administrative theory as political theory

Theories of Bureaucratic Politics

Administrative Theory As Political Theory

Dwight Waldo’s The Administrative State (1948)

Hi, there …

Dwight Waldo (1913 – October 27, 2000) was an American political scientist and is perhaps the defining figure in modern public administration.

Waldo's career was often directed against a scientific/technical portrayal of bureaucracy and government that suggests the term public management as opposed to public administration.

In his book, The Administrative State (1948) …

Waldo challenged mainstream scholars' view of public administration at that

First ….

That public administration must be a value-free, non-partisan social science that promised to make government more efficient and

effective.

Second, and (probably) the most important ….

Waldo argued that administrative scholarship

was itself driven by a particular philosophy of

politics

am I shrinking ??

Five keys issues in political philosophy are:

Yes, I am!!. Damn…

1. The nature of the “Good Life”

Please bring me back to normal size..

Or a vision of what the “good society” should

look like

2. The criteria of Action

…….

Or the procedures for determining how

collective decision should be made

3. The question of Who Should Rule

…….

4. The question of How the powers of the state should be

divided and apportioned

…….

5. The question of centralization vs. decentralization

…….

Or the relative merits of a unitary state versus

federal system

Mr. Waldo, what is your opinion about

administration in modern democratic government?

Administration is frequently claimed to be at the core of modern democratic government,

and that this claim helps justify the entire discipline of public administration

Tell me more about it Sir…

If this claim has merit, it implies that democratic theory must deal with

administration, and that administrative theory must deal with democratic politics.

Let me digest it slowly…

The political philosophy inherent in public administration scholarship not as an attempt to usurp democracy, but as a necessary corrective to save it.

Hmm…

At a minimum, I argued, the concept of democracy and all its messy implications

had to be brought back into administrative theory

@#$%.....??!

Administrative scholars had to recognize that their central principle -effi ciency- was not value neutral, and that its uneasy relationship

with democratic principles had to be recognized.

(Waldo 1952, 90)

It’s hard for a frog like

in an essay in American Political Science Review, Waldo singled out Herbert Simon’s

argument of administration

It’s about the possibility of

a science of administration.

It was conceivable if it (administration) limited its attention to decisions centered on facts as

opposed to values.

Decisions of fact were central to the administrative realm, and could be scientifically guided towards the

overall goal efficiency.

I do not agree with that..

You just simply recasting the problem by substituting a logical division of politics and administration for an institutional

division, …

And was doing so to preserve the central principle of orthodox

administrative theory, namely, efficiency.

What’s wrong with efficiency then?

Efficiency could not remain the discipline’s talisman against politics, because

administration is political.

Efficiency itself is a political claim.

Give me an example…

I will give you an example… by giving you a question.

Shout it out!

How does one asses the efficiency of, say, a library, or the Department of Defense?

??????

If efficiency is defined as an input-output ratio, one has a choice of inputs and outputs

to asses efficiency in both instances,…

although none is the unassailably objective “factual” option.

As choosing among these options unavoidably involve value decisions, not just

facts, efficiency can hardly be value-neutral. (Stone 2002, 65)

Hi, please read the rest of this debate yourself, I went on the offensive.

This can be a long conversation!

The central problem of democratic administrative theory, as of all democratic

theory, is how to reconcile democracy . . .

I’m outta here…Don’t forget to study!!

I repeat, is how to reconcile democracy . . .

with the demands of authority. Mr. Simon, where are

you? …Don’t leave me!

I think it’s time to go. See you guys !!!!. As Mr. Simon said, don’t

forget to study.

No PAIN No GAIN !!

No ONE Left BEHIND !!

This is my final statement, (actually it’s written in the book :p ), …

Waldo bestowed this grand and sweeping question upon

the discipline rather than provide its answer, but …

The question is surely enough to justify the need to meld

administrative theory with political theory,

to motivate the search for a theory of bureaucratic

politics.

Group One- Veronika Hanna Naibaho (006)- Edhie Wibowo (007)- Agustina Ratri Hendrowati (009)- Mirna Saraswati (022)

Thank You!!

For your attention!

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