Public Administration Mains 2017 : Model Question and Answer - 14

Public Administration Mains 2017 : Model Question and Answer

(Public Administration Paper I / Chapter: Introduction)

Question : Woodrow Wilson has been under attack for sometimes and his reputation as the father of discipline of public administration has been questioned. Comment (25 Marks/350 words)

Model Answer :

Wilson’s article is not the first literature on public administration. There have been a number of contributions/work before publication of his article .The previous works were not able to generate the kind of interest/impact in the subject which was generated by Wilson’s article, which makes him the father of the Public Administration. He contributed his article while referring to the malfunctioning in American Administration under the Spoils system. If we critically examine the statements of Wilson we can make out that he was very much disappointed with the performance of the political system at that point of time and he wanted to establish that the problems arising in the administration are because of the closely knitted cobweb of the politics and administration.

As he said that the task of administration is to straighten the path of politics and make its business more unbusinesslike and to strengthen and purify its organization, crown its duties with dutifulness, he not only wanted to stress on the roll of the administration but also wanted to emphasize the problems of the politics also which had become prevalent. His conception of the disciple which was later called politics Administration Dichotomy created a concern for the subject and due to his normative approach he was called father of the discipline.

It is quite evident from his essays and lectures that he had a great concern for the discipline and in that direction he raised many questions also but he failed to present pragmatic solutions to the problem. His ideas did shown a path to the future generation but his approach was quite unrepresentative. He failed to amplify the relationship of administration with political realms and natural sciences. This was the reason that in later period when human relationship and behavioural studies came to fore he was highly criticized and his underlined ideology of dichotomy ended with a big question mark.

But still Wilson's emphasis and contribution to the study of Public Administration brought out the disciple to such level that different theories at different point of time starting flowing into the pool and enriched the discipline. (Total Words-349)

(Linkages : Woodrow Wilson and Father of Public Administration, Woodrow Wilson and Politics Administration Dichotomy, Woodrow Wilson and Disappointment with state of affairs of USA, Woodrow Wilson and Reformist Trend)

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