Department of Defense Privatization: Concerns During a Time of Sustained Conflict
Abstract
In his landmark article on the practice of public administration, "The Study of Administration" Woodrow Wilson established a need and a framework for a science of administration. He recognized that the complexity of modem society created an environment in which, "It is getting to be harder to run a constitution than to frame one."1 Wilson emphasized that the study of administration "is closely connected with the study of the proper distribution of constitutional authority. To be efficient it must discover the simplest arrangements by which responsibility can be unmistakably fixed upon officials; the best way of dividing authority without hampering it, and responsibility without obscuring it."2 In short, Wilson sought an administrative construct that was effective, efficient, and bound by constitutional authority. Some of the tools incorporated by Wilson and his followers to improve public administration were civil service reform, the professionalization of public service, and the establishment of a professional bureaucracy.3
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA491684
Entities
People
- David B. Sosa
Organizations
- Marine Corps University