Dichotomy

The essay question being asked is whether Wilson’s idea was useful, and why others rejected the idea as impossible' First I will begin by explaining Wilson’s thought process, and then I’ll address the question as intended. Before entering into the science of administration Wilson felt it was needed that first there should be some account of the history of what others have done in the field, secondly there should be an ascertainment of its subject-matter, and thirdly there should be determined the best methods to develop it and the most clarifying political conceptions to carry into it. Without knowing these first, he feels that there should be no compass or chart to go by. The question was always: Who shall make the law, and what shall the law be' The other question, how law should be administered with enlightenment, with equity, with speed, and without friction, was put aside as practical detail to be determined by clerks after the “doctors” determined the detail. These are Wilson’s rational for his perceptions about politics and administration. The reason administration has come into context only now is because now there appears to be trouble in it, the big constitutional questions on the right of government have been answered for now. The corruption today in Public Administration needs to be address and fix to the appropriation of the law. This science originated overseas in foreign lands such as France and Germany but from it must be adapted to not a simple and compact state but a complex and multiform state to fit highly decentralized forms of government, it must of course learn to be “Americanized” “England and America has been making government just and moderate rather than well-ordered and effective. We need to be free in spirit and proficient in practice according to Wilson.” Though Wilson says that Administration is for the most part separate from Politics, he also says the administrator to the politician relationship is not exactly a Will to Deed relationship because the administrator has a will of his own, how he will accomplish his work. The administrator is not a mere passive instrument. Administrative study is based constitutionally in one respect, according to Wilson, concerning the distribution of powers. If administrative study can determine which powers should go to which administrators without hampering the authority (splitting it into shares), the responsibility, and also not obscuring the power (who gets praise or blame for actions) then the study of administration has done an invaluable service. Public opinion should play the part of an authoritative critic in the conduct of administration Self-government does not need a hand in everything like a cook does not cook entirely with her hands, but with stoves, pots, utensils. We should not raise everything up to a vote, but rather give large discretions to public officials, according to Wilson. It must at all points sensitive to public opinion however. The duty of administrative study should teach the people what sort of administration to desire and demand, how to get it and it should also drill candidates for the public service. In conclusion Wilson states that our governmental study should be comparative, we can borrow a murderers idea to sharpen his knife without his motive to kill. “The big question for Wilson was how Americans could incorporate Public Administration into the Constitution which did not mention it. Also in developing Public Administration, Wilson’s basic difficulty was how to reconcile the differences in notions of democracy (popular rule) and the systematic rules. To do this he says there are two spheres: “Politics” and “Administration” Politics choices of government are made by the elected and Administration = carries out the choices by the (popular consent) free of political meddling “politics-administration dichotomy.” Do I agree with Wilson’s theory' I most definitely do, reasons being is that he was extremely practical and very detailed, in explaining the government way of doing things and how it should be executed in order to operate an organized government. The advantages of Wilson’s process would be a more successful and organized public administration. The disadvantage would be others not wanting to comply because it would be forcing them to prove why they are eligible to be a part of the high supreme government decisions making.