Woodrow Wilson Views - Period of a
dichotomy between Politics and Administration
Wilson was the first and foremost administrative thinker who
made systematic efforts for the study of public administration
and also the one who worked to make it a separate academic
discipline.
He wrote his famous essay "The study of Administration which
was published in the 'Political Science Quarterly' in 1887. This
essay contributed a lot to stimulating interest to know about
public administration and encouraging its study systematically
and on scientific lines. Further, this helped much in the public
administration in an analytical manner to formulate some
generations and encourage research. With this, it can be stated
that the era of public administration had started. As Wilson
himself wrote, it was 'the latest fruit of the study of political
science'. A new science of public administration emerged which
was not there before.
No wonder. Dwight Waldo described him as the father of the
science of public administration' as if it proved a remarkably
accurate prediction of the shape of things to come.
Wilson's life: Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28,
1856, in Virginia in the USA. He studied politics, government,
and law. He worked as a professor of political science at the
prestigious Princeton University and later became its President.
He was elected the Governor of New Jersey in 1913, he
became the President of the United States of America in which
position he continued for eight years. He was largely
instrumental in the establishment of the League of Nations, the
precursor of the present United Organizations (U.N.O).
, He was a multi-faceted personality. He was not only an
outstanding professor of political science and an administrative
scholar. But also a historian, educationist, reformer, and
statesman. He wrote eight books and published several papers.
After the famous essay in 1887, his writings were not confined
only to the study of administration. He died in 1924.
In his essay, he wrote on three aspects of administration viz.,
Administrative science and the importance of its study,
Dichotomy of Politics and Administration, and comparative
method of study. For the sake of convenience, these are, now,
discussed under two headings viz., the study of Administration
(including the comparative method) and politics and
Administration.
The Study of Administration
In those days, the Jacksonian theory' was very dominant. The
party which wins the elections is used to fill the positions in the
public services with their party supporters. The slogan was: 'To
the victor belongs the spoils and this was called the 'spoils
system'. This led to several people, who were ill-qualified and
unsuitable for joining the ranks of the public services. In other
words, after every election, there used to be changes in the
ranks of several public servants which led to instability in the
administration. Further, corruption and nepotism became
rampant and the administrative efficiency was impaired. It was
felt that this was due to the evil influence of politics on
administration. It can be started that Wilson was also influenced
by the prevailing contemporary situation. He genuinely felt that
the study of public administration was one of the means to set
right the evils arising out of the practice of the Spoils system.
Wilson stressed the necessity of studying public administration,
skillfully and logically with his argumentative abilities. Because
of the increasing complexities in the society, growing activities
of the government, and popularity of the democratic
dichotomy between Politics and Administration
Wilson was the first and foremost administrative thinker who
made systematic efforts for the study of public administration
and also the one who worked to make it a separate academic
discipline.
He wrote his famous essay "The study of Administration which
was published in the 'Political Science Quarterly' in 1887. This
essay contributed a lot to stimulating interest to know about
public administration and encouraging its study systematically
and on scientific lines. Further, this helped much in the public
administration in an analytical manner to formulate some
generations and encourage research. With this, it can be stated
that the era of public administration had started. As Wilson
himself wrote, it was 'the latest fruit of the study of political
science'. A new science of public administration emerged which
was not there before.
No wonder. Dwight Waldo described him as the father of the
science of public administration' as if it proved a remarkably
accurate prediction of the shape of things to come.
Wilson's life: Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28,
1856, in Virginia in the USA. He studied politics, government,
and law. He worked as a professor of political science at the
prestigious Princeton University and later became its President.
He was elected the Governor of New Jersey in 1913, he
became the President of the United States of America in which
position he continued for eight years. He was largely
instrumental in the establishment of the League of Nations, the
precursor of the present United Organizations (U.N.O).
, He was a multi-faceted personality. He was not only an
outstanding professor of political science and an administrative
scholar. But also a historian, educationist, reformer, and
statesman. He wrote eight books and published several papers.
After the famous essay in 1887, his writings were not confined
only to the study of administration. He died in 1924.
In his essay, he wrote on three aspects of administration viz.,
Administrative science and the importance of its study,
Dichotomy of Politics and Administration, and comparative
method of study. For the sake of convenience, these are, now,
discussed under two headings viz., the study of Administration
(including the comparative method) and politics and
Administration.
The Study of Administration
In those days, the Jacksonian theory' was very dominant. The
party which wins the elections is used to fill the positions in the
public services with their party supporters. The slogan was: 'To
the victor belongs the spoils and this was called the 'spoils
system'. This led to several people, who were ill-qualified and
unsuitable for joining the ranks of the public services. In other
words, after every election, there used to be changes in the
ranks of several public servants which led to instability in the
administration. Further, corruption and nepotism became
rampant and the administrative efficiency was impaired. It was
felt that this was due to the evil influence of politics on
administration. It can be started that Wilson was also influenced
by the prevailing contemporary situation. He genuinely felt that
the study of public administration was one of the means to set
right the evils arising out of the practice of the Spoils system.
Wilson stressed the necessity of studying public administration,
skillfully and logically with his argumentative abilities. Because
of the increasing complexities in the society, growing activities
of the government, and popularity of the democratic
