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100+ Free BCS Written Public Administration Practice Questions

Prepare for the BCS Written Post-Related Public Administration, Subject Code 381, Total Marks 200 exam with instant access — no signup required.

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Key Facts: BCS Written Public Administration Exam

200 marks

Official post-related Public Administration paper (Subject Code 381)

BPSC written syllabus PDF

100 + 100

Part I theories and behaviour / Part II Public Administration in Bangladesh

BPSC written syllabus PDF

50% aggregate

Written-stage pass on the 900-mark examination (per-paper minima also apply)

BPSC BCS examination page

4 hours

Duration used for BPSC 200-mark written papers; confirm the current routine

Longstanding BPSC sitting practice

Tk. 200 / Tk. 50

50th BCS general / reduced-category application fee; no separate written fee

50th BCS circular reporting citing PSC

Arts. 133–141

Constitutional chapter on the services of Bangladesh and Public Service Commissions

Constitution of Bangladesh

Art. 128

Independent audit of public accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor-General

Constitution of Bangladesh; CAG office

Subject Code 381 is a 200-mark descriptive BCS post-related paper (Part I theories 100, Part II Bangladesh 100; about 4 hours). It counts toward the 900-mark written stage (50% aggregate pass on the BPSC page). Application fee Tk. 200 general / Tk. 50 reduced categories (50th BCS); no separate written fee. This page offers English MCQs as a study aid, not an official-paper simulation.

Sample BCS Written Public Administration Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to test your BCS Written Public Administration exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1Which scholar's 1887 essay "The Study of Administration" is commonly treated as the founding statement of Public Administration as a distinct field?
A.Max Weber
B.Woodrow Wilson
C.Luther Gulick
D.Dwight Waldo
Explanation: Woodrow Wilson's 1887 essay argued that administration could be studied as a field of business distinct from constitutional politics. It is the classic opening text for the politics-administration dichotomy on the BPSC Part I syllabus. Weber, Gulick, and Waldo are later pillars of bureaucratic, principles, and New Public Administration debates.
2Public Administration, as a field, is primarily concerned with:
A.the drafting of party election manifestos
B.the implementation of public policy through governmental organization
C.private profit maximization as the sole criterion of success
D.purely judicial interpretation of statutes
Explanation: Public Administration studies how public authority is organized to formulate, implement, and evaluate policy in the public interest. Party manifestos belong to politics, profit maximization to private business, and statutory interpretation to courts—though administrators work under law.
3A standard distinction between public and private administration is that public administration:
A.never uses hierarchy or written files
B.cannot operate under a budget
C.operates under public law, political accountability, and a public-service motive
D.is identical in every respect to business management
Explanation: Public administration is constrained by public law, legislative and judicial control, and the duty to serve the people rather than owners. It does use hierarchy, files, and budgets. Wilson and others noted businesslike methods, but that is not identity with private management.
4Which description best captures the modern scope of Public Administration?
A.It is limited to tax collection and customs
B.It excludes local government and public corporations
C.It is only the study of constitutional law
D.It covers policy, organization, personnel, finance, and delivery of public services, not only clerical office work
Explanation: The BPSC Part I syllabus treats Public Administration as a broad field: theory, organization, policy, behaviour, and—in Part II—the whole Bangladesh administrative system. Reducing it to tax offices, excluding local bodies, or collapsing it into constitutional law misses that scope.
5How does industrialization typically affect Public Administration?
A.It eliminates the need for bureaucracy
B.It returns the state to a night-watchman role only
C.It abolishes hierarchy in government offices
D.It expands regulatory, labour, urban, and welfare functions of the state
Explanation: Industrialization multiplies factory, labour, urban, and social problems that require regulation and services. The administrative state grows more specialized; it does not shrink to a night-watchman or abolish hierarchy.
6Urbanization most directly pressures Public Administration to:
A.abolish all field offices outside the capital
B.replace statutes with custom as the only source of rules
C.build specialized municipal services, planning, and infrastructure capacity
D.end public employment in cities
Explanation: Concentrated urban populations generate demand for water, sanitation, transport, housing, policing, and planning. Administration must develop municipal and metropolitan capacity—not abandon field presence or public employment.
7The impact of science and technology on Public Administration is best captured as:
A.the end of written records
B.greater specialization, new information systems, and more complex regulation
C.the disappearance of coordination problems
D.automatic elimination of corruption
Explanation: Science and technology add specialist agencies, technical regulation, and e-enabled information systems. They do not abolish records, coordination, or integrity problems; they change how those problems appear.
8Classical organization theory is most closely associated with:
A.Hawthorne human-relations findings only
B.contingency theory as the only model
C.scientific management, administrative principles, and bureaucratic structure
D.garbage-can decision making
Explanation: Classical theory clusters Taylor (scientific management), Fayol/Gulick (principles), and Weber (bureaucracy): formal structure, hierarchy, and one-best-way prescriptions. Human relations is neoclassical; contingency and garbage-can models are later.
9F.W. Taylor's scientific management emphasized:
A.informal groups as the only variable in output
B.time-and-motion study, standardization, and selecting workers scientifically
C.matrix teams as the default public structure
D.political neutrality of cabinets
Explanation: Taylor sought a science of work: time-and-motion study, standard methods, differential piece rates, and scientific selection and training. Informal groups are Mayo's terrain; cabinets are a political-executive topic, not scientific management.
10In Luther Gulick's POSDCORB, the letter "R" stands for:
A.Recruiting
B.Regulating
C.Reporting
D.Revolving
Explanation: POSDCORB is Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, COordinating, Reporting, and Budgeting. Reporting is the executive's duty to keep superiors and the public record informed. Recruiting is part of staffing, not the "R".

About the BCS Written Public Administration Exam

BCS Written Post-Related Public Administration (Subject Code 381) is a 200-mark descriptive paper in the Bangladesh Civil Service written examination, split equally between organization theory and Public Administration in Bangladesh. It is sat by technical/professional cadre candidates and by dual-cadre applicants as the extra 200-mark post-related subject. The official paper is not multiple choice. This free bank is an English-language MCQ study adaptation of the BPSC syllabus—not an official translation, format simulation, or substitute for written-answer practice.

Assessment

Official paper: 200-mark descriptive written exam in two parts of 100 marks each — Part I Administrative Organization: Theories and Behaviour; Part II Public Administration in Bangladesh. Technical/professional cadre and dual-cadre applicants sit this post-related paper as part of the 900-mark written stage. This bank is an English-language MCQ study adaptation, not an official translation or format simulation.

Time Limit

4 hours for this 200-mark written paper in longstanding BPSC sitting practice; confirm the current routine

Passing Score

50% aggregate on the 900-mark written examination (BPSC page); per-paper minima also apply as set by BPSC

Exam Fee

Tk. 200 general (50th BCS); Tk. 50 for ethnic minority, persons with disabilities, and third-gender applicants; no separate written or viva fee. Confirm the live circular. (Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC))

BCS Written Public Administration Exam Content Outline

about 25% of this bank

Part I — Meaning, theory, and principles

Meaning, nature, and scope of Public Administration; impact of science, technology, industrialization, and urbanization; classical, neoclassical, and modern organization theories; hierarchy, span of control, unity of command, departmentalization, line and staff, integration versus disintegration, and centralization versus decentralization.

about 25% of this bank

Part I — Policy, paradigms, contributors, and behaviour

Policy formulation and decision making; paradigms and the politics-administration dichotomy; New Public Administration; Elton Mayo, Chester I. Barnard, Herbert Simon, Henri Fayol, and Mary Parker Follett; Weberian ideal-type bureaucracy, criticism, and routinization; motivation; leadership; coordination, delegation, communication, and supervision.

about 25% of this bank

Part II — Constitution, personnel, and Bangladesh structure

Growth of the civil service; constitutional philosophy and Articles on the services and PSC; Secretariat, attached departments, directorates, and public corporations; recruitment, BPSC, and the Establishment Division/Ministry of Public Administration; BPATC, BARD, and NLGI/NILG; pay, discipline, retirement, and pension.

about 25% of this bank

Part II — Development, finance, reform, and governance

Development administration, Planning Commission, and ECNEC; fiscal and monetary policy, budget, performance budgeting, and the CAG; administrative reform committees; corruption, transparency, and accountability; bureaucracy, democracy, and development; rule of law and human rights; executive, legislative, and judicial control; good governance, e-governance, field administration, NGOs, and rural development.

How to Pass the BCS Written Public Administration Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: 50% aggregate on the 900-mark written examination (BPSC page); per-paper minima also apply as set by BPSC
  • Assessment: Official paper: 200-mark descriptive written exam in two parts of 100 marks each — Part I Administrative Organization: Theories and Behaviour; Part II Public Administration in Bangladesh. Technical/professional cadre and dual-cadre applicants sit this post-related paper as part of the 900-mark written stage. This bank is an English-language MCQ study adaptation, not an official translation or format simulation.
  • Time limit: 4 hours for this 200-mark written paper in longstanding BPSC sitting practice; confirm the current routine
  • Exam fee: Tk. 200 general (50th BCS); Tk. 50 for ethnic minority, persons with disabilities, and third-gender applicants; no separate written or viva fee. Confirm the live circular.

Keys to Passing

  • Work through all 100 available questions
  • Review every answer and explanation
  • Track weak areas and revisit them
  • Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

BCS Written Public Administration Study Tips from Top Performers

1Treat Part I and Part II as equal 100-mark blocks; do not over-invest in theory at the expense of Bangladesh institutions, or the reverse.
2For theory, be able to contrast Wilson's dichotomy, Weber's ideal type, Simon's bounded rationality, and Minnowbrook New Public Administration in a short essay.
3For Bangladesh, quote Constitution articles (21, 22, 27, 59–60, 102, 117, 128, 133–141) rather than memorizing unofficial organogram headcounts.
4Know the distinct roles of BPSC (recruitment), MoPA/Establishment Division (personnel policy), BPATC (apex training), BARD (rural development training), and NILG/NLGI (local government training).
5Distinguish Planning Commission (plan formulation) from ECNEC (major project approval) and CAG (independent audit) from the Ministry of Finance (fiscal policy and budget).
6Use this MCQ bank to lock concepts, then practise timed descriptive answers; the official paper is not multiple choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the official BCS Public Administration paper multiple choice?

No. BPSC examines Subject Code 381 as a 200-mark descriptive written paper (Part I 100 marks, Part II 100 marks). This site's questions are a free English-language MCQ study adaptation, not an official translation, format simulation, or substitute for writing practice.

Who sits the BCS post-related Public Administration paper?

It is the 200-mark post-related subject for technical/professional cadre candidates whose post maps to this syllabus, and for dual-cadre applicants who must sit the extra post-related paper. General-cadre candidates sit Bangla 200 rather than this paper.

What is the written pass mark?

The BPSC page requires 50% aggregate on the 900-mark written examination. Per-paper minima also apply as set by BPSC. Confirm the circular for the cycle you are sitting.

How long is the paper?

Four hours is the duration used for BPSC 200-mark written papers on this site and in longstanding sitting practice. Always confirm the timetable on the current BPSC written routine.

What is the exam fee?

There is no separate fee for the written paper. For the 50th BCS the Teletalk application fee is Tk. 200 for general candidates and Tk. 50 for ethnic minority, persons with disabilities, and third-gender applicants. Confirm the live circular.

Does this bank replace Constitution or organogram memorization?

It tests syllabus concepts and verified constitutional articles. It does not invent unpublished ministry, wing, or staffing counts. Use the Constitution text and official Rules of Business for structure; do not treat unofficial organograms as BPSC fact.

In what language is this practice bank?

User-facing items are in English, keeping official names (BPSC, BPATC, BARD, ECNEC, CAG) and essential Bangla terms. The official written paper is not simulated here and may be answered according to BPSC language rules for that sitting.

How does viva voce relate to this written paper?

The official BPSC page still lists viva voce as 200 marks with a 50% pass. News coverage from the 47th BCS onward has reported a 100-mark viva, and PSC has discussed reducing it further. Confirm the current circular; viva is oral, not MCQ.