History of Public Administration

History of Public Administration

Public services are there to serve all citizens of a country. For public services to equally serve all citizens, leaders must be responsible for resources. All public services are subjected to state regulations and public administrations. Economic fluctuations and social circumstances have contributed to changes in public administration in the USA for many years (Bertelli &Riccucci, 2022). Different leaders who took charge of implementing state policies and preparing civil employees to work in public service made changes in public administration that left memories for the coming generations.

Important Events and People Who Shaped the Field of Public Administration

Leaders in charge of public services left memories for the coming generation of their excellent work. The following five key leaders did well: Woodrow Wilson, Fredric Taylor, Mary Parker Follet, Douglas McGregor, and Robert C. Weaver.

Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow has been the only Ph.D. holder president to serve Americans. His study in politics enabled him to write many political essays. In his most important political essay, “The Study of Administration,” Woodrow addressed bureaucracy whereby skilled employees were selected based on merit. Before his leadership, government workers were employed based on loyalty to political parties. With Woodrow’s “merit-based” hiring system, bureaucracy in the USA became efficient. In the same essay, Wilson advocated for the creation of policies by politicians to be implemented with the help of administrators (Svara, 2020). His changes drastically changed how the government functioned during his tenure and beyond.

Fredric Taylor

Taylor is the pioneer of scientific management theory as a trained engineer. Taylor championed industrial innovations that led to rapid industrial changes. He advocated for the analysis of government administration based on industrial performance. In the scientific theory, Taylor indicated that the main function of management is to enhance the maximum welfare of the employer and the welfare of the employee as well (Bertelli &Riccucci, 2022). To achieve employer and employee welfare, Taylor supposed that government employees should work faster to display their efforts to their country’s prosperity.

 Mary Parker Follet

Mary Follet was the first leader in applying the principles of psychology and social science. She focused on human relations with industrial owners since she chose to be a social worker instead of an academic. As a social worker, she believed in the following four principles for most organizations (Wright 2020).

1. Continuous coordination.
2. Direct sharing of information in organizations, irrespective of leadership positions.
3. Maximum coordination in policy and project creation within an organization.
4. Coordination is everything in an organization.

Douglas McGregor

Douglas McGregor wrote a book, “The Human Side of Enterprise,” published in early 1960. In his book, Douglas applied psychology to organizational theories. He concluded that decisions made by managers determine their performance. McGregor insisted that workers must be involved in managers’ successful decisions (Frederickson et al., 2018). He finally said that it is not the management that places managers in the positions they hold but in the decisions they make.

Robert C. Weaver

Robert served during president Lyndon’s tenure as the first black cabinet officer holding the secretary position in the housing department. During his office days, he awarded public house designers and added money to small-scale businesses displaced due to urbanization (Frederickson et al., 2018). He also introduced rent subsidies for elderly adults who lived in government houses.

How the Events and People Affected the Evolution of Public Administration

Different leaders who served as public administrators devised policies that led to revolutions that shaped public administration in the USA. A high percentage of such revolutions had good policies that transformed the state of the housing, organization management, working conditions, and leadership departments.

Housing Transformations

Robert C. Weaver shaped housing during his office days as a secretary in the housing department. He promoted public housing by awarding public house designers. This led to the construction of public houses in large numbers with good housing conditions for public workers. Robert also subsidized rent for elderly public workers and added money to small-scale business people displaced during urbanization.

Management Transformation

Douglas McGregor, in his book, “The Human Side of Enterprise,” championed equality at places of work. He argued that decisions made by managers determine their performance (Bertelli &Riccucci, 2022). He insisted that workers must be involved in any successful decisions managers make. As a result, this promotes equality in public administration.

Taylor also came up with policies that transformed management and public administration. He indicated that the main function of management is to enhance the maximum welfare of the employer as well as the welfare of the employee (Bertelli &Riccucci, 2022). Ultimately, this improved public administration by promoting equality between public administrators and civil servants.

Improved Working Conditions

Douglas McGregor developed policies allowing employees to contribute to decision-making activities. He believed that successful decision-making processes involve employees. Workers can air their grievances and bargain for their rights. Additionally, housing transformations championed by Robert C. Weaver improved working conditions by providing accommodation for public workers.

Leadership Transformations

In his first political essay, “The Study of Administration,” Woodrow advocated for bureaucracy. Before Woodrow’s tenure, skilled employees were hired based on loyalty to political parties. Woodrow also championed the idea of politicians creating policies to be implemented by administrators without considering party affiliations (Svara, 2020). These policies improved public administration since they made bureaucracy efficient.

References

Bertelli, A. M., & M. Riccucci, N. (2022). What Is Behavioral Public Administration Good for? Public Administration Review, 82(1), 179-183. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/puar.13283

Frederickson, H. G., Smith, K. B., Larimer, C. W., & Licari, M. J. (2018). The public administration theory primer. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429494369/public-administration-theory-primer-george-fre.

Svara, J. (2020). Woodrow Wilson and the Tradition of Dualism in Public Administration. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. https://oxfordre.com/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-1455

Wright, G. (2020). Integrative Democracy: Mary Parker Follett’s Integration and Deliberative Democracy. Journal of Deliberative Democracy, 15(1). https://delibdemjournal.org/article/id/587/

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History of Public Administration

In 750-1,000 words, describe the history of public service by doing the following:
1. Identify significant events and people who shaped the field of public administration.
2. Explain how those events and people affected the evolution of the study and field of public administration.
Use three to five scholarly resources to support your explanations.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines in the APA Style Guide in the Student Success Center.