job effectively and prepare for failure responsibilities. Therefore HRD helps in
  • Increased sharpen capabilities
  • Develop potential
  • Individual and organisation Potential
  • Organised learning experience
  • Team Work
  • Collaboration and synergy – employees take pride in the organisation and organisations take pride in their employees.
• At the individual level, HRD contributes to Role clarity, goal clarity, Job enrichment, interpersonal trust, confidence and competence
• At the group level – strengths are team behaviour, coordination, multi-disciplinary talent pooling, quality interactions, and symbiosis.
• At the organisational level – better productivity, Industrial relations and transformations.

The paradigm shift from conventional management and Human resource management

The genesis of Public administration as an academic discipline can be traced back to Wilson’s essay ” The study of Administration ” in 1887. Over the next 100-odd years it evolved through several paradigms based on the locus and focus. In an attempt to define its locus and focus it was linked, delinked, and relinked from its mother discipline of Political science and its parallel or alter ego or sister discipline of Management studies. In this process the meaning, scope, nature and significance of Public administration continuously ” evolved, changed and even shifted “ depending on the locus and focus of the subject. Therefore Public administration doesn’t have a unanimous definition or fixed boundaries (scope) or defined orientation (nature).

In this context, F.C.Moser Observed ” Perhaps it is best if Public Administration is not defined. It is more an area of interest rather than a discipline, more an emphasis rather than a separate science. It is necessarily cross-disciplinary. The overlapping and vague boundaries of public administration should be viewed as a resource rather than an irritant “.

Robert T. Golembiewski attempted to explain the evolution of public administration as an academic discipline through the terms ” locus and focus “. According to him, the locus is ” institutional where ” and the focus is ” specialized what “. He divided the period of evolution into 5 paradigms based on the association of public administration with the locus and focus.

• Paradigm 1 – Political Administration Dichotomy [1900 – 1926 ]
• Paradigm 2 – Era of principles of administration [ 1927 – 1937 ]
• Paradigm 3 – Public Administration as Political Science [ 1950 – 1970 ]
• Paradigm 4 – Public Administration as Management [ 1956 – 1970 ]
• Paradigm 5 – Public Administration as Public Administration [ 1970 …]

Nicholas Henry borrowed these five paradigms and came up with a more widely accepted sequence of paradigms based on the elaborate definition of locus and focus. They are

• Paradigm 1 – Political Administration Dichotomy [ 1887/1900 – 1926 ]
• Paradigm 2 – Era of principles of administration [ 1927 – 1937 ]
  • Sub-Paradigm 1 – Era of Challenges [ 1938 – 1950 ]
  • Sub-Paradigm 2 – Response to challenges [ 1950 – 1970 ]
• Paradigm 3 – Public Administration as Political Science [ 1950 – 1970 ]
• Paradigm 4 – Public Administration as Management [ 1956 – 1970 ]
• Paradigm 5 – Public Administration as Public Administration [ 1970 …]
• Paradigm 6 – Public Administration as Governance [ 1980 …]

Paradigm 1 – Political Administration Dichotomy [ 1887/1900 – 1926 ]

This era began when Woodrow Wilson’s seminal essay ” The study of Administration “ was published in political science quarterly in 1887. This essay laid the foundation for a systematic study of public administration. He highlighted the need to study Public administration as a separate discipline and the dichotomy of politics and administration.

He argued that administration and politics are separate. The field of administration is a field of business. It is removed from the hurry and strife of politics… Administration lies outside the proper sphere of politics. Administrative questions are not political questions and Politics is the special province of the statesman and administration that of technical officials.

This ” Wilsonian Dichotomy “ was reinforced and supported by Frank J. Goodnow when he published ” Politics and Administration “. In this context, Goodnow observed,” politics has to do with policies or expression of the will of the state while the administration has to do with the execution of those politics “.

In this era, Public administration received its academic legitimacy when Leonard D. White published his book ” An introduction to the study of Public Administration “. This book is considered the 1st textbook on the subject of Public Administration as a discipline. This book focused on two things

1. Politics administration dichotomy
2. There is a possibility of value-free science which can be found through scientific study of administration with an aim to improve efficiency and economy

Thus his book provided a smooth thematic transition between the Era of political administration dichotomy and the era of principles of administration.

Paradigm 2 – Era of principles of administration [ 1927 – 1937 ]

This era began when William Willoughby wrote the book ” Principles of Administration “ in 1927. This is the 2nd full-fledged textbook on the discipline of Public Administration after L. D. White’s ” An introduction to the study of administration “. This book focused on 4 things

1. Scientific principles of administration existed
2. They can be discovered
3. They can be learnt
4. They can impart efficiency to the administration

During this era, many other scholarly works were published with ‘ finding scientific principles ‘ in mind. They were

• Creative Experience by Mary Parker Follet
• Industrial and General Management by Henry Fayol
• Principles of Organisation by Mooney and Riley
• Papers of Science of Administration by Gullick and Urwick in 1937 marked the zenith or high-noon of this era

Henry Fayol came up with 5 principles of management – Planning, Organizing, Command, Coordination and Control and coined ” POCCC “.

Gullick borrowed and came up with a popular catchphrase ” POSDCoRB “ – Planning, Organization, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, reporting, Budgeting in his book ” Notes on the theory of Organisation ” jointly edited by Urwick.

Later on, Urwick came up with a list of 29 administrative principles in his book ” Elements of Administration “. Therefore this paradigm was the golden years of ” principles and techniques ” in the evolution of Public Administration.

This paradigm also narrowly focused on the ” efficiency or administration ” part of public administration and ignored the ” public “ aspect of public administration. It was suggested let us take care of the efficiency of administration and public in public administration would be automatically taken care of. Therefore, this stage can be called the stage of orthodoxy.

It was argued, ” Principles are principles and administration is administration “. These principles were viewed as “ready-made aides “ and ” readily applicable tools “ for efficiency in administration. Therefore this era is also called as ” search for universal principles “. However, the idea of universal principles faced multiple challenges in the 1930s and 1940s along the following lines

• Humanistic Challenge
• Behaviourist Challenge
• Broad Basing Challenge

Sub-Paradigm 1 – Era of Challenges [ 1938 – 1950 ]

Humanistic Challenge

The human relation approach to the study of administration challenged the structural theory approach of administration after Hawthorne Experiment conducted by Elton Mayo at the Western electric company in Chicago. The conclusion of the experiment shook the foundation of classic theories and developed into the Human relation movement of the 1930s.

The human relations approach concluded relationship aspect of informal groups and human relations are more important to the efficiency of an organisation than the structural aspect of the organisation.

Behaviouralist Challenge

In 1938 Chester Barnard wrote the book ” The Functions of the executive “. Later on, the theme of this book was further extended by Herbert Simon in his book ” Administrative behaviour “ in 1947. These theories were called behavioural theories.

Behavioural thinkers Chester Barnard and Herbert Simon argued to give more importance to the behavioural aspect of human beings over the structural aspect of organisation for efficiency.

Further, Simon presented a devastating criticism of principles of administration as ” mere slogans, myths and proverbs “. He rejected the two foundations pillars of classical theories

• Politics-administration dichotomy
• Scientific principles of Administration focused solely on efficiency

In this context Simon argued ” Administration should be concerned with the development of pure science of administration ” ( with grounding on psychology ) and ” Administration should deal with a broad range of values and working out a prescription for the public “. Thus suggestions of Simon amounted to ” Swallowing up the whole discipline of Political Science “.

Broad Basing Challenge

Robert Dahl and Simon were of the view the universality aspect of principles would be a mistake unless broad-based experimentation is carried out to test their applicability across various situations.

Robert Dahl rejected the science of administration and sought to give a new dimension to the evolution of Public Administration in a broad-based manner in his essay ” The Science of Public Administration: Three problems “ in 1947. He raised three objections in the present study of Public Administration

1. Exclusion of normative consideration
   • In other words, he was against the exclusions of norms or values in administration i.e he was against the dichotomy
2. Science of administration without human elements like psychology, behavioural and human relations
   • In this context, he argued, “the inescapable fact that science of administration must be a study of certain aspects of human behaviour “. He criticized the machine model of classical theories and suggested ” Principles concerning process or structures for seeking efficiency can not be detached from humanistic or behavioural consideration and therefore administration must study the whole psychological man “
3. Conceptualization of ‘ Universal Principles ‘ from parochial experience
   • Referring to many Sciences of administration he remarked there may be a science of administration for America, German, and France but not a Science of Public Administration. For instance, Henry Fayol’s 14 principles may at best be the Science of French Administration. Therefore for the Universal principle of the science of administration, there needs to be an interdisciplinary approach to the study of public administration, Which was also suggested by Herbert Simon.
   • In this context he quoted ” The study of Public Administration inevitably must become a much more broadly based discipline, resting not on narrowly defined knowledge of techniques and processes, but rather extending to the varying historical, sociological, economic and other conditioning factors “

In this context, Ferrel Heady noted ” Robert Dahl’s priority was to work towards conceptualizing broad-based principles of administration and of administrative behaviour transcending national boundaries “.

As a result of these challenges, Public administration faced an identity crisis. Many questioned the strong management orientation as well as the dichotomy which were the dominant themes of paradigm 2 and paradigm 1 respectively. Therefore these two defining pillars were abandoned in the 1950s by scholars and merged Public Administration with either political science or management until Public administration emerged with its own identity as New Public Administration in the 1970s.

Sub-Paradigm 2 – Response to challenges [ 1947 – 1950 ]

Paradigm 3 – Public Administration as Political Science [ 1950 – 1970 ]

Paradigm 4 – Public Administration as Management [ 1956 – 1970 ]

Paradigm 5 – Public Administration as Public Administration [ 1970 …]

Paradigm 6 – Public Administration as Governance [ 1980 …]