Introduction

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) will offer an Undergraduate Minor Programme in Public Administration from July 2005. It is open to all NTU students.

Public Administration is an interdisciplinary study of policy-making and the organization and control of government operations. It concerns not only the efficiency and effectiveness of the provision of public service but also the accountability, justice, equality, and democratic participation of the governance process. It addresses these concerns from the standpoints of various disciplines, including economics, political science, sociology, psychology, management, and statistics. Public Administration focuses on the political and socioeconomic contexts of government, bureaucracy, public organisation and management, government budgeting and financial management, human resource management, intergovernmental relations, public policy, public service ethics, and programme evaluation.

The objective of the minor programme is to provide students a general understanding of and exposure to the field of Public Administration and Public Policy. It complements the relevant curriculum in fields such as Economics and Business Administration. It also expands the intellectual horizon of the curriculum in Sociology and Communication Studies. In addition, it provides students with required skills for executive and managerial careers in government agencies and non-profit or international organisations. It also prepares students for graduate study in the Master of Public Administration (MPA) programme.

Requirements

To satisfy the requirements for a minor in Public Administration, students must complete at least five courses, including two compulsory courses, with the remaining to be selected from the list of electives. The compulsory courses help students develop a comprehensive understanding of the field of Public Administration. The electives provide opportunities for students to master expertise in specific policy and administrative areas.

Compulsory Courses

• HA101: Introduction to Public Administration
• HA103: Introduction to Public Policy

Electives

• HA102: Research Methods and Applied Statistics for Public Administration
• HA201: Public Organisation and Management
• HA202: Human Resource Management
• HA203: Public Budgeting and Financial Management
• HA205: Government and Politics of Singapore
• HA301: State or Provincial and Local Government
• HA302: Constitutional and Administrative Law
• HA303: Public Programme Evaluation
• HA304: Comparative Public Administration
• HA305 Singapore’s Foreign Policy
• HA307 Media and Politics (only start to offer in Semester 2 AY2009-2010)

FAQ

Contact US

Asst Prof. Zhang Zhibin
Email: zzb@ntu.edu.sg
Tel: 6790 6725

Full List of Modules

HA101: Introduction to Public Administration

This course is an introductory overview of the historical development – and the fundamental intellectual contributions – of public administration as a discipline and profession. Topics cover all major subfields of public administration including the political and socioeconomic context, bureaucracy theory, public organisation and management, budgeting process, and public policy-making and implementation.

HA102: Research Methods and Applied Statistics for Public Administration

This course introduces the basic research methods and statistical modeling in generating accurate and useful information for public administrators. Topics include various techniques for research design, the conceptualization and definition of policy problems, the methods of data collection including sampling, interviewing, survey questionnaire, analysis and organisation of data (including descriptive and regression analysis), and the interpretation and presentation of research results.

HA 103: Introduction to Public Policy

This course provides an introductory overview of the field of Public Policy and examines various methods and theoretical models – for example, public choice, game theory, interest group conflict – in the analysis of public policy. It focuses on case studies of actual policies in substantive policy areas, including economic and taxation policy, law, defense and security, immigration, health, education, and social welfare. It demonstrates how theoretical models and analytical methods can be employed to make more informed public policy processes.

HA201: Public Organisation and Management

This course introduces organisation theory and behaviour in public organisations. Topics includes organisational environment, goals and effectiveness, strategic planning, power and decision-making, culture and value, structure and control, leadership, motivation, and communication. It also analyses the strategies of organisational change and development that make public organisations more efficient, effective, responsive, accountable, and innovative in complex and dynamic environments to meet the challenges confronting government today..

HA202: Human Resource Management

This course introduces the structure, operation, design, and techniques of effective public personnel management. Topics include examination and recruitment, classification management and training programmes, performance measurement and promotion, and the relationship between personnel values, operations, and practices and the development of public organisations.

HA203: Public Budgeting and Financial Management

This course introduces the institutional, political, and administrative aspects of government budgets and the budgeting process, including revenue and expenditure patterns. It also discusses taxation, public borrowing and debt administration, capital budgeting and urban development, and intergovernmental fiscal relationships. In addition, it explores the basic concepts and principles of government accounting and auditing as part of the comprehensive control system of government.

HA205: Government and Politics of Singapore

This course provides an introduction to Singapore's political system and government. It will examine: Singapore's political history, the development of the Constitution, the structures, functions and processes of the Singapore's political institutions (the Presidency, the legislature, the executive, the bureaucracy and the judiciary), and the dynamics of local government. It will also focus on the major policy issues in Singapore such as healthcare, education, cyber-politics and civil society.

HA301: State or Provincial and Local Government

This course introduces the structure, administration, policy making and implementation at the state or provincial and local level of government. It also explores the intergovernmental relationship with a focus on the comparison of the nature and characteristics of federalism and the centralisation of administrative system.

HA302: Constitutional and Administrative Law

This course explores the legal framework guiding and constraining public administration and public policy. It focuses on the procedural dimension of public administration. Particular emphasis will be placed upon the Constitution in Singapore and its impact on the development of Singapore administrative system.

HA303: Public Programme Evaluation

This course introduces how public programmes are proposed, established, operated, and evaluated. In addition, it discusses the basic concepts and methods of public programme evaluation. Topics include programme measures, participant measures, intervening measures, impact measures, different viewpoints of evaluation, and measurement levels.

HA304: Comparative Public Administration

This course is focuses on a comparison of administrative systems in Singapore, China, the U.S., other ASEAN countries, and Japan. The areas to be compared cover personnel administration, public finance, political and economic contexts, intergovernmental relations, and public policy problems.

HA305 Singapore’s Foreign Policy

This course examines Singapore’s foreign policy with the rest of the world. It covers both the institutions, practices and personalities that shape the making of Singapore foreign policy and the substantive policies that emerge from the policy process. Singapore’s role in ASEAN, its relations with ASEAN neighbors, China, India, US, Japan, Middle East, and Europe will be examined. Through discussion of past and present major international and regional problems and policy decisions, current foreign policy of Singapore is analyzed in terms of historic actions, political ideas, and consequences. This course also examines the key challenges facing Singapore foreign policy in the new international security environment of the 21st century.

HA307 Media and Politics

This module examines cases in various countries in the West and the East to provide students with an understanding of the relationship between the mass media and politics in contemporary society.

This module seeks to equip students with a basic understanding of the complex and dynamic relationships between the government, politicians and the media. At the end of the course, students would have gained an insight into and be able to appreciate these subtle relationships, an understanding of newsroom operations and the various ways through which news are presented to the public