Rise and Fall of a Professional Ideal: Particulars Concerning Public Administration

¹ New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1945. Renewed 1973.

2 This period is summarized for the purpose of this discussion by Dwight Waldo in his The Administrative State (New York: The Ronald Press Co., 1948), especially Part 1, "The Rise of Public Administration. "

Excerpt also found in Albert Lepawsky (ed.), Administration: The Art and Science of Organization and Management (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1949), p. 11.

4 Considerable details concerning the period prior to 1939 are found in Frederick C. Mosher (ed.), American Public Administration: Past, Present, and Future (University, Ala.: The University of Alabama Press, 1975).

Also found in Lepawsky, op. cit., p. 11.

Also found in Lepawsky, ibid., p. 17.

et seq., and Frederick C. Mosher , "The Changing Responsibilities and Tactics of the Federal Government," Public Administration Review 40 (November/December 1980): 541-548.

⁸ O'Neil, op. cit., p. 22.

⁹ New York: Harper and Row, 1969.

Further details found in his Chapter 10, "The Sickness of Government."

However, Stephen K. Bailey , then Deal of the Maxwell Graduate School , Syracuse University , and President-Elect, ASPA , more fully captures the tenor of the public administration thought in his short piece, "The Importance of Being Earnest about Public Administration," Public Administration Review 26 (June 1966): 143 "Let poets lament the bigness and complexity of modem life. It is ASPA's job to make these bignesses and complexities serviceable to democratically defined public goals-and, in the process prove that wise public management can liberate rather than confine the human spirit."

12 This is well documented. For a comparative analysis, see David R. Cameron , "The Expansion of the Public Economy: A Comparative Analysis," American Political Science Review 72 (December 1978): 1243-1261.

13 Taken from Robert Lekachman , "Proposition 13 and the New Conservatism," Change, Magazine of Higher Learning 10 (September 1978), especially p. 23.

14Title of a book by Sar Levitan, published by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1976.

15 The literature is enormous. For instance, see James E. Prather and Frank K. Gibson , "The Failure of Social Programs," Public Administration Review 37 (September/October 1977): 556-569.

16 Representative of the problem is "The Great American Immigration Nightmare," U.S. News and World Report (June 22, 1981), 27-32.

"One investigation revealed 8,518 cases in 1981 where social security benefits continued to be paid to people listed on Medicare records as dead." Such leakage amounted to some 60 million or more dollars. See "Thousands Receive Benefits After Death," The Anchorage Times (October 1, 1981), 1, 3.

18 See John Baden and Richard L. Stroup (eds.), Bureaucracy versus Environment (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1981).

19 See Stephen K. Bailey , "Improving Federal Governance," Public Administration Review 40 (November/December 1980): 548-552.

20 Taken from Rufus E. Miles, Jr. , Awakening from the American Dream: The Social and Political Limits to Growth (New York: Universe Books, 1976), pp. 76 et seq.

²¹ For treatment of the principal personalities and organizations, see Lekachman, op.cit.

22 See the provocative discussions of William G. Scott and David K. Hart in their book, Organizational America, Can Individual Freedom Survive Within the Security It Promises? (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1979).

23 See my "Combined Schools of Business and Public Administration: Gains and Losses and the Cost," in Proceedings of the Third Conference on the Teaching of Public Administration (Olympia, Wash.: Evergreen College, May 1980) (processed).

24 Title of a recent article by Peter F. Drucker , published in Public Administration Review 40 (March! April 1980): 103-106.

25 See, especially, Donald A. Schon , Beyond the Stable State (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1971), Chapter 5, "Government as a Learning System."

26 See Bruce Buchanan II , "Government Managers, Business Executives and Organizational Commitment," Public Administration Review 34 (July/August 1974): 339-347.

and Charies T. Goodsell (ed.), The Public Encounter: Where State and Citizen Meet (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981).

28 See his Fate and Freedom: A Philosophy for Free Americans (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1945), p. 39.

published in the Public Administration Review 37 (November/December 1977): 631-705, and 38 (March/April 1978): 105-150.

30 See Frederick C. Mosher , Democracy and the Public Service (New York: Oxford University Press, 1968), especially Chapter 4, "The Professional State."

31 For an overall discussion, although slightly dated, see Keith F. Muirooney (ed.), "A Symposium: The American City Manager: An Urban Administrator in a Complex and Evolving Situation," Public Administration Review 31 (January/February 1971): 6-46.

32 In an otherwise provocative article, this concept is advanced in the following: David K. Hart , William G. Scott , and C. Spencer Clark , "Management, Propaganda, and the Age of Decline," in Carl J. Bellone (ed.), Organizational Theory and the New Public Administration (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1980), especially pp. 60-62.

33 See Leadership: A Sampler of the Wisdom of John W. Gardner (Minneapolis: Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, 1981).

34 See my "Combined Schools of Business and Public Administration...."

35 See his "A Report, and Also Some Projections, Relating to the Present Dimensions and Directions of the Discipline of Public Administration," in James C. Charlesworth (ed.), Theory and Practice of Public Administration: Scope, Objectives, and Methods, Monograph 8 (Philadelphia: The American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1968), p. 333.

Chapter 9, "The Intergovemmental Maze: Administrative Federalism." Another equally important aspect continues to be the question of political economy, over the proper role of government in the economic area. This is a more burning issue now than three decades ago. Suggested as a benchmark discussion are the insightful thoughts of Robert M. Maciver found in his Democracy and the Economic Challenge (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1952).

³⁷ Probably, the turn around in the textile industry is the best example. Using South Korean and French technology coupled with traditional American management practice, the American textile industry regained its competitive position.

Allison in turn derives much of his thinking from Alfred Chandler , The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business (Cambridge: Belnap Press of Harvard University Press, 1977).

40 See Rufus Miles , "The Search of Identity of Graduate Schools of Public Affairs," Public Administration Review 27 (November 1967): 343-356.

⁴¹ Allison, op. cit., p. 37.

Interestingly, the ASPA National Council has never been willing to endorse any statement stronger than: "The Society affirms its responsibility to develop the spirit of professionalism within its membership...." See "Council Adopts Statement of Principles," Public Administration Times 4 (December 15, 1981): 11.

Also suggested is Richard L. Schott , "Public Administration as a Profession: Problems and Prospects," Public Administration Review 36 (May/June 1976): 253-259.

44 Indebted for this concept to J. Donald Kingsley in his book review essay, "Political Ends and Administrative Means: The Administrative Principles of Hamilton and Jefferson," Public Administration Review 5 (Winter 1945): 87-89.

45 For fuller discussion, see Dwight Waldo , "Politics and Administration: A Profound Disjunction," unpublished paper, Centennial Agendas Project, American Society for Public Administration, 1981 (processed).

46 Miles , Awakening from the American Dream, 1976, provides a good summary of the situation.

⁴⁷ See Hart, Scott, and Spencer, op. cit.

48 See Daniel Yankelovich , "New Rules in American Life: Searching for Self-Fulfillment in a World Turned Upside Down," Psychology Today (April 1981): 35-90.

49 See, for instance, Peter L. Berger , Pyramids of Sacrifice (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press, Doubleday, 1976), Chapter 5, "Policy and the Calculus of Plan."

See, also, Donald B. Rice , "The Potentialities of Public Policy Research," in Neil H. Jacoby (ed.), The Business-Govemment Relationship: A Reassessment (Pacific Palisades, Calif.: Goodyear Publishing Co., 1974), pp. 109-111.

51 Indebted to E. F. Schumacher , Small Is Beautiful, Economics as if People Mattered (New York: Harper and Row, 1973).

52 Robert P. Biller , "Making a More Direct Democracy Work: The Opportunity of Shrinking Resources" (Los Angeles: The Public Policy Institute of the Center for Public Affairs, University of Southern California, 1981) (mimeographed).

53 See, for example, Henry Fairiie , "In the Defense of Big Government," The New Republic (March 13, 1976): 24.

54 Direct quote made 30 years ago by the distinguished sociologist, Robert M. Maciver , in his Democracy and the Economic Challenge (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1952), p. 3.

55 See his "Politicians for Hire—The Dilemma of Education and the Task of Research," Public Administration Review 25 (June 1965): 117.

57 See G. Homer Durham , "What Can Be Done to Overcome Present Inadequacies in the American Public Service?" in Stephen B. Sweeny and James C. Charlesworth (eds.), Achieving Excellence in Public Service, Symposium (Philadelphia: The American Academy of Political and Social Science, August 1963), p. 50.

58 See his Introduction to the Study of Public Administration, third edition (New York: The MacMillan Co., 1948), p. 3.

59 For an insightful discussion on this matter, see Donald C. Stone , "Innovative Organizations Require Innovative Managers," Public Administration Review 41 (September/October 1981): 507-513. Stone observes on p. 513: "Even when the aim is to select superior persons, most selections seem to be based on physical appearance, glib talk, and bio-statements rather than on substantive, intellectual, and behavioral essentials."

60 Taken from Ivan Hill , "The Meaning of Ethics and Freedom," in Ivan Hill (ed.), The Ethical Basis of Economic Freedom (Chapel Hill, N.C.: American Viewpoint, Inc., 1976), p. 18.

61 Typical is the piece by Bayard L. Catron and Michael M. Harmon , "Action Theory in Practice: Toward Theory Without Conspiracy," Public Administration Review 41 (September/October 1981): 533-541. This is not meant to be a disparaging comment to an otherwise excellent article.

and Magali Sarfatti Larson , The Rise and Fall of Professionalism, A Sociological Analysis (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977).

63 See his "Scope and Theory of Public Administration," in James C. Charlesworth (ed.), Theory and Practice of Public Administration: Scope, Objectives, and Methods (Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science, October 1968), p. 9.

⁶⁴ Ibid., p. 10.

⁶⁶ Ibid. Suggested also are the other articles contained in this symposium. See especially pp. 87 et seq.

and Howard E. McCurdy , Public Administration: A Synthesis (Menlo Park, Calif.: Cummings Publishing Co., 1977). Certainly, this was not the situation when medicine became professionalized.

68 Stone , "Innovative Organizations Require Innovative Managers," p. 507.

69 See his "What Can Be Done to Overcome Present Inadequcies in the American Public Service?" in Stephen B. Sweeny and Charles C. Charlesworth (eds.), Achieving Excellence in Public Service, A Symposium (Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science and American Society for Public Administration, 1963), p. 43.

⁷⁰ Ibid., p. 43.

A fuller expression is found in his "Politics and Administration in Intergovernmental Relations," The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 207 (January 1940): 1-6.

In regard to this sort of thinking, Waldo, in his classic work, The Administrative State, on page 126, writes: "Durham is bold.... They must accept their destiny as a Democratic Ruling Class."

⁷³ Long, op. cit.

74 See Barry D. Karl , "Public Administration and American History: A Century of Professionalism," Public Administration Review 36 (September/October 1976): 499.

75 See, for illustration, Herbert Kaufman , "Fear of Bureaucracy: A Raging Pandemic," Public Administration Review 41 (January/February 1981): 1-9.

76 See John E. Kerrigan and David W. Hinton , "Knowledge and Skill Needs for Tomorrow's Public Administrators," Public Administration Review 40 (September/October 1980): 469-473.

77 See his "Years of Decision," Public Administration Review 18 (Spring 1958): 164ff.

and "How the Government Is Doing on Campus": 22-23.