WOODROW WILSON
Introduction before Wilson
"the most uncomplicated and most unambiguous contribution of Woodrow Wilson is that he propounded the agreement that public administration needs to be studied" --- Nicholas Henry
"the most uncomplicated and most unambiguous contribution of Woodrow Wilson is that he propounded the agreement that public administration needs to be studied" --- Nicholas Henry
"the
study of public administration developed as an offshoot of political science or
public law and until recently administration as an academic subject was the
very plain step-sister of these older discipline"
Peter Self
Pre-Wilsonian
public administration and Contemporaries. Peter Self
à Aristotle from Ancient West
àKautilya in ancient India
à Machiavelli in medieval west
16th century Western Europe
àNeed of expert civil servants arose in view of rising requirements of governance
àNeed of specially trained civil servants
18th century
àCameralism
àScience of administration in Prussia
àStood for science of public administration based on 'document training' to civil servants at entry level.
The idea was to impart technical expertise in pb adm thru scientific training methods.
Highlighted concerns for
- Public Finance
-Economics
-Public policy
One imp thinker of Cameralist era
Lorenz Von Stein
During his time pb adm was considered as a part of administrative law but according to him such concept was too restrictive and he wanted to create a field of pb adm as a 'melting pot of many disciplines' say pol science,management, sociology etc
Another thinker
George Zincke and
Charles Jean Bounin (Principles de administration publique)
Later American scholars and Contemporaries of Wilson.
Dorman Eaton
His major areas of interest were Municipal Administration and Civil Services Reforms
-He drafted the Metropolitan Health Law in 1886
-Helped in reorganising New York Police Deptt
-Advocated abolishing 'spoils system' in US
-Drafted Pendleton Act 1883
-Became the Chairperson of US civil services which hailed Merit Based System
Richard Ely
-American economist
-Leader of progressive movement
-Direct governmental role shud co exist with free markets
-Capitalism creates disadvantages for already disadvantaged sections.
Frank J Goodnow
Politics adm dichotomy
"politics has to do with policies.......... Adm has to do with execution"
Woodrow Wilson: 4 points :
FOCUS of PA
shud be
1) PA shud be more scientific or methodical
2)PA shud be more business like
3)PA shud be detached from politics
4)PA shud be comparative
1) PA shud be more scientific or methodical
2)PA shud be more business like
3)PA shud be detached from politics
4)PA shud be comparative
THEME 1:
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SHOULD BE MORE SCIENTIFIC OR METHODICAL.
1) More Scientific
By this he meant a more methodical, disciplined and systematic adm
He noted that American Administrative System lacked the systematic analysis and there was less than required use of administrative principles.
But administration in European countries was more efficient bcz it was more based on discipline and admve methodology and he termed it as "there was more governance "
Also in America the reason for slow progress of science of adm was the feature of POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY because of which a state of indecisiveness prevails.
MIND IT HERE WILSON FOR THE FIRST TIME CONTRADICTED HIS STATEMENT.
In this context he noted,
"administration in a democracy is difficult as compared to in a monarchy bcz in a democracy the MULTITUDINOUS MONARCH called Public Opinion wud often slow down the progress of administration "
However Wilson was aware that public opinion is a beneficial and indispensable mechanism of scrutinising nd superitending the administrative decesions. Hence some role of a CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE shud be given to public opinion.
There is a
second dimension of this first theme i.e
SCIENTIFIC RECRUITMENT OF CIVIL SERVANTS
There shud be a scientifically selected nd technically schooled civil services so that it is based on merit rather than patronage and as a result efficiency can rise.
He was strongly opposed to Spoils System
He argued that only a neutral administration can work in business like manner.
In Wilsonian view "Moral Intellectual Reforms" shud be the goal of civil services reforms bcz until civil servants are recruited thru a merit based system they are not likely to hv a sense of moral intellectual reform.
SCIENTIFIC RECRUITMENT OF CIVIL SERVANTS
There shud be a scientifically selected nd technically schooled civil services so that it is based on merit rather than patronage and as a result efficiency can rise.
He was strongly opposed to Spoils System
He argued that only a neutral administration can work in business like manner.
In Wilsonian view "Moral Intellectual Reforms" shud be the goal of civil services reforms bcz until civil servants are recruited thru a merit based system they are not likely to hv a sense of moral intellectual reform.
Harland Cleveland's Tension Theory (input by aspirant)
According to
him - organisations with perfect structures i.e. no overlap in jurisdiction and
programmes - tend to reach conclusions too fast and may overlook the goal of
public interest - hence it is desirable to plan an organisation in such a way
that there are conflicts in terms of jurisdictions and programmes among various
agencies and offices involved - this would lead to debates, points and
counterpoints -- thus leading to better focus on 'public interest' -- thus he
welcomed lack of coordination to some degree in public organisation.
His ideas seem to be developed on Follet , as she also said that conflicts are not only inevitable but also desired -We left the savage state when we discovered fire by friction. We talk of the friction of mind on mind as a good thing. So in business, too, we have to know when to try to eliminate friction and when to try to capitalize it, when to see what work we can make it do
His ideas seem to be developed on Follet , as she also said that conflicts are not only inevitable but also desired -We left the savage state when we discovered fire by friction. We talk of the friction of mind on mind as a good thing. So in business, too, we have to know when to try to eliminate friction and when to try to capitalize it, when to see what work we can make it do
WW's essay
has 3 parts
"I. To take some account of what others have done in the same line....
II. To ascertain just what is its subject matter
III. To determine just what are the best methods by which to develop it, and the most clarifying political conceptions to carry with us into it"
"I. To take some account of what others have done in the same line....
II. To ascertain just what is its subject matter
III. To determine just what are the best methods by which to develop it, and the most clarifying political conceptions to carry with us into it"
P-A dichotomy
in theory and for scholarly research, and mixing it up in practical aspect of
admn.
Ø After discussion in the thread, Wilson can be
considered as:
àFather of public administration
àInitiator of comparative public administration
à he was the one who initially proposed the idea of "Administrative Reforms".
àInitiator of comparative public administration
à he was the one who initially proposed the idea of "Administrative Reforms".
Theme 2
Public Administration should be more business
like
-Administration has to be effective efficient prompt n economical
-'govt business has to be less unbusiness like '
-Unbusiness like traits-- politicised,partisan, populist,slow, corrupt shud be cut out.
-More business like traits like efficiency effectiveness economy promptness must be adopted.
Again countered his own viewpoint
-However he was aware that there are some fundamental differences between the priorities n the goals of governments functioning n functioning of Pvt business organisations.
A famous observation in this regard " Govt is not business, it is organic life"
Government 's priorities are starkly different from Pvt orgnstns.
-Administration has to be effective efficient prompt n economical
-'govt business has to be less unbusiness like '
-Unbusiness like traits-- politicised,partisan, populist,slow, corrupt shud be cut out.
-More business like traits like efficiency effectiveness economy promptness must be adopted.
Again countered his own viewpoint
-However he was aware that there are some fundamental differences between the priorities n the goals of governments functioning n functioning of Pvt business organisations.
A famous observation in this regard " Govt is not business, it is organic life"
Government 's priorities are starkly different from Pvt orgnstns.
Weber talked about functional specialisation.
Theme 3
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
DELINKED FROM POLITICS
Public Administration is a field or activity and is functionally distinct from politics.
Wilson was the initial proponent to suggest politics- administration dichotomy.
On this issue of separability of administration from politics he has given two very important observations. ----
"administration lies outside the sphere of politics. Administrative questions are not political questions "
It is being advocated that it is not the mandate of administration or administrators to question, challenge or sit in judgement over the policy decesions made by the politicians who are the people's representatives answerable to people.
Second observation--
"the field of administration is the field of business. It is removed from the hurry n strife of politics"
Himself gave the COUNTER-ARGUMENT...
"administration cannot be divorced from its connections with other branches of public law (mainly political science) without being distorted or robbed off of its true significance. Those deep and permanent principles of politics are its foundation. "
F W Riggs, " For Wilson not only politics and administration are closely intertwined but administrative actions are hardly conceivable in any sense except that they are implementation of political policies.Thus Wilson was under no illusion that administration can take place in a political vacuum"
Public Administration is a field or activity and is functionally distinct from politics.
Wilson was the initial proponent to suggest politics- administration dichotomy.
On this issue of separability of administration from politics he has given two very important observations. ----
"administration lies outside the sphere of politics. Administrative questions are not political questions "
It is being advocated that it is not the mandate of administration or administrators to question, challenge or sit in judgement over the policy decesions made by the politicians who are the people's representatives answerable to people.
Second observation--
"the field of administration is the field of business. It is removed from the hurry n strife of politics"
Himself gave the COUNTER-ARGUMENT...
"administration cannot be divorced from its connections with other branches of public law (mainly political science) without being distorted or robbed off of its true significance. Those deep and permanent principles of politics are its foundation. "
F W Riggs, " For Wilson not only politics and administration are closely intertwined but administrative actions are hardly conceivable in any sense except that they are implementation of political policies.Thus Wilson was under no illusion that administration can take place in a political vacuum"
Themes 4
Study of Public Administration has to be comparative.
"administration is the most suited field for comparative learning"
We can never learn the weaknesses n inefficiencies of our administrative system or strengths n peculiarities of other administrative systems unless we carry out comparative study.
Note of Caution
It is not necessary to import or borrow everything from everybody's comparative example.
"administration stands on different bases in democracies and other states. Lessons learnt from other countries would have to be filtered thru the cultural lens of the borrower "
WOODROW WILSON: CRITICAL APPRAISAL
1) His ideas were naive or inconclusive
Richard Stillman is one of the most prominent critiques of Woodrow Wilson. He argued that Wilson's ideas were naive or inconclusive. His essay raised more questions than providing answers.
For instance :
Wilson argued that adm shud become business like but did not elaborate on how to make it business like.
Wilson desired that public opinion shud be given only a balanced role in administration but did not elaborate how this is to be achieved.
2) Inconsistency of ideas or lack of focus
Dwight Waldo, " in the opening paragraph of his essay Wilson states that the objective of his study is to discover what the govt can properly and successfully do and how but the essay is largely devoted to the argument of separability of politics and administration n this is a serious inconsistency. "
Richard Stillman, " after a study of Wilson's essay the reader remains uncertain about its actual substance "
3) Ambivalent or oscillating stands
This we have discussed earlier in each pointer separately.
4) Contribution is not significant enough to deserve the tag of Father of Public Administration
Paul Van Riper has noted -- 'Wilsons essay has no influence on evolution of study of public administration in US. It's main focus was only politics administration dichotomy '
Riper further argued that at the most Wilson was only one of the founders administration in America but the difficulty with equal and greater recognition for the other scholars lies in the fact that none of them went on to become the President of US.
Nice ...thank u so much
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