The nature of present-day public administration theory

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The nature of present-day public administration theory

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Abstract

"A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation". This quote from Edmond Burke can be applied not only to the state but also, to some extent, to the field of public administration. Indeed, a book such as The Public Administration Theory Primer (2003), intending to gather main theories of public administration, shows how modern theories or concepts prevent the discipline from becoming irrelevant. For instance, the so-called New Public Management or the concept of governance is first of all based on case-studies, they sometimes borrow theoretical developments from other fields and they even can be based on rhetoric. This change in methodology is blatant in H. George Frederickson's article on public administrative conjunction. The latter will be analyzing in this paper, but instead of asking if this theory is accurate or useful, we will see how it is based on empirical facts, making it a "modern" theory (I).

Introduction.
The theory of administrative conjunction or the new direction of public administration.
1. A dilemma: The changing practice of public administration.
2. A case-study: The Kansas City metropolitan area.
3. A consequence: The repositioning of public administration as a field.
The theory of administrative conjunction or bringing old theories up-to-date.
1. The continuing use of traditional theories: The governance's case.
2. The continuing use of traditional theories: The hierarchy.
3. Administrative conjunction as an answer to the question of democratic bureaucracy.
Conclusion.
Bibliography.

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[...] We could conclude then that a book such as The Public Administration Theory Primer is essential to the comprehension of public administration as a whole since it gathers both classical and contemporary theories, which are, as we have seen, interconnected. Bibliography Frederickson, H. G. (1999), repositioning of American public administration”, PS: Political Science and Politics, 701-711. Frederickson, H. G. and Smith, K. (2003). The Public Administration Theory Primer, Boulder: Westview Press. Guy, M. E. (2003) “Ties that bind: the link between public administration and political science”, The Journal of Politics, 641-655 Kaufmann, V. [...]

[...] Governance is a more recent concept and interestingly it has been sometimes used a way to distinguish between the public administration orthodoxy built upon the principles of politics- administration dichotomy [ ] and a new theory of public administration based on understanding the diffuse networks increasingly responsible for providing public service” (209). Nevertheless if we could think that the use of these theories by Frederickson shows a radical shift from public administration's theories, a closer look permits to qualify this statement. [...]

[...] A case-study: The Kansas City metropolitan area To understand how public administration in practice can deal with those challenges, especially the second one, the author studied the case of the Kanzas City metropolitan area in the USA: the high fragmentation of the American metropolis one can find most of the features of the disarticulated state [ ] Within the American metropolis one can also find the practices of public administration that address these challenges” (706). From this basis, he developed his theory of administrative conjunction, positing that professionals within jurisdictions understood the need to cooperate with professionals from other jurisdictions. [...]

[...] In fact, the USA provides the best examples of administrative conjunction: Kansas, Ioha (Thurmaier and Chen, 2005), Michigan (Leroux and Carr, 2007) A consequence: the repositioning of public administration as a field So far we have seen that public administration in the world had to change because its context changed. Frederickson tried to develop a theory to fit with the way public management adapted itself to those modifications. As he said, public administration repositioning itself to deal with the daunting problems associated with the disarticulation of the state” (702). [...]

[...] (2006) Co-ordination of local policies for urban development and public transportation in four Swiss cities, Journal of Urban Affairs, 28(4) 353-374 Leroux, K. and Carr J. B. (2007) “Explaining Local Government Cooperation on Public Works: Evidence from Michigan” Public Works Management & Policy 344-358 Thurmaier, K., & Chen, Y. C. (2005) Elements of successful interlocal agreements: An Iowa case study, Paper presented at the Creating Collaborative Communities Conference, Wayne State University, Detroit, October 31-November 1. Available at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=int erlocal_coop Thurmaier, K. [...]

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