Journal Articles

The Suspect Handmaiden : The Evolution of Politics and Administration in the American State

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Scholars of an earlier era predicted a more secure role for the administrative state in American political culture. This vision overlooked a historical irony that governs the relationship between politics and administration. For American society, the administrative state is a suspect handmaiden. Citizens have looked to public administration to enable extraordinary growth while simultaneously distrusting it. In recent decades, these contradictory trends have grown. The growth of the state, increased polarization, and political attacks on government have produced a set of values, perspectives, and capabilities that often do not mesh with one another or with many governmental activities. As a result, we find outdated mechanisms of accountability, politicization, and a broader illegitimacy that threatens the capacity of the state to act effectively.

Guest editors’ note: In 1942, the University of Chicago Press published a book edited by Leonard D. White titled The Future of Government in the United States. Each chapter in the book presents predictions concerning the future of U.S. public administration. In this article, Donald P. Moynihan and Patricia W. Ingraham examine the predictions of V. O. Key in his famous essay on politics and administration published in that book, comment on whether Key’s predictions were correct, and look to the future to examine public administration in 2020.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Public Administration Review

Call Number

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Publisher

Hoboken, United States : Wiley-Blackwell., 2010

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

00333352

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Vol 70, Issue Suppl s1, Dec 2010, pages s229–s237

Subject(s)

The Suspect Handmaiden
The Evolution of Politics and Administration
American State

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