Paper Example. Political-administration Dichotomy

One of the most significant hypothetical constructions in public administration is the political-administration dichotomy. For several years, the political –administration has been one of the most problematic issues in the discipline of public administration. The political–administration dichotomy has an abnormal history in this field. Mngomezulu (2020) describes the status of political –dichotomy in public administration as falls and rises, expands, and contracts. Due to this nature of political –dichotomy, there has been an ongoing suggestion to separate political matters from administrative issues. Concerning this, this paper will define political-dichotomy and analyze both sides of the debate on whether political –dichotomy. This essay will use the views of Wilson and Goodson to weigh the realism of the political-administration dichotomy.

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The political dichotomy is a concept that establishes the boundaries of public administration and politics. Further, it defines the relationship between politics and administration matters in a democratic society. According to Wilson, the field of public administration is a field of business. Their public administration field lies outside the scope of politics (Overeem, 2017). This is because administration questions are not political questions. Therefore, it is essential to separate administration and politics to allow the government to be democratically alert and for administration to be proficient—the possibility of meddling of governmental affairs by corruption and politics. For instance, Wilson was concerned with the way Congress runs critical legislative functions. According to Wilson, Congress policy-making was chaotic and imperfect. Separating the two fields will reinforce administration efficiency since the study will be able to utilize a scientific strategy for administration studies. Further, perceive from Wilson pushes for the idea of creating a balance between what is required to be attained both the goal of politics and public administration. Hence, political dichotomy focuses on separating these two filed to assert that a government achieves its democratic roles and of the administration of public obligations to be prime and productive.

In theory, several cases point out the necessity of separating the two. The majority of third-world countries experience a situation where there is an up surged connection between administration and politics. For example, this has been witnessed in countries such as Venezuela, Nigeria, and Myanmar. Taking into consideration that the politics of developing nations lack immense power, they aim to get to positions of administration of the country to obtain authority (Young, Wiley, & Searing, 2020). The most influential administrators in these nations are individuals who have battled with politics and won to occupy those sites. Consequently, as much as politics and administration appear separate, they are in a mutual relationship in such countries where they use each other to attain the role. This nature of the link has been blamed for the inactive state of public administration.

Nevertheless, there is opposition in the model of political-administration dichotomy and what occurs in society; in reality, public and administration rely heavily on each other, and there are in a union that none can perform in the absence of the other. Further, Goodnow claimed that there is a possibility of differentiating between the state's expression and the execution of that will for analytical functions (Overeem, 2017). Nonetheless, Goodnow asserts that it is almost impossible to separate those functions from the branches of government. Therefore, he concluded that in reality, a full separation of legislative and executive branches could not happen. A clear picture of this situation is located in the United States history, where there has been a violation of goodwill because the administration concept founded on a dichotomy is unlike what is practiced. Due to such a situation, Goodnow recommends that the study of public administration emphasize dividing administration and politics.

I tend to support the side that claims that it is impossible to separate politics and administration. When the two are combined, they form a relationship that works of the goodness of society. There are many instances evident in the community advocating for their relationship. For example, it was through a determined effort by Democratic Party leaders that members of Congress in the U.S passed the bill of Marriage Impartiality. The continuous push for inclusion must have also positively shaped the court ruling in 2015 that allowed the legalization of gay marriage in America. Nonetheless, Rankin (2019) suggests that values such as equity, freedom, and justice should be reinforced to create a balance between politics and public administration and overcome challenges that public administration faces in the course of working together with politics to attain their roles.

Due to the intertwined relationship between politics and public administration, reality can't separate the two branches of government. Politics and administration need each other to attain a specific role assigned to them. Many existences have seconded their relationship in a society that has proven their relationship brings the best of society than their separation.

References

Mngomezulu, S. (2020). Political Interference in the Administration of Service Delivery in UMLALAZI Local Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 12(1 (J)), 38-45. https://doi.org/10.22610/jebs.v12i1(J).3003

Overeem, P. (2017). The politics-administration dichotomy: Toward a constitutional perspective. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/The-Politics-Administration-Dichotomy-Toward-a-Constitutional-Perspective/Overeem/p/book/9781439895894

Rankin, S. W. (2019). Strength of Mind: Courage, Hope, Freedom, Knowledge. https://www.amazon.com/Strength-Mind-Courage-Freedom-Knowledge-ebook/dp/B07HQ66CL8

Young, S. L., Wiley, K. K., & Searing, E. A. (2020). "Squandered in Real-Time": How Public Management Theory Underestimated the Public Administration–Politics Dichotomy. The American Review of Public Administration, 0275074020941669. http://www.aspaswpa.org/uploads/5/9/5/3/59534953/swpa_newsletter_summer_2020.pdf