Politics and Administration

Marking the 97th anniversary of Woodrow Wilson’s landmark The Study of Administration, this major work focuses on Wilson, his times, and his widely discussed politics-administration di-chotomy. Marking the 97th anniversary of Woodrow Wilson’s landmark The Study of Administration, this major work focuses on Wilson, his times, and his widely discussed politics-administration di-chotomy. The 21 distinguished contributors-brought together after a nationwide search for the finest writ-ing on this topic-weave a unique text that offers a single-source reference investigating the study as well as the practice of public administration ... presents a cohesive, original ac count of the subject by concentrating on Wilson’s contributions-an approach superior to that of the ordinary text ... and spotlights key current issues and challenges resulting from obser vations made during Wilson’s era. Politics and Administration provides such an exceptional perspective of this field that it is sure to attain rapid recognition as the ideal textbook for graduate-level introductory public admin-istration or management, political science, and American history courses. What is more, ongo-ing examinations of public administration make this volume a requisite reference for political scientists, historians, public administrators, politicians, and sociologists.

This book changed the way we view "politics". Written over a century ago, its impact on political life lasts till today, and its intellectual relevance is demonstrated in every word. Frank J. Goodnow makes the important distinction between formal politics and public administration. He claims that the investigation of the constitution on its own isn't sufficient to study the political life of a country, and argues for the importance of extra-legal institutions. He compares centralized and decentralized governments, scrutinizes political parties and their leaders, whom he calls "bosses", and displays the actual techniques of public administration rather than the formal ones. Goodnow's views had been the core of political reform for decades, and they're still the scholarly center in the aim for developing a science of administration. "Few have attempted to get back of the formal governmental organization and examine the real political life of the people." "The political system becomes, almost without the knowledge of the people, quite different from the system as outlined in the constitution itself." "The people in their disgust at finding their bosses less responsive to their wishes than they desire, blindly throw off one boss, only to find themselves in control of another of the same sort."