مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Public Administrators and Public Policy: A Theoretical Analysis in Frame of Paradigms of Public Administration

Abstract :

The relationship of public administrators with public policy has been an enduring debate in the field of public administration. How should the relationship happen? Should public administrators affect public policies? Or should they stay away policy process? This study analyzes the relationship of public administrators with public policy through examining the paradigms of public administration from the early days of the field to today. Advocates of Classical Public Administration argue that public administrators should stay away politics. Administrators should implement the policies enacted by lawmakers. Scientists of New Public Administration, however, emphasize that public policy process should take expertize of public administrators into account. According to New Public Administration, public managers are talented people who solve the problems of the society and problems arise from the governance. Accordingly, they should not avoid taking risks and should implement new policies, if needed. New Public Service contends that public administrators are not risk takers but strong figures who take care of public good. Public administrators should not focus on efficiency and productivity of organizations but societal functions organizations play. Administrators affect public policy because they implement different policies for public good. Accordingly, different paradigms discussed the relationships of public administrators with public policies differently. Changing times, social events and dynamics affect the paradigms’ stances about the relationship. While paradigms differ in their position, one might conclude that public administrators cannot be isolated from public policies; they are intertwined.