Foundations of Public Administration Theory and Scope PAR Mark R
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Foundations of Public Administration Theory and Scope PAR Mark R. Rutgers The Foundations of Public Administration Series is a collection of articles written by experts in 20 content areas, providing introductory essays and recommending top articles in those subjects. Theory and Scope of Public Administration: An Introduction to the Study’s Epistemology Mark Rutgers, University of Amsterdam 1. Introduction 1. Introduction 1.1 A Search for Identity A Search for Identity 1.2 Public Administration versus public administration In 1968 Dwight Waldo published an article Scope of the 1.3 How to Study ‘Theory & Scope’? Theory of Public Administration. In his article Waldo made 2. A Brief History of the Study a famous statement that the study of public 2.1 Prehistory and Classic Period administration has an identity crisis. The alleged crisis is 2.2 The Modern Study of Public Administration precisely at the interstices of ‘scope’ and ‘theory’, that 2.3 The Differentiated or Contemporary Period is, it links the subject matter and the means to 3. The Study’s Concern: An Empirical Approach understand and explain this object of study. Scope, 3.1 Topics in the Literature Waldo points out, is closely related to the issue of the 3.3 The Normative Nature of Scope objectives of public administration, and with the 4. Scope: The Study’s Ontology boundaries of the field. These are, however, unclear since the late 1940’s; what is more, the meaning of 4.1 Conceptualizing Public Administration ‘theory’ is diverse (Waldo, 1968, p.2). The scope of the 4.2 Public & Private theories used is indicated by problems, according to 4.3 Politics & Administration Waldo, “problems that have both practical and 4.4 State & Society theoretical dimensions” (Waldo, 1968, p 2). But to 5. Theory: The Methodology of the Study argue that coherence can be found by stating that the 5.1 The Methodological quandrum 5.2 The Nature of Theory Mark R. Rutgers is professor of the 5.3 The Issue of Interdisciplinarity philosophy of public administration at the University of Amsterdam, the 6. A future for the Study of Public Administration? Netherlands. His main interests include the nature of the study of public administration, public values, and the foundations of administrative thought. [email protected] 1 (c) 2010 ASPA Foundations of Public Administration Theory and Scope PAR Mark R. Rutgers problems, objectives, boundaries, and so on, all and justice, to society, law, and, last but not least, the concern public administration is hardly helpful as it is state. Yet, no reason to despair, for as indicated most unclear what public administration is. (Waldo, 1968, p fields of study only have some vague comprehensive 2). notion of what they are about, i.e. their subject matter. Thus sociology is about ‘the social’, psychology about This brief argument by Waldo provides us in a nutshell ‘the psyche’, and political science about ‘politics.’ with the topic: the scope or topics, and the theories or Usually these encompassing core concepts are much explanatory ideas that make up the study public disputed and their meaning remains implicit and vague. administration. Also authors may wonder what precisely is ‘politics’? Is it just about who gets power? Or is it about social The focus is upon understanding the complex nature of interaction more generally, or about peaceful resolving our ideas on public administration and why its ‘identity’ social strive, or…. Whatever? What we choose makes a so quickly seems to evade us. Let me emphasize from difference to what is regarded a relevant phenomena or the start my own position: it makes no sense to look also how it should be interpreted or explained. Without for an identity, paradigm, discipline, or whatever exception, the social sciences or studies presuppose a supposed coherent, unifying core of questions, ideas, normative image of humanity and society. At first practices, problems, methods, and/or approaches; glance, the difficulty to pin point is perhaps a special particularly not for the study of public administration. concern for social sciences, because their object of As I have indicated before, if we need such labels, study is usually not some simply empirically observable perhaps ‘crisis as identity’ captures the nature of the phenomenon. Rather social sciences are intertwined study of public administration better. Though, of with ideas about, for instance, justice, order, (proper) course, readers should make up their own mind when behavior, responsibility, i.e. with social constructs. trying to make sense of the variety of viewpoints about Nevertheless, similar issues surround physics (‘the the nature of the study and what it means to sciences’). For instance the famous physicist Feynman understand or theorize about public administration. is known to have ‘redrawn the field’ by means of writing a new textbook. He presented the field, its Undoubtedly today all social studies find it difficult to topics, concerns, and the interrelationships between pinpoint their object of study in a more detailed and them in a new way, thereby providing a different encompassing way. However, in the 19th century understanding of what the study was about. In one German Scholar Lorenz von Stein argued, it is the sense the average scientist is just doing his or her job worst of all studies for the study of public and not really bothered by discovering its overarching administration: defining its subject matter, i.e. public subject matter. That’s left to others, the theoreticians administration (‘öffentliche Verwaltung’) presupposes and philosophers of the field arguing firm foundations an overwhelming number of other complex concepts, or encompassing perspectives, as well as, to textbook ranging from the very nature of humanity, freedom, authors and journal editors pragmatically determining 2 (c) 2010 ASPA Foundations of Public Administration Theory and Scope PAR Mark R. Rutgers what they consider as belonging to the field and what administration can refer to a social reality of people and not. organizations, budgets, administrators, and so on. Next the term may distinguish between its everyday, non- Why would we be interested in the theory and scope of scientific use in social practice, and its scholarly public administration? To begin with, most of us are application. In the former case, the term refers to fuzzy interested in specific issues: running an organization, and/or different concepts. In the latter case, the term attainment of policy goals, and the like. That is denotes the object of study and ideally allows for a obviously the stuff involving public administration. But clear or clearer definition. For example the term what then is considered a matter of public ‘bureaucracy’: in every day circumstances it implies administration? How is “it” described, explained, and ‘government’, ‘bureaucrats’, ‘red tape’, and so on with possibly changed? How is a specific part of social usually (negative) normative connotations. On the reality constructed? How to understand it and thereby other hand, an academic study of ‘bureaucracy’ defines act upon these ideas? For do not our ideas influence it a following specific theories of, for instance, Weber. our actions? Thus the term is used with a precise meaning, i.e. referring to a special kind of organization, and is not This said, it may appear easy to determine what public intended to be normative (although the term “ideal- administration is, and thus what are considered type” itself leads into considerable semantic confusion). appropriate topics of study, i.e. the scope, or do we simply take a look at what is being studied and written Second, public administration can denote a specific by public administrationists? The obvious problem here academic field of study, i.e. the science or study of is, however, that we quickly end up going around in a public administration. Here, a study and its object of circle: for who are we to consider authors on public study need to be distinguished: political science and administration? People calling themselves so? Scholars politics do not coincide, nor do sociology and social paid a salary as members of a university department reality, or psychology and the psyche. Sociological called ‘public administration’? Authors publishing in a questions and social problems, or psychological journal with public administration in its mission questions and psychic problems are not identical; even statement? Depending on our purposes this can be though the former aims at better understanding and useful starting points, however, whatever approach we explaining the latter. Contrary to other languages, favor, all start with our ideas what public however, English does not provide us with distinct administration (and its study) is about. terms for study and object of study, such as in German ‘Verwaltunsgwissenschaft’ and ‘öffentliche Verwaltung’ Public Administration versus public administration or in Dutch ‘Bestuurskunde’ and ‘openbaar bestuur.’ Dwight Waldo pointed out this problem in 1968 when Before delving into history, a warning: the term ‘public discussing the scope of the study. In a note he stated: administration’ easily results in confusion. First, public 3 (c) 2010 ASPA Foundations of Public Administration Theory and Scope PAR Mark R. Rutgers “Discussions of public administration are plagued by a However, in German (and other languages) social serious problem because differing meanings may be given to or studies, the study of history and of law all refer to understood by the phrase. Sometimes in seeking to be clear and precise, I have used upper case to refer to the self- ‘Wissenschaft’, no natural science methodology is conscious enterprise of study, and the like, and lower case to included in the meaning of the term. As we will see refer to the practices or processes which are the object of our later on, linguistic and cultural differences are also attention” (Waldo, 1968, p.1). pronounced in the conceptualization of the object of administrative study.