Public administration came into existence in the late 19th century in response to urban crises like the horse manure dilemma that defined 1894 (no, really, it was a serious problem). From there the role of public administrators expanded to encompass many other facets of life including access to water and transportation. Public administrators are also responsible for organizing societies in ways that are compatible with human nature and thus likely to succeed over the long-term. Successful public administrators require a diverse set of traits and insights that are only gained through experience and intense study, and one of the most fruitful areas of research is history. The challenges faced by modern people are very different than the ones that faced public administrators 100 years ago, but the principles that guided the administrators of previous eras to workable solutions still work today.
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson birthed the public administration profession in the United States. He saw a need for people who would examine what government can do and how it can be most effective, and he introduced some core concepts that are central to public administration even today. He advocated an approach to public service that included performance standards similar to what’s seen in the private sector. He felt that personnel reform that didn’t include merit-based assessments would ultimately lead to sub-par results, and that it was in the best interest of society as a collective to push employees to better themselves.
Fredrick Taylor
The field of public administration is nearly inseparable from organizational theory, and scientific management was one of the most prominent philosophies guiding the development of businesses and governments during the early 20th century. Fredrick Taylor’s approach emphasized the need for objective measures of performance and cost controls. It was a perfect fit for the industrialized workplace, but unfortunately workers felt that it led to workdays that were too mundane and rigorous for average people to meet the demands placed upon them.
Douglas McGregor
Most organizational theories up until the 1950s focused on productivity above all other factors. This meant that the human element of most organizations became nothing more but another way of quantifying cogs within a larger machine. Douglas McGregor set out to change that by implementing sociological studies that would make it possible to find people who fit well within particular organizations, and his ideas also transformed many organizations so that they could better serve the needs of the people within them.
Yehezkel Dror
Public administrators worked tirelessly through the years to find better solutions for implementing public policy, and Yehezkel Dror’s theories proved incredibly effective when trying to predict the outcome of legislation before putting it in place. This is very valuable because it allows public administrators to provide input on legislation based on projected future outcomes and hopefully prevent legislators from causing unintended consequences with well-intentioned, but not well-thought-out, laws.
A Conglomeration of Ideas
Philosophies and techniques never die within the realm of public administration. Old theories are sometimes discarded, but the best ideas are removed from them and linger in the work of others. Scientific management may be little more than a relic, but it continues to influence policies that are developed today, and as counterintuitive as it may seem, it’s impossible to create functional and original ideas without pulling from the past.
Connie Lyons is an avid blogger writing about government affairs and the political process. Interested in government administration? If you’re currently working, you may want to consider an online MPA to break into or advance in the field.
