Which of the following are the trends noticed by the Fred Riggs in Comparative Public Administration?

Correct option is A

The correct trend noticed by Fred Riggs in Comparative Public Administration (CPA) is: A. Shift from Normative to Empirical.

Information Booster :

Fred W. Riggs identified three major dichotomous shifts that characterized the intellectual development of Comparative Public Administration as a field:

Riggs's Three Trends in Comparative Public Administration
Riggs argued that the field of CPA, in its pursuit of becoming a mature discipline, was moving away from older, prescriptive methods toward more rigorous, scientific analysis. These shifts are:

1. Shift from Normative to Empirical (Prescriptive to Descriptive)
Normative studies focus on what administration ought to be (prescribing ideal principles and standards).
Empirical studies focus on what administration is (describing, explaining, and analyzing actual administrative phenomena).
The Trend: The field moved from offering universal, ethical prescriptions to conducting objective, fact-based analyses.

2. Shift from Ideographic to Nomothetic (Unique to General)
Ideographic studies focus on the unique characteristics of a single case (e.g., a country or organization).
Nomothetic studies seek to establish general laws or theories that can apply across multiple cases.
The Trend: Moving from isolated case studies to building comparative, universal theory.

3. Shift from Non-Ecological to Ecological (Internal to Contextual)
Non-Ecological studies treat administration as a closed system, focusing solely on internal structure and processes.
Ecological studies view administration as an open system deeply influenced by its political, social, economic, and cultural environment.
The Trend: Moving from an inward focus to understanding the relationship between administration and its external environment (this is the basis of Riggs's famous Prismatic Society models)