The aim of this final paper is to analyse the development of public administration determined by overall social development. A historical analysis begins with the industrial revolution, which has had a great impact on changes in public administration development. Furthermore, the occurrence of differentiation in public administration has led to the development of new tasks, activities and jobs, which has consequently increased the number of employees required to perform them. Moreover, this paper discusses the development of the role of a citizen vis-à-vis the public administration system from the perspective of the citizen as an inferior subject, as well as the development of the mechanism for imposing obligations, which has become more complex, more sophisticated and less transparent. The most significant changes in the Croatian public administration and the process of decentralisation are best reflected in the reforms of public administration. By adopting the new Act on State Administration System, the Republic of Croatia has also gained a well-ordered state administration system aimed at depoliticising, professionalising, decentralising and rationalising state administration. Research problem pertains to whether the Republic of Croatia, by accessing the EU and implementing reforms and the Public Administration Development Strategy, has actually made any obvious progress in public administration, raised the quality of work and enhanced the development of the e-administration system, or has the development remained stagnant in that respect.