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Paramount to settling the identity crisis (or the issue of conceptual identity)
being undergone by public administration is the resolution of its definitional boundary
- if it could be defined precisely - and a coherent and systematic organization of
normative theory. Previous to the description of the crisis, the concentration of
studies in American Public Administration had been oriented towards specialized,
applied concerns (service type) as against the construction of a general and ualid
theoretical framework (academic or basic type). The identity crisis, however, may not
be a serious problem from the point of view of Philippine Public Administration due to
three distinct features: (a) Public Administration has maintained some disciplinary
independence from allied disciplines and has not been insecure about its relationships
with Political Science; (b) the politics-administration dichotomy has no strong tradi·
tion and is thus inapplicable here; (c) the peculiarities of a developing country haue
necessitated Philippine Public Administration to give emphasis on or fauor to service
• type researches. Thus, tile identity crisis in Public Administration becomes relevant
and worthwhile only if it is /Iiewed from the perspectives of actual Philippine co,Jdi·
tions and dellelopment aspirations:
Certainty is an illusion, and repose is not the destiny of man.
Auonymous
r
to deal with standard and transient Frank Marini. The former refeJl'S to the ac-
issues inherent in the conduct of tivities "baving to do with the administra-
governmental affairs and public policy tion of public organizations anti public polio
making. Public Administration.1 as a eies," or in effect. the applied aspects. 'The
latter is used to denote the academic subject
matter or the study of behavior in public or-
ganizations. See Dwight Waldo. "Public Ad-
*E:xeeutive Assistant, Office of the Di- ministration" in Marian Irish (00.). Political
rector, Philippine Heart Center for Asia. Science: Advance of the Disti'pline (Engle-
wood Cliffs. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
1 For the sake of conceptual convenience. 1968). pp. 158-169. See also Frank Marini
I shall adopt the distinction between "public (ed.). ToWGTd a l:\'ew Public A<lministration:
administration" and "Public Admini<>bation" TN! Minnowbrook Perspeetil>e {Scranton:
used by Dwight Waldo and later adopted by Chandler PublishiIlg Co.. 1971 1. p. xiii
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2 PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
1
To be sure, the problem is an old field. The purpose rather is to re-
one. It is in fact a resurrected theme examine the identity problem of the
that was raised inconspicuously as study of contemporary Public Ad-
early as the late forties, and is now re- ministration as pointedly raised and
surfacing more prominently with a described by various scholars and stu-
vengeance.s The problem has since be- dents of the discipline, and within this
come so severe that scholars and perspective, view its implications and
students of the field have elevated the
issue to a "crisis of thought," or in
Gunderson's terms, "academic public
significance - or insignificance - from
the standpoint of Public Administra-
tion in the Philippines, where the
•
administration's self-lamented 'iden- desideratum of national development
tity' or 'intellectual' crisis."3 has become the "order of the day."
At length, the literature delving into How does the crisis as seen from the
this issue has articulated various critical eyes of Western scholars relate
themes and subthemes, and has now to or affect our problems of develop-
grown too vast for comfort to be ment, or more precisely - to put it
fused or captured in a single paper. bluntly - our day-to-day problems of
The substance, however, of these survival? Faced with a theoretical
articles conveys, more or less, the crisis shaped from the searing lens of
same sentiment: a scholarly discontent our Western counterparts, how are we
with the state of the discipline with an to react? Or how have we been re-
overarching concern for its normative acting? At the risk of editorializing,
and operational boundaries. this paper therefore seeks to appraise
the identity and normative crisis in
•
This paper, to begin with, does not Public Administration in relation to
intend to indulge in explosive theoriz- the development aspirations of a de-
ing along the fashion of Western veloping country such as the Philip-
scholars. Nor does it intend to join the pines. In doing so, I have to redefine
prevailing bandwagon of dissatisfaction the crisis for ourselves if only to care-
and skepticism over the state of the fully review its origin and background
and ascertain its nature and validity.
however superficially.
2Indeed. with the angry and disenchanted For all intents and purposes, the
thoughts raised in the Minnowbrook Con- identity crisis in Public Administra-
ference in 1968 catalyzing a "New Public
Administration." as documented and com-
tion may simply be an issue bother-
piled in Marini. ibid. References may also be ing a handful of "disgruntled" scholars
made to the sober but apprehensive articles unhappy over the development of the
of Waldo. ibid., and Vincent Ostrom. "The discipline. On the other hand, the
Persistent Crisis in the Study of Public Ad- crisis may be real enough, so real in-
ministration" in The Intellectual Crisis in
American Public Administration: The Crisis deed that it subverts systematic think-
Confidence (Alabama: The University of ing in resolving operational problems
Alabama Press, 1974) Ch. 1. confronting public organizations and
public policy making. For this reason,
3 Gil Gunderson. "Epistemology in Public
Administration." Philippine Journal of Public
it may be useful to first pin down the
Administration. Vol. XIX. No.3 (July 1975), concept of the crisis even at the risk
P. 145. of neglecting some important points.
January
IDENTITY CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 3
In this regard, I venture what might direction and thrust of Public Admin-
be a haphazard interpretation drawn istration as a field of study. Specifi-
from the perspectives of those who cally, Waldo noted that students of
perceive it. The attempt may be an administration have become "more
overzealous disservice to the cause uncertain in recent years as to the
of these scholars considering that I ends, aims, and methods which they
have found it convenient for the sake should advocate.v- The observation is
• of conceptual economy to isolate or
operationalize the problem momen-
tarily into two overriding concerns,
significant considering the firm con-
ceptual tradition inherited from the
works of Woodrow Wilson, Frank
at least for the purpose of this paper. Goodnow, Urwick and Gullick, and to
These are: (1) the problem of defini- some extent, Leonard White. 6 The
tional boundaries which essentially dilemma, as perceived, was one that
deals with the resolution of the aca- inquired into the nature and defini-
demic question of where Public Ad- tional premises of the field especially
ministration begins, and where other where its theoretical postulates and
disciplines, especially that of Political principles are concerned. Up to that
Science, should end; and (2) that of time, the discussion was confined to
the issue of normativism, or the value just that - ends and aims, or to be
premises of the field. more specific, a reexamination as to
what Public Administration really is,
From here, I have felt it necessary and what it hopes to be.
to incorporate a brief and sketchy dis-
• cussion on the development of the By 1968, two decades later, and in
field as it started with the Wilsonian spite of the continued and determined
advocacy of a dichotomy between the efforts of scholars to derive a working
work of politics and that of adminis-
tration. The purpose of this review is
merely to set our perspectives on solid
grounds. 4Dwight Waldo, The Administrative State:
A Study of Political Theory of American
Released from this academic Public Administration (New York: The Ro-
responsibility, the paper then pro- nald Press Co., 1948), p. 206. Chapter 11 of
the book precisely devoted itself to a diag-
ceeds to a discussion of Public Ad- nostic appraisal of Public Administration re-
ministration in the Philippine setting, search during the period.
arguing in the process what it deems
5 The legacies of these authors are of
should be the proper focus of scholars
course contained in the following works:
and students in the country in the Woodrow Wilson, "The Study of Public Ad-
light of the identity crisis, and in the ministration," Political Science Quarterly.
context of national development Vol. II (June 1887), as reprinted in Vol. LVI
aspirations. (December 1941), pp. 493-501; Frank
Goodnow, Politics and Administration (New
York: The Macmillan Company, 1900)i
Luther Gullick and Lyndall Urwick (eds.),
The Identity Crisis Defined: Papers on the Science of Administration
What is it? (New York: Institute of Public Administra-
tion, 1937); and Leonard White, Introduc-
tion to the Study of Public Administration
In 1948, Dwight Waldo, citing John (New York: The Macmillan Company,
M. Gaus, paused to reflect on the 1926).
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IDENTITY CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 5
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6 PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
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discipline of Political Science. While
the issue of whether the field is art or for two generations it has been widely
science has become far too disturb- regarded as such, many persons are
ing.1 6 now of the opinion that it is or ought
7
to be 'something else'.... 1
January
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IDENTITY CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 7
indicator at all.18 For one, Public Ad- In any case, the distinction between
ministration has gone, or so it is the concern of Political Science and of
claimed, far beyond the concerns of Public Administration by way of
Political Science, enlarging its hori- standard or generic definitions of the
zons to include and adopt principles subject matter has always been nebu .
and concepts from Sociology, Eco- lous, although the dichotomy between
nomics, Psychology, Law, and even political processes and those of admi-
Engineering.tf Caiden in fact asserts nistrative conduct has been considered
that the "discipline of public admi- as a potential point of delineation.
nistration has outgrown its niche in Political Science, for instance, has
political science but maintains its been defined as "the science of the
distance from management science or state," and also, as "a branch of the
any other discipline that studies the social science dealing with the theory,
organizational society and administra- organization, and government, and the
tive behavior in large-scale organiza- practice of the state."21 Public Ad-
tions."20 ministration, on the other hand, has
been defined by its leading scholars,
18It would be interesting to note that a
Leonard White, for one, as "the man-
mushrooming of schools in Public Adminis- agement of men and materials in the
tration independent from Political Science accomplishment of the purposes of
Departments (commonly called Schools of the state.,,2 2 Simon, et al., describe it
Public Affairs) has been reported in several as the "activities of the executive
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IDENTITY CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 9
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IDENTITY CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 11
present. Henderson's labelling of his nistration, 1927) and Urwick and Gul-
synthesis as a stress on organizations lick's Fupers on the Science of Ad..
as systems was largely influenced by ministration (1937). Within Henry's
March and Simon's Organizations. discussion of Paradigm 2 are incorpo-
1979
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12 PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
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IDENTITY CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 13
1919
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14 PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
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of Public Administration, Vol. XVI, No. 3 phasis, perhaps bolstered by the popu-
(July 1972), op. cit. See specifically the larity of case studies in the Philippine
paper of Mario Nieves, coA Survey of Schools public administration scene. 41
of Public Administration in the Philippines"
which shows that it was in the U.P. where In the same vein, how.ever, she
P.A. education formally started. The article
largely deals with an exhaustive examina· argues possibly in the same manner
tion of the growth of the field in terms of with which Waldo did in 1948, that
enrollment IJgUres and not on the content
or themes of the discipline for the past two
decades. Cariiio, op. cit., gives a useful re-
sume on the thrusts of research efforts in the 41 Cariiio, op. cit., p. 291 (Emphasis
U.P. mine).
January
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IDENTITY CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 15
basic type of studies should also be of thinking and looking at things and
engendered. problems.
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16 PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
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IDENTITY CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 17
1919
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18 PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
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IDENTITY CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 19
1979