Comparative Public Administration
According to Woodrow Wilson, comparative public administration is the study of the administrative institutions, processes, and behaviours across organizational, and cultural boundaries. It can also be defined as the method of investigation and analysis that compares attributes and performance of administrative systems and subsystems, as well as individuals or groups in positions of decision making, to generate knowledge and enhance understanding of public management.
Comparative Public Administration deals with administrative organizations or systems pertaining to different cultures and settings whose similar or dissimilar features are studied and compared in order to find out “causes” or “reasons” for efficient and effective performance or behaviour of administrators, civil servants, or bureaucrats. Comparative public administration can also be defined as the study of public administration on comparative basis, in order to trace any regularities or otherwise in administrative patterns.
Comparative public administration has the following merits
: i. Comparative public administration helps to improve domestic policy making and implementation.
- It also helps to improve public policies and for theory building in the field of public administration.
iii. Comparative public administration is used to study the contemporary system of government and administration