By : Jesusa P. Ordoña

(Wilson. The Study of Administration, 1887)

In 1886, Woodrow Wilson, not yet president but a leading intellectual in the progressive movement, wrote a manifesto concerning the topic of the administration of government entitled, The Study of Administration. While not the first to discuss the matter, Wilson’s intention appeared to be to make public administration more applicable to the administration of government as it is conducted in the United States. Wilson discussed what other governments in various stages of development have done to overcome the hurdles of managing the physical application of the laws imposed by their constitutions and later by their respective lawmaking bodies

Wilson then defined what exactly Administration was as it applied to the United States Government and attempted to determine the best method to develop and clarify how administration may best be undertaken and improved upon in the United States and under its Constitution. Wilson described public administration as, “detailed and systematic execution of public law. Every particular application of general law is an act of administration” (Wilson, 1887).

An important concept that some contribute to Wilson became known as the politics/administration dichotomy.

“Civil service reformers tried to avoid the political and ethical implications of a merit system of personnel selection by drawing a sharp distinction-indeed a dichotomy-between politics and administration, assigning politics to elected officials who make policy and administration to civil servants who simply do the bidding of their political masters” (Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy, 2003).

4. Is different from significant ways from private administration; and

5. Is closely associated with numerous private groups and individuals in providing services to the community

(Nigro and Nigro. Modern Public Administration. 1977. p. 18)

• The term bureaucracy is used synonymously with the public administration system. It provides the basic framework for an efficient operation and management of organization. It also plays a vital role in regulating and in ordering of society in general (Stillman, 2010).

• Bureaucracy is closely associated with

governance mainly because it is through the bureaucracy that governance is implemented.

In conclusion, The Study of Administration is an important document in the body of knowledge of public administration. Wilson discussed what other developing and developed governments have done to overcome the hurdles of managing the physical application of the laws imposed by their constitutions and later by their respective lawmaking bodies.

Wilson then defined what exactly Administration was as it applied to the United States Government and attempted to determine the best method to develop and clarify how administration may best be undertaken and improved upon in the United States and under its Constitution. The essay has timeless ramifications as evidenced by its continuing relevance to the discussion over 100 years later.

• It has established criteria that consist of a ruled-based structure, hierarchy, function, expertise of administrators and personnel, efficiency and technical knowledge and learning. This is the reason why there is a need to ensure that a civil service based on merit and fitness, competence, and relevant qualifications required a public office is in place.

ReferencesThe Politics/Administration Dichotomy and Bureaucratic Leadership. (2003). In Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy (Vol. 2, p. 704). New York, NY: Marcel Dekker, Inc.

Walker, Larry (1989). Woodrow Wilson, Progressive Reform, and Public Administration. Political Science Quarterly, 104, Retrieved May 16, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=5053727&site=ehost-live

Wilson, W. (1887). The Study of Administration. In Public Administration Concepts and Cases (Vol. n.a., pp. 6-15). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

https://benwhetstone.wordpress.com/2009/06/02/on-wilsons-study-of-administration/

New Public Administration

The Winnowbrook Conference was the response to world wars and social upheavals in the 20th century and how traditional public administration was not equipped to respond to societal needs. It put a lot of emphasis on having values to public administration instead of just bothered about production and profit all the time and to make policies for the underprivileged of the society.

http://publicadministrationtheone.blogspot.com/2012/07/wilsons-view-of-public.html

NPA has a humanist approach to the traditional public administration being practiced at that time. The themes were:•Relevance. Social realities must be taken into consideration•Values. Values being served through administration actions must be transparent•Social Equity. Realization of social equity should be the chief goal of public administration•Change. Skepticism towards the deeply rooted powers invested in permanent institutions and the status quo.•Client focus. Positive, proactive, and responsive administrators rather than inaccessible and authoritarian ivory tower bureaucrats.http://publicadministrationtheone.blogspot.com/2012/07/wilsons-view-of-public.html

Public Choice Approach

This approach is the use of modern economics tools to study problems that traditionally are in the province of political science. The “public” here refers to the administrators and the choices they make while implementing and formulating policies. From the perspective of political science, it is the subset of positive political theory that models voters, politicians, and bureaucrats as mainly self interested. In particular, it studies such agents and their interactions in the social system either as such or under alternative constitutional rules and on what basis do they6 take decisions while implementing policies. These can be represented in a number of ways including standard constrained utility maximization, game theory or decision theory.

http://publicadministrationtheone.blogspot.com/2012/07/wilsons-view-of-public.html

Public Choice analysis has roots in positive analysis (“What is” ) but it is often used for normative purposes (“what ought to be”) to identify a problem or suggest how a system could be improved by changes in constitutional rules, the subject of constitutional economics.

Public choice Theory is related to social choice theory which uses mathematical tools to study voting and voters. Since voter behavior influences the behavior of public officials public choice theory often uses social choice theory,

http://publicadministrationtheone.blogspot.com/2012/07/wilsons-view-of-public.html

Good Governance

Governance describe the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented ( or not implemented) . The term governance can apply to corporate, international, national, local governance or to the interactions between other sectors of the society.

It looks to reform governance through a variety of ways like comparative studies, democratization, transparency, etc.

http://publicadministrationtheone.blogspot.com/2012/07/wilsons-view-of-public.html

New Public Management

It advocates the incorporation of more management practices into public administration to reform it and make it more efficient. It proposes reforms such as incentives for administrators , deadlines and contracts outsourced and more private and public partnership.

http://publicadministrationtheone.blogspot.com/2012/07/wilsons-view-of-public.html

3. The Philippines has still much to learn about public administration and governance.

4. As the Philippines has a lot to learn about public administration and governance, it has also much to learn about its (own) indigenous system of governance. Even to this day, the Philippine government is continuously dominated by officials and politicians who do not understand the Filipino, much less prioritize their needs.

The Filipino values of pakikisama, pakikiramay, bayanihan, paggalang, hiya, amor propio, utang na loob, delicadeza, among others are still very much reflected in the bureaucratic behaviour of politicians and government officials. The negative consequences are far more injurious to both people and society, in that various forms of graft and corruption, political dynasties, and warlordism thrives in the country at the cost of people’s welfare and development.

5. Governance and bureaucratic reforms must always be made to culture. For it is only in reforming the culture that we are able to achieve an effective and truly meaningful change in our system.

Reference:

Maria Judy See-San Juan is the Executive Director of Partners for Human Progress and Social Development. She is a

sociologist and a faculty member of the University of Santo Tomas. She is currently completing her doctorate degree in Public Administration at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP- NCPAG).

Email: judysanjuan@ymail.com s