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The Three Ages of Government The Three Ages of Government The Three Ages of Government From the Person, to the Group, to the World Jos C. N. Raadschelders University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor Revised Pages Copyright © 2020 by Jos C. N. Raadschelders Some rights reserved This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Note to users: A Creative Commons license is only valid when it is applied by the person or entity that holds rights to the licensed work. Works may contain components (e.g., photographs, illustrations, or quotations) to which the rightsholder in the work cannot apply the license. It is ultimately your responsibility to independently evaluate the copyright status of any work or component part of a work you use, in light of your intended use. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc/4.0/ For questions or permissions, please contact [email protected] Published in the United States of America by the University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid- free paper First published November 2020 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication data has been applied for. ISBN 978- 0- 472- 13223- 2 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-472-03854-1 (paperback : alk paper) ISBN 978- 0- 472- 90240- 8 (e- book OA) https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11666501 This book is freely available in an open access edition thanks to TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem)—a collaboration of the Association of American Universities, the Association of University Presses, and the Association of Research Libraries—and the generous support of The Ohio State University Libraries. Learn more at the TOME website, available at: openmonographs.org. Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: What Is Government? 1 o ne Understanding Government in Society: The Past Fifty Years 15 1. Government Today 18 2. What Positions Can State and Government Occupy in Society? 22 3. What Roles Can Government Play in Society? Government’s Political Revolution 27 4. Trends in the Role of Government in Society 31 5. How the Study of Public Administration Contributes to Understanding Government 38 6. Why Study This? 43 two Government in Society: The Conceptual and Historical Context for Understanding Government 46 1. Opening Salvo: On the Torture of Holistic Scholarship 48 2. Government as Artifce of Bounded Rationality: Simon and Vico 50 3. Social Ontology for Understanding Institutional Arrangements 54 4. Hierarchies of Knowledge: From Simple to Complex Phenomena 60 5. Government as Function of Instinct, Community, and Society 63 6. Institutional Changes and the Triple Whammy 66 Changes at the Constitutional Level 68 Changes at the Collective Level 70 Changes at the Operational Level 71 Enter the Triple Whammy: Industrialization, Urbanization, and Rapid Population Growth 72 7. The Stage Is Set for the Remainder of This Book 73 vi Contents three Instinct and Intent: Origins and Elements of Human Governing Behaviors 77 1. The Nature-Nurture Issue: From Dichotomy to Balanced Complex 81 2. Sociality among the Great Apes and Humans: Similarities and Differences 85 Similarities 87 Differences 92 3. Physical and Social Features of the Hominin Tribe 93 4. Human Instinct and Intent 96 5. How We Differ from Primates: Governing among and of Hunter-Gatherers 99 6. Conficting Impulses Underlying Governing Arrangements 105 7. Concluding Comments: Relevance to Understanding What Government Is 109 four Tribal Community: Governing Humans in Ever Larger, Sedentary Groups 111 1. The Growth, Dispersion, and Concentration of the Human Species 114 2. The Agricultural Revolution: Fraud or Inevitable? 117 3. Small and Large-Scale Governing Arrangements: Four Main Phases of Socioeconomic Development, Three Structuring Constants, and Two Governing Revolutions 121 4. The Rise and Fall of Governing Arrangements: Self-Governing Capacity as the Default 134 5. The Political-Administrative Revolution since the 1780s: A Very Brief Recap 137 6. The Triple Whammy Plus High-Speed Communication Technology 138 7. From Government as Instrument to Government as Container: The Role and Position of the Individual 145 five Citizen and Government in a Global Society: Globalization and the Deep Current of Rationalization 149 1. What Is Globalization? What Is a Global Society? 152 2. The Impact of Globalization on People as Citizens and as Public Offceholders 155 3. The Impact of Globalization on the Structure and Functioning of Government 162 Contents vii 4. The Impact of Globalization on the Role and Position of Government 166 5. Understanding Globalization: The Deep Current of Rationalization and Its Manifestation(s) 170 6. How Can Citizens and Governments Deal with Globalization and the Perversions of Rationalization? 180 six Governing as Process: Negotiable Authority and Multisource Decision-Making 184 1. The Role and Position of Career Civil Servants in Democratic Political Systems 186 2. The Nature of Public Authority 192 3. Negotiable Authority as Key to Understanding What Democratic Government Is Today 197 4. The Nature of Public Decision-Making 201 5. Multisource Decision-Making as Standard in Democratic Government 202 6. The Governing We Can Take for Granted 205 7. Citizens and Government Have Come a Long Way in a Very Short Time 207 seven Democracy: Thriving by Self-Restraint, Vulnerable to Human Instinct, Tribal Community, and Global Society 209 1. The Position and Role of Government in Society 214 2. The Infuence of Human Instinct 219 3. The Infuence of Tribal Community 221 4. The Infuence of Global Society 224 5. Democracy as Ideal and as Vulnerable: Challenges from Human Behavior 227 Democracy as Ideal Political System 228 Declining Trust in Government 230 Rent-Seeking Behavior by Private Actors: Business Principles in the Public Realm 231 Personality Politics and Populism: The Enduring Power of Emotions 237 Na-Na-Na-Na-Boo-Boo Politics: The Price of Polarization and Partisanship 239 The Need for Continuous Civics Education 243 6. Democracy and Bureaucracy: The Delicate Interplay of Fairness and Effciency 245 7. Democracy, Self-Restraint, and True Guardians 247 viii Contents Notes 251 References 253 Indexes Name Index 303 Subject Index 313 Digital materials related to this title can be found on the Fulcrum platform via the following citable URL: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11666501 Acknowledgments I very much appreciate the comments made over the years by colleagues, students, and others who prompted me to think from different perspec- tives. It is as Benjamin Franklin said: “I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of oth- ers” (quoted in Madison 1966, 653). The helpful suggestions from UMP senior editor Elizabeth Demers and anonymous reviewers are equally appreciated, and made for a better argument. However, there is one thing I need to say before the reader dives into the chapters. One of the reviewers pointed out that I should explain better the content and purpose of each chapter up front. I have tried to do so, but by mixing an American writing style, which is to state up front the question and answer, address the ques- tion and answer in the midsection of the text, and repeat the question and answer at the end, with a writing style I learned in the Netherlands, which starts with a topic or question, builds an argument element by element, and then offers the overall view and conclusion at the end. Finally, a word for my mentors and my family. As for my mentors, I have been very fortunate throughout K-12 and higher education. Limiting myself to the latter, Professor Aris van Braam gave me my frst job at the University of Leiden and encouraged me to pursue a PhD. Professor Theo Toonen prompted me to write for an international audience, trusted me to run a student exchange program, and sought my collaboration in devel- x Acknowledgments oping custom- made programs for elected and appointed public servants from various countries. Professor Richard Stillman was the frst visiting professor in the Leiden student exchange program (1991), and he asked me to serve as managing editor of Public Administration Review (2006–2011). Professor Gary Wamsley was the journal editor who patiently listened, probed, and prodded, and through discussions we learned that American and European scholars have somewhat different understandings of “sub- ject of knowledge.” I can only assume that they saw potential where I had not even thought of venturing. It is their example of mentorship I hope to emulate. We all thrive when paying forward. My wife, Julie Bivin Raadschelders, PhD, is always supportive. That she took it upon herself to read and edit another one of my books is wonderful. While she is an American, she gives her comments, questions, and sugges- tions Dutch-style, that is, without any concern for my ego. My children continue to let me do my thing; perhaps one day, as citizens of the world, they might actually read this book. Jos C. N. Raadschelders Columbus, Ohio November 2019 Introduction What Is Government? I have gathered a posy of other men’s fowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is my own. (Montaigne 1595) Since the late nineteenth century, governments across the globe have become a key social phenomenon. Elements of this social phenomenon are studied in all of the social sciences, but in the interdisciplinary study of public administration, the insights are connected into an overall perspec- tive on the position and role of government in society.
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