Vijay Govindarajan

Stephen L. Mangum

Sven B. Lundstedt

Joel E. Thompson

Janet P. Near

Marcia P. Miceli

Cynthia Fraser

Tony McAdams

John K. Shank

Michael W. Spicer

James L. Perry

Martha C. Cooper

Richard J. Murdock

Orlando Behling

Clark Leavitt

Leslie J. Berkes

Marcus H. Sandver

David Greenberger

Barry M. Mitnick

Elaine T. Chen

Herbert G. Heneman (III)

John D. Blackburn

Lisa M. Lynch

Robert A. Hansen

Stephen A. Buser

Tetsunori Koizumi

Bonnie Lee Roach

Kathryn S. Miller

Randall L. Rose

Robert C. Miljus

Debra Jo Cohen

Working Paper Series

In this critical examination of public administration's pervasive vision of a powerful state, Spicer thoughtfully reconsiders the relationship between activities of governance and concepts of the state. Woodrow Wilson argued for a state led by a powerful government, guided by science and enlightened experts, for the accomplishment of a set of collective purposes—in other words, a purposive state. Michael Spicer contends that though Wilson and those who followed him have not typically explored questions of political and constitutional theory in their writing, a clear and strong vision of the state has emerged in their work nonetheless. Building upon the work of Dwight Waldo and others who have sought to explore and reveal the political theory behind the seemingly neutral language of administration, Spicer explores the roots—both historical and philosophical—of the purposive state. He considers the administrative experience of 18th-century Prussia and its relationship to the vision of the purposive state, and examines the ways this idea has been expressed in the 20th century. He then looks at the practical problems such a vision creates for public policy in a fragmented postmodern political culture. Finally, Spicer explores an alternative view of public administration—one based on a civil association model appropriate to our constitutional traditions and contemporary culture.

A Postmodern Perspective

Public Administration and the State

Michael W. Spicer

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