Public Administration Woodrow's Public Administration and Politics Research Paper

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Public Administration

Woodrow's public administration and politics dichotomy is not workable. Politics cannot be practically divorced from public administration. In fact, there cannot be effective public administration without politics. Political institutions like the parliament engages in policy formulation while the public administrators' primary responsibility is to implement the policies that have been instituted hence the perception that public administration is a detailed and systematic execution of public law. Public institutions cannot be devoid of politics hence Woodrow's assertion that administration lies outside the proper spheres of politics is misleading. He is right in asserting that administrative questions are not political questions. However, it is difficult to find that politics doesn't interfere with public administrator's functions. He is spot on in his observation that public administration is part of political life. I find his assertion that politics is the province of a statesman and public administration the preserve of the technocrats somehow out of touch with the realities of the current time. Today, there are many technocrats who are venturing into politics and many politicians awarded public administration appointments. It is not practical to deter politicians from venturing into the realms of public administration. Woodrow's endeavor to create some distinction between politics and public administration is not practicable.

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It is not easy to have a system that is technically competent and politically neutral. Politics will always find its way into public administration. Public administration cannot be detached from the political system by the virtue of the fact that legislations passed by the political systems influence how public administrators carry out their duties. In trying to divide politics and public administration, Woodrow creates some distinction between politics and public administration by averring that politics deals with the expression of the will of the people while administration entails execution of the will of the people. He further avers that politics is a preserve of the politicians and public administration a preserve of the civil servants. He posits that one becomes a politician through positive or negative popularity while civil servants become public administrators because of his intelligence. These assertions are not practicable. There is no way a body charged with executing the will of the people can be detached from that which expresses the will of the people. In today's political systems, it is not easy to be selected a civil servant just because you are qualified. You must have been involved either….....

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"Public Administration Woodrow's Public Administration And Politics", 30 January 2014, Accessed.3 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/public-administration-woodrow-public-administration-181747