Study of Administration

The Study of Administration

The challenge for Woodrow Wilson was finding away to integrate Public Administration into the Constitution. In developing Public Administration, Wilson's basic dilemma was how to accommodate the dissimilarities in ideas of democracy and the standardized rules. He believed there were two domains of influence to do this: Politics and Administration; Politics is the choices of government made by the elected officials and Administration impress the choices by free of political interference.

Wilson felt there should be some history of what others have done in the field, there should be an ascertainment of the subject-matter, and it had to be determined which methods were best to develop it and they should be carried out by the most clarifying political conceptions. If these were not known first there would be no guide or blueprint to go by.

The main question was, who shall make the law, and what shall the law be? Another question, how law should be administered with awareness, with equality, with velocity, and without discord, was put aside as practical detail to be determined by clerks after the managers determined the detail.

The reason administration has come into context now is because there appears to be trouble in it, the big constitutional questions in government are not being answered for now. The Science of Public Administration does not appear to be doing what it was designed to do. It appears at present that there is a need to straighten the administrative path of government and make its business less political; to invigorate and cleanse the organization of the government, and to reaffirm its charge with loyalty. This is necessary for all of the government to see clearly how it should do the things it is responsible for doing.

Though Wilson stated that Administration is for the most part separate from Politics, the administrator to the politician relationship is not exactly a Will to Deed relationship because the administrator has a will of his own--how he will accomplish his work. The administrator is not a mere passive instrument.

Administrative study is based constitutionally in one respect, according to Wilson, concerning the distribution of powers. If administrative study can determine which powers should go to which administrators without hampering the authority, the responsibility, and also not obscuring the power then the study of administration has done an invaluable service.

Public opinion should play the part of and authoritative critic in the conduct of administration. Self-government does not need a hand in everything. We should not raise everything up to a vote, but rather give large discretions to public officials, according to Wilson. It must at all points be sensitive to public opinion. The duty of administrative study should teach the people what sort of administration to desire and demand, how

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