Public Administration Theory and Views of the Human Person
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Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 8-2007 Public Administration Theory and Views of the Human Person Gerald L. Zandstra Western Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons Recommended Citation Zandstra, Gerald L., "Public Administration Theory and Views of the Human Person" (2007). Dissertations. 929. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/929 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION THEORY AND VIEWS OF THE HUMAN PERSON by Gerald L. Zandstra A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Public Affairs and Administration Dr. Matthew S. Mingus, Advisor Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan August 2007 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION THEORY AND VIEWS OF THE HUMAN PERSON Gerald L. Zandstra, Ph.D. Western Michigan University, 2007 Public administrative theory, despite its reach into American life, lacks broad agreement about its field of inquiry, its underlying presuppositions, and its purpose. Theorists such as Herbert Storing, Stephen Bailey, Richard Stillman, David Hart, Vincent Ostrom, William Dunn, Bahman Fozouni, Mark Rutgers, Michael Harmon and others have observed and lamented these shortcomings. Without well-developed theory, the objectives of public administration are a moving target. This project does not attempt to resolve this deficiency. Instead, it is intended to address a primary question pertaining to public administration’s core principles: what is the nature of the human person? The line of argumentation is not that public administration theorists do not have an operative view of human nature. Rather, it is proposed that all theories of public administration begin with some assumptions about human beings which can be termed operational anthropologies. No attempt is made to consider all possible aspects of human nature. Only two are examined: the classically defined virtues of prudence and justice. A definition of each is provided followed by an examination of the theories of Frederick Taylor, Herbert Simon, Frederick Mosher, Vincent Ostrom, and Amitai Etzioni. The goal is to determine what each author believes to be true of human nature as Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. determined by an examination of their most prominent book. The project ends with a call for additional research to be done into the major theorists’ views of the human person. It also calls for those currently working in public administrative theory to clarify their anthropological assumptions as an important part of their theorizing. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3276417 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3276417 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Gerald L. Zandstra 2007 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the contributions of the chair of my committee, Dr. Matthew Mingus. His availability, wisdom, and patience were greatly appreciated. Those involved in the work of the Acton Institute, especially Dr. Sam Gregg, Father Robert Sirico, and a host of conference participants and lectures have enabled me to think seriously about the nature of the human beings, their inherent dignity, and the function of power in government and administrative structures. Their stories, reflection, and considerations have been invaluable. Dr. Scott Greenway has been a longtime friend and fellow traveler in considering the nature of the human person from a theological perspective. My grandparents and parents were formative in their example of treating others with dignity and respect. Finally, the four human persons with whom I have shared much of my life and are closest to me deserve special acknowledgement: my wife, Mary and our sons James, Thomas, and Jacob. We have planned together, studied together, worked together, and stayed together through thick and thin. It has been an exercise in pure joy watching our boys grow into their abilities. My love, respect and admiration for each of you is more than can put into words. Gerald L. Zandstra ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PREFACE My interest in the nature of human persons has been part of my journey throughout my entire academic and professional life. It began with theological studies at Calvin Seminary. One of the first considerations in doing theology proper is the nature of the human person. Making use of sacred texts, philosophy, history, biology, sociology, theological tradition, and other disciplines, budding theologians are taught to come to some conclusions about what human beings are and are not as well are what they can and cannot do. Capacity and possibility are taken just as seriously as are origin and telos. The Westminster Catechism is a good demonstration of the seriousness with which theologians think about human beings. The first question asks, “What is the chief end of man?” After serving as a pastor and teaching a bit in a seminary, I moved on to a think-tank on economics, theology, and ethics and eventually taught global economics courses in an MBA program. In studying economics, it quickly became clear that the consideration given to anthropology in economics is just as serious as it is in theology. The first economists were philosophers and, in many cases, theologians. While modem economics is more often associated with charts, graphs, and complicated mathematics, the science originally was more interested in how human beings make use of their resources and provide for themselves and their families. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Thinking about the nature of the human person and examining operating assumptions are pivotal to understanding economic theory and practice. When I came to thinking about public administration and began to read its history and some of its chief theorists, I was struck by two things: a sense of wandering or uncertainty in its theoretical basis and a suspicion that the cause might be an inattentiveness to assumptions about the nature of human beings. The more I read, the more I realized that, while others in the field had the same sense of wandering, few were working to address it or attempt to get at some of the core reasons for it. It is my hope that this project is at least a first step, albeit a wobbly one, toward clarity in anthropological assumptions. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..................................................................................... ii PREFACE.............................................................................................................. iii LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................ vii CHAPTER I. THE CONTINUING INTELLECTUAL CRISIS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION................................................................................. 1 An Overview of Public Administration Theory................................. 1 The Need for Theory .......................................................................... 6 Anthropology Matters......................................................................... 10 H. CREATING AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK..................... 30 Narrowing the Anthropological Focus ............................................... 30 Creating a Framework........................................................................ 32 Possible Combinations ....................................................................... 46 m. TESTING MAJOR THEORISTS................................................................. 79 Choosing Theorists and Their Books ................................................. 79 Frederick Taylor’sThe Principles of Scientific Management............ 83 Herbert Simon’s Administrative Behavior........................................