The political ecology of American public administraton a neo-hawiltonian approach
By: RIGGS, Fred W
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ArticlePublisher: New York : Marcel Dekker, 1989International Journal of Public Administration - IJPA 12, 3, p. 355-384Abstract: Public administration everywhere is rooted in politics. Public officials (military and civil) are necessarily involved in politics as well as administration. Normal theories of Public Administration recognize these realities. An abnormal, conventional, theory of Public Administration which evolved in America since the 1880s presupposes that politics and administration can and should be separated. It replaced the normal Hamiltonian tradition which saw public administration in a political context. A revived and modified neo-Hamiltonian perspective is now needed. It could integrate the non-political theories of Public Administration, connect them with a non-administrative view of bureaucratic politics, and facilitate research in comparative and development administration. To support these propositions we will identify key dimensions of bureaucratic politics, see how the conventional Public Administration arose in response to the American civil service reform movement a century ago, and compare existing theories with the proposed neo-Hamiltonian paradigm. Abstract: This is a truncated version of a longer essay. It is a conceptual think-piece, designed to stimulate discourse rather than to offer new data. References are omitted to save space, but the complete draft is available from the author
Public administration everywhere is rooted in politics. Public officials (military and civil) are necessarily involved in politics as well as administration. Normal theories of Public Administration recognize these realities. An abnormal, conventional, theory of Public Administration which evolved in America since the 1880s presupposes that politics and administration can and should be separated. It replaced the normal Hamiltonian tradition which saw public administration in a political context. A revived and modified neo-Hamiltonian perspective is now needed. It could integrate the non-political theories of Public Administration, connect them with a non-administrative view of bureaucratic politics, and facilitate research in comparative and development administration. To support these propositions we will identify key dimensions of bureaucratic politics, see how the conventional Public Administration arose in response to the American civil service reform movement a century ago, and compare existing theories with the proposed neo-Hamiltonian paradigm.
This is a truncated version of a longer essay. It is a conceptual think-piece, designed to stimulate discourse rather than to offer new data. References are omitted to save space, but the complete draft is available from the author
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