Mind Map
Abstract
One cannot begin to digest the dichotomy of public administration without first examining a theorist at the forefront of the field, Woodrow Wilson. Wilson along with civil servants promoted civil service reform in 1880. This catapulted the field of public administration into scholastics. Woodrow Wilson stated that, “Our own politics must be the touchstone for all theories--the principles on which to base a science of administration for America must be principles which have democratic policy very much at heart.” Within the lines of this paper we will compare and contrast several theorists and theories related to public administration as it relates to the supporting the development of administration and politics as it relates to today’s society. Theorist that will be examined will include, but are not limited to Aristotle, Luther Gulick, Lorenz von Stein, Plato, Machiavelli, Max Weber, and Woodrow Wilson. From the standpoint of public administration social science, literature in general, “bureaucracy” means much more than the various characteristics of modern organization (Stillman, 2010). Public Administration Mind Map There are many definitions and opinions as to exactly what public administration is or what it encompasses. One thing that holds true is that this area is linked heavily to political science (Starling, 2008). This field encompasses a wide variety of areas and certainly cannot be contained in a bubble—narrow definitions will not do public administration justice. Managers in all public organizations are continually dealing with uncertainty and unexpected events, whether it is something as small as the loss of key employees or something as large and as dramatic as a terrorist attack, a hurricane, or an earthquake (Starling, 2008). Random House unabridged dictionary states that public administration houses the implementation of government policy and academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares
One cannot begin to digest the dichotomy of public administration without first examining a theorist at the forefront of the field, Woodrow Wilson. Wilson along with civil servants promoted civil service reform in 1880. This catapulted the field of public administration into scholastics. Woodrow Wilson stated that, “Our own politics must be the touchstone for all theories--the principles on which to base a science of administration for America must be principles which have democratic policy very much at heart.” Within the lines of this paper we will compare and contrast several theorists and theories related to public administration as it relates to the supporting the development of administration and politics as it relates to today’s society. Theorist that will be examined will include, but are not limited to Aristotle, Luther Gulick, Lorenz von Stein, Plato, Machiavelli, Max Weber, and Woodrow Wilson. From the standpoint of public administration social science, literature in general, “bureaucracy” means much more than the various characteristics of modern organization (Stillman, 2010). Public Administration Mind Map There are many definitions and opinions as to exactly what public administration is or what it encompasses. One thing that holds true is that this area is linked heavily to political science (Starling, 2008). This field encompasses a wide variety of areas and certainly cannot be contained in a bubble—narrow definitions will not do public administration justice. Managers in all public organizations are continually dealing with uncertainty and unexpected events, whether it is something as small as the loss of key employees or something as large and as dramatic as a terrorist attack, a hurricane, or an earthquake (Starling, 2008). Random House unabridged dictionary states that public administration houses the implementation of government policy and academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares
References: Encyclopedia Britanica. (2001, 13 July). Retrieved August 3, 2011, from http://www.britanica.co/EBchecked/topic/482290/public_administration Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2007, August 24). Retrieved September 15, 2011, from Max Weber: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/weber Miller, F. (2011, January 26). Aristotles 's Political Therory. Retrieved August 3, 2011, from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2011 edition): http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2011/entries/aristotle-politics/ Rodriquez, M. L. (2011, May 14). The new public administration model. Retrieved August 3, 2011, from Gobierno y Administracion: http://gobiernoyadministracion.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/the-new-public-administration-model/ Starling, G. (2008). Managing the public sector (8th edition). Boston, MA: Thomson Wadsworth. Stillman, R. (2010). Public administration: Concepts and cases (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Suzanne, B. (2011, February 1). Plato and his dialogues. Retrieved September 14, 2011, from http://plato-dialogues/plato.htm