Master of Social Sciences (MSS)

The objective of this course is to revitalize the knowledge about the leading theories and concepts of public administration and the existing debates surrounding them. Critical issues that have gained currency in public administration discourse in contemporary times have been identified and attempts have been made to provide their theoretical explanations. Thus, the course will provide the students with a deeper understanding of public administration, equip them with the knowledge and skill to explain the administrative issues in a rational way and above all, make them confident in dealing with administrative matters in their professional life.

This course aims to critically examine the key issues and debates related to the process of development and their impacts upon public administration with a particular focus on developing countries including Bangladesh. The course is designed to orient the students with different theories of development that have evolved over the years and the pertinent issues related to managing development in practice. From that point of view, the course focuses on the institutions, structures, processes, strategies, and interactions that facilitate or hinder the process of development. Thus, the course will provide the students with a broader view of ‘development’ and enable them to understand the intricacies of managing development and linkages between development and public administration.

The course broadly attempts to give a broader conceptual understanding and practice of policy analysis. The course will attempt to follow an integrated-approach to public policy by linking with practical realities and the country context. It will also review some of the relevant macroeconomic principles and models, drawing global and regional experiences for conceptualization and analysis of public policies. The course will make an overview of the process and practice of economic analyses by using “big data” that contribute to the policymaking process. The course will introduce the students to some selected qualitative and quantitative tools of policy analysis.

Comparative public administration is often defined as the study of administrative systems in a comparative fashion. In fact, it is a branch of public administration but as an approach, it considers the workings of government in different socio-economic and cultural settings. The emergence of comparative public administration as a systematic field of study is directly linked with the development and distribution of foreign aid particularly after the 2nd World War. Overtime, the field has evolved in many directions ranging from the study of administrative systems, processes and inefficiencies to distributions of governmental power. The purpose of this course is to provide students with an overview of the basic concepts used to compare public administration across countries. This course seeks to strengthen student’s understanding of broader public administrative systems and processes in different socio-economic and ecological settings across the globe.

The course involves extensive study of different classics, oriental, occidental, Marxist and religious to provide the students a holistic perspective on governance and public administration. It will help them identify, understand and analyze the fundamental philosophical premises, concepts, theoretical and analytical frameworks, and approaches to the social sciences with particular emphasis on public administration. The prime focus of the course is to comprehend the philosophical foundations of different classics, prime assumptions, and arguments as well as their implications on the study of public administration. The course will also help the students assess understand public administration including its normative and functional dimensions within the complex environmental supra system and appraise the theoretical contents and current practices of public administration across the world.

The course reviews and discusses contemporary major debates and perspectives in public administration in the context of Bangladesh. The major aim of the course is to help the students understand and analyze current issues and debates relating to Public Administration.

Organizational change and innovation appear to be happening with increasing frequency and magnitude in the public and private sectors in both developing and the developed countries. It is understandable that in a world of rapid changes, transforming economies, reforming governments and societies, we are in need of a higher change capacity of public organizations to meet more complex demands for innovation in public services across the globe. The introduction of increased use of appropriate change management strategies and methods are often resisted and therefore identifying the boundaries of change management is important as is identifying the risks and potential mitigation measures. This course will help the students understand the concept of change management through looking at why organizations need to change; discussing the different ways of approaching change; describing a process for successful change management based on case studies.