Public Administration Wednesday, September 15, 2010 Wilson’s Vision of Public Administration IntroductionWoodrow Wilson is regard as the founder or father of study of public administration. His title rests on his Seminal essay entitled“The Study of public administration”which was published in the Political Science quarterly in 1887. Wilson wrote his essay,“The Study of Public Administration”in the era of theProgressive movementwhich covered the last two decades of the nineteenth Century. In the United States, this movement was developed in response to increasing Urbanization, immigration, the seeming loss of traditional values, Corruption, etc. There was maladministration due to rampant political corruption and the Prevalence of the “spoils system” introduced by President Andrew Jackson. Under this system only the loyal political supporters of the Party’s Victorium at the Polls were appointed to administrative posts As a consequence less qualified and sometimes Unqualified people entered the Public service and contributed to the increasing inefficiency of public administration. Influenced by the progressive movement Woodrow Wilson was also convinced that there was a needto reform the government and the reforms should be in the field of public administration so as to make it more efficient. It was in this context of prevalent maladministration and the consequent administrative reforms that Wilson emphasized in his essay, the development of the science of public administration as the appropriate cure for corrupt and inefficient administrative system. This vision of Wilson also marked theemergence of public administration as a separate and independent field of Study. Wilson’s View on Politics and AdministrationWoodrow Wilson is usually regarded as the Originator Of the doctrine of politics- administration dichotomy. In his essay Wilson divided government into two separate spheres of politics and administration. In his opinion, politics is dealt with questions of policy formulation; administration is dealt with carrying them out. He defined public administration as “detailed and systematic execution of public law”. Wilson characterized public administration as a field of business.He Said, “the field of administration is a field of business….. Removed from the hurry and strife of politics” He Stated that administration lies outside the proper sphere of politics. Administrative questions are not political questions. Although politics sets the tasks for, it should not be suffered to manipulate its offices”. He further observed that “public administration is a Part of political life only as the methods of counting house are a Part of the life of the society; only as machinery is part of amanufactured product”. To Wilson, politics is the special Province of the statesman and administration that of the technical official. Wilson Wanted that administrators should not involve themselves in the political process .Thus Wilson tried toestablish the distinction between politics and administration. By expounding the politics –Administration dichotomy theory, Wilson urged strongly for the creation of a technically competent and politically neutral administrativesystem for a democracy. It should be separate from the political system, although it is under democratic control. Wilson believed that if publicadministration could be separated from the practical politics and the influences of the spoils system prevailed at that time in the USA, it might become more business-like and develop on scientific lines in its own right. Thus his goal was to call attention to the need for efficient administration and to keep it out of Partisan Politics. Wilson saw the Study Of public administration as the latest fruit of that Study of science of politics which was begun some two thousand two hundred Years ago. The foundations of public administration “are those deep and permanent principles of politics”. Thus for Wilson, it is said, the Study of public administration, derived from the Study of politics, was to be distinguished from it, but never divorced from its “maxims” and “truths”. To Wilson, public administration was much more than technical detail and it was to be conducted in a political context .Thushe treated “politics and public administration as two sides of a coin”. Table 1 Politics and (public administration) Dichotomy -Dividing Politics and Administration Politics Administration Deals with the “expression of the will of the people “. Deals with the “Execution of the will of the people”. Deals with Politicians Deals with Civil Servants One becomes Politician by his popularity ,either through positive or negative popularity Positive Popularity , e.g., Sonia Gandhi Negative Popularity e.g. Poolan Devi One becomes Civil servants by his intelligence One becomes Politics through election One becomes civil servant through selection Prior training is not given to politician Civil servants are professionals Power is the Centre of study in politics i.e , process of capturing and retaining power Running administration successfully is the central focus here
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 13:30:08 +0000
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