Essay on Comparative Study in Public Administration
Several administrative theories and models which are already in vogue, on which Riggs developed his models had originated in the “western world and most of these in the United States.
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These were not being found useful by developing nations of Asia, African and Latin American countries, as these had been developed after taking certain conditions and situations into consideration, which did not prevail in these countries. These models in no way helped in bringing any changes in administrative systems of developing societies which were badly needed by them.
It was in this background that need was felt for developing new concepts and concept of Comparative Public Administration was developed. This concept lays stress on cross-cultural and cross-national administrative studies.
He has developed three broad trends in this regard. He has stressed the need to study administrative system in ecological background so that it was possible to have full understanding of the working of the system. While doing so he has depended on the concepts developed in other subjects Sociology, Physics and Biology, for proposing new theories and models in Public Administration.
F.W. Riggs is among the most innovative scholars in the disciplines of Political Science and Public Administration. In 1963 when the Comparative Administrative Group (C.A.G.) was set up as a committee of the American Society for public administration, Riggs was made its first Chairman.
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The C.A.G. is engaged in conducting Cross-culture studies on the ninth dimensional administrative problem of the emergent nations. Prof. F. W. Riggs has held numerous positions of importance including head of International Development Research Centre at Indian University and visiting Professor in the Economics and Social Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.A.T.) and also a fellow for Advanced Studies in the Behavioural Science at Stanford University.
During the year 1967 he joined the department of Political Science at University of Hawaii as Professor. Fred W. Riggs is a contemporary theorist in the field of Political development and Comparative Public Administration, Primarily interacted in conceptualising on the interactions between administrative systems and their environment with administration who has been (C.P.A.) termed by Riggs as “ecology” of Administration.