PUBA 3500 – Public Management

Dr. Vener Garayev

E-mail: vgarayev@ada.edu.az
Office: Building D, 320

Chapter 0
Paradigms of Public Administration
Nicholas Henry
Paradigms of Public Administration
Paradigm 1: The Politics/Administration Dichotomy, 1900-1926
Paradigm 2: Principles of Public Administration, 1927-1937
The Challenge, 1938-1950
Reaction to the Challenge, 1947-1950
Paradigm 3: Public Administration as Political Science, 1950-1970
Paradigm 4: Public Administration as Management, 1956-1970
The Forces of Separatism, 1965-1970
Paradigm 5: Public Administration as Public Administration, 1970-present
Paradigm 6: New Public Management, 1980-present
Paradigm 7: New Public Service, 1990-present
Paradigm 8: Governance, 1990-present

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Paradigm 1: The Politics/Administration Dichotomy
1900-1926
 The Study of Administration (Wilson, 1887)
- Public administration is worth studying
 Politics and Administration (Goodnow, 1900)
 Clear separation between lawmaking (politics) and
implementing resultant policies (administration)
 Introduction to the Study of Public Administration (White, 1926)
 Administrative mission is efficiency
 Denied the reality of administrative policymaking
 Foundation of think-tanks and interest in academic sphere

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 Paradigm 2: Principles of Public Administration
1927-1937
 Principles of Scientific Management (Taylor, 1911)
 “One best way”
 Principles of Public Administration (Willoughby, 1927)
 Scientific principles of administration (unity of command, division of labor, etc.)
 Papers on the Science of Administration (Gulick & Urwick, 1937)
 Public administration should be both a discipline and a profession
 7 principles of administration - POSDCoRB
 Person-as-machine model
 Professional associations grew, research expanded
 Focus: public administration expertise and principles that would be
applicable everywhere!
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 The Challenge, 1938-1950
 Destruction of the two pillars of public administration
 Abandon the politics/administration dichotomy
 The Functions of the Executive (Barnard, 1938)
 Elements of Public Administration (Marx, 1946)
- Public administrator’s decisions are not neutral
 No scientific principles of administration
 Administrative Behavior (Simon, 1947)
- Principles have counter-principles
 Founding of the American Society for Public
Administration (ASPA) in 1939

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 Reaction to the Challenge, 1947-1950
 Simon (1947): No scientific principles of administration
 Offered pure scientific analysis of PA as a reaction to the Challenge
 Pure scientists of PA based on social psychology + policy prescribers

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 Paradigm 3: Public Administration as
Political Science, 1950-1970
 Focus on reestablishing the linkages between public administration
and political science
 Public administration is a “synonym”, “area of interest” for political
science, “second degree citizenship”
 Political science provides normative foundations of public
administration
 Worth of democracy
 Political participation
 Due process under the law
 The utility of political science to public administration not so clear
 Public administration educates for knowledgeable action
 Focus: government bureaucracy

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 Paradigm 4: Public Administration as
Management, 1950-1970
 Public administration searched for an alternative to political science
 Administrative Science or Generic Management emerged as an option
 Public administration/management is not the same as business
administration/management
 Need to devise tools that work in public sector as opposed to business sector
 Focus: sophisticated techniques, expertise and specialization, but not defined
where to apply

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 The Forces of Separatism, 1965-1970
 “Science, Technology, and Public Policy”: programs in universities
 “New Public Administration” movement: Public administration
began to stand on its own known as a field
 Different from both political science AND management
 Elitist, rather than pluralist
 Synthesizing, rather than specializing

 Hierarchical, rather than communal

 Different from management

 Technical and normative, not just technical

 National Academy of Public Administration founded in 1967

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Paradigm 5: Public Administration as
Public Administration, 1970-present
 Public administration emerged as an autonomous field of study & practice
 The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration
(NASPAA) was founded in 1970
 Accrediting body for Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) and other degree
programs
 Resurrects the politics/administration dichotomy
 Exists as a political-administrative continuum
 Politics and administration are separate and distinct “constellations of logic”
 Focus: governmental bureaucracy
 Focus on values of public administration: Fairness, Hierarchy, Elitism,
Impersonality, Professionalism, Analysis, Neutrality
 Greater teamwork between politicians and public administrators
 Team-based governing

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Paradigm 6: New Public Management,
1980-present
 Policies that aimed to modernize and render the public
sector more efficient
 Relies heavily on disaggregation, customer satisfaction,
entrepreneurial spirit
 More decentralized control of resources
 Citizens are customers, public servants are managers
 Quasi-market structure where public and private service
providers compete
 Thatcherism, Reaganism, Ozalism
 Focus: business-like tools, market forces, managerialism

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Paradigm 7: New Public Service,
1990-present
 Not steering, serving
 Citizen is the “boss”
 Focus: democratic values and participation

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Paradigm 8: Governance, 1990-present
 Moving from government to governance
 Government: the control over citizens and the delivery of
public benefits by institutions of the state
 Institutional
 Governance: the configuration of laws, policies,
organizations, institutions, cooperative arrangements, and
agreements that control citizens and deliver public benefits
 Institutional and networked
 Needs critical variables to succeed
 Trust
 Commitment
 Leadership
 Incentives to collaborate
 Balanced power and resources

 Focus: networks, inter-organizational arrangements,

collaboration
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Public Administration Today
 Combines several paradigms
 Stand-alone, self-aware field of study and practice
 Asserts its purpose is to create and implement social
change for social good

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