The Public Administration Theory Primer

0813345765-Frederickson_Layout 1 10/12/11 11:36 AM Page iii The Public Administration Theory Primer second edition H. George Frederickson University of Kansas Kevin B. Smith University of Nebraska Christopher W. Larimer University of Northern Iowa Michael J. Licari University of Northern Iowa a member of the perseus books group 0813345765-Frederickson_Layout 1 10/12/11 11:36 AM Page iv Westview Press was founded in 1975 in Boulder, Colorado, by notable publisher and intellectual Fred Praeger. Westview Press continues to publish scholarly titles and high-quality undergraduate- and graduate-level textbooks in core social science disciplines. With books developed, written, and edited with the needs of serious nonfiction readers, professors, and students in mind, Westview Press honors its long history of publishing books that matter. Copyright © 2012 by Westview Press Published by Westview Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Westview Press, 2465 Central Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301. Find us on the World Wide Web at www.westviewpress.com. Every effort has been made to secure required permissions for all text, images, maps, and other art reprinted in this volume. Westview Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail [email protected]. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The public administration theory primer / H. George Frederickson . [et al.].— 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8133-4576-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-8133-4577-2 (e-book) 1. Public administration—United States. I. Frederickson, H. George. JF1351.F734 2012 351.73—dc23 2011035509 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0813345765-Frederickson_Layout 1 10/12/11 11:36 AM Page v Contents Preface, vii Chapter 1 Introduction: The Possibilities of Theory 1 Chapter 2 Theories of Political Control of Bureaucracy 15 Chapter 3 Theories of Bureaucratic Politics 41 Chapter 4 Public Institutional Theory 67 Chapter 5 Theories of Public Management 97 Chapter 6 Postmodern Theory 131 Chapter 7 Decision Theory 165 Chapter 8 Rational Choice Theory and Irrational Behavior 193 Chapter 9 Theories of Governance 219 Chapter 10 Conclusion: A Bright Future for Theory? 245 References, 267 Index, 291 v 0813345765-Frederickson_Layout 1 10/12/11 11:36 AM Page vi 0813345765-Frederickson_Layout 1 10/12/11 11:36 AM Page vii Preface The first edition of The Public Administration Theory Primer sought to address a problem faced sooner or later by all students, scholars, and practitioners of public administration. In order to make sense of what we study or practice we need some structure or framework to understand decisions, outcomes, causes, and the like; in other words, we need a theory. The big problem in the field of public administration is not that we lack theory; the problem is one of surfeit rather than deficit. The big challenge is ordering, synthesizing, and making sense of multiple theo- retical and empirical perspectives. The first edition of the primer was explicitly aimed at meeting that challenge. Since its publication in , The Public Administration Theory Primer has been adopted by scores of instructors, cited in hundreds of scholarly articles, and served as a comprehensive survey of the field for thousands of students and aca- demics. Though it continued to serve as a standard reference and text, events in- side and outside the academy left the first edition increasingly dated. There have been numerous new developments and contributions in public administration theory since its publication; changes in government and management practices have created new demands for different types of theories; and some of the concepts and models given extensive coverage in the original edition have either passed from favor or been superceded by subsequent work. This second edition of The Primer retains the original’s thematic focus and general organization, but is extensively updated to include the latest directions and developments. These include the rise of reporting as a means to hold bureaucracy accountable (see Chapter ), the continuing evolution of the “hollow state” or “shadow bureaucracy” and the rise of network theory (see Chapter ), new psychological/biological behavioral research with big implications for decision theory and, especially, rational choice (see Chapters and ). The contributions of nearly a decade’s worth of new research is woven into all the chapters, some of which has altered our conclusions about the health and robustness of some pop- ular conceptual frameworks (see Chapter ). Many deserve thanks for making the second edition of The Primer possible. We appreciate the hard work, faith in the project, and patience in seeing it through vii 0813345765-Frederickson_Layout 1 10/12/11 11:36 AM Page viii viii Preface to fruition of Anthony Wahl, our editor at Westview. We also have a long list of debts to many others whose contributions through two editions should not go unmentioned. These include Ken Meier, Leisha DeHart-Davis, and Tom Catlaw. We thank our colleagues at the Department of Public Administration of the Uni- versity of Kansas, the Department of Political Science at the University of Ne- braska, and the Department of Political Science at the University of Northern Iowa for encouraging and supportive environments in which to work. We thank Dwight Waldo for his inspiration. Above all we thank our spouses, Mary Freder- ickson, Kelly Smith, Danielle Larimer, and Kirsten Licari, for their unflagging and loving support. 0813345765-Frederickson_Layout 1 10/12/11 11:36 AM Page 1 1 Introduction: The Possibilities of Theory Why Do We Need Theory in Public Administration? All the great human events in history were probably achieved by what we today would call public administration. Organization and management practices in col- lective or public settings are certainly as old as civilization, and significant changes in those practices tend to accompany historical shifts in mass-scale social organization and operation. For example, the transition from feudal society to the ex- tended nation-state was made possible by the centralization of policy, on the one hand, and the decentralization of policy implementation, on the other (Tout ; Ellul ; Chrimes ). The colonial era would be described the same way, but on a worldwide scale (Gladden ). There are splendid comparisons of British, French, Portuguese, Dutch, and Belgian approaches to issues of colonial centralization and decentralization, the management of courts, and the organization and management of navies and armies (Gladden , –). Extensive archaeological research indicates that early Armenian civilizations were built on rather elaborate forms of administration (Von Hagen ; Prescott ; Mason ; Morley ). In China, the Sung dynasty (A.D. –) “maintained substantially the traditional Chinese system of government and administration. The Emperor, who was supreme, was advised and assisted by a Council of State whose members, varying from five to nine, supervised individually the several or- gans of Administration, which were grouped under () the Secretariat-Chancellery, () the Finance Commission, and () the Bureau of Military Affairs” (Gladden , ; Yutang ; Loewe ; Balazs ; Weber ). In these and countless other examples, the elemental features of public administration permeated social development; indeed, it is argued that civilization requires the elemental features of public administration (Waldo , ; Wildavsky 1 0813345765-Frederickson_Layout 1 10/12/11 11:36 AM Page 2 2 The Public Administration Theory Primer ; Douglas and Wildavsky ). Following Max Weber, the elemental features of public administration include () some basis of formal authority with claims to obedience; () intentionally established laws and rules, which apply to all; () specific spheres of individual competence, which include task differentiation, specialization, expertise, and/or professionalization; () the organization of persons into groups or categories according to specialization; () coordination by hierarchy; () continuity through rules and records; () the organization as distinct from the persons holding positions or offices in it; and () the development of particular and specific organizational technologies (Weber ). Virtually all considerations of the great epochs of human history have found the building blocks of organization and management (Gladden ). The practices of public administration are, then, as old as civilization and essential to the development of civilization. Although the practice of public administration is very old, the formal study of public administration and the elaboration of public administration theory are very new. As a separate self-conscious or self-aware academic and intellectual thing— a body of knowledge, a field of professional practice, an academic subject, a form of politics, a social construction of reality—public administration is young. When measured from the Federalist, public administration is more than years old,

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