Research into the Theory and Practice of Public Administration
| Author | Arthur Collins |
| Date | 01 July 1931 |
| Published date | 01 July 1931 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1931.tb02903.x |
Research
into
the Theory
and
Practice
of
Public
Administration
By
ARTHUR
COLLINS
[Paper
to
be discussed at the Summe7 Conference
of
the Institute
of
Public Administration,
July,
193x1
T
HE
object
of
this
paper
is
simply to indicate some
of
the problems
of Government which seem to be suitable for special study, in
the hope and belief that the result would be the advancement of the
science and art of public administration.
It
will
therefore be short.
Scarcely any officials engaged in the management
of
the affairs
of
the
State
or
of
a Local Council would
think
it
profitable to
discuss
whether we must rest content
with
things
as
they are. We always
seek to
find
improvements
in
om
way of
doing
things.
It
appears
to be unnecessary, also, to examine closely the meaning
of
the word
“
research,” or to define its limitations. Suffice it to say that for
our
present purpose,
research
work involves
a
study
of
some
branch
of
administration of public
affairs,
either by
a
student detached from
any
organisation, or
by
workers in an organised body. They are to
apply their minds to an inquiry into
the
reason
for
doing
things
as
we do them, and to judge the results of doing them
in
that way,
so
that by the blend
of
theory and practice the functions with which
we have to deal in our administrative system may be discharged as
speedily and effectively as possible.
My
friend,
Mr.
J.
R.
Howard Roberts, the Town Clerk of
Kingston-upon-Hull,
informs
me that his paper deals with the part
the Universities may take
in
research work conducive to improve-
ments
in
public administration. For some reason the British mind
seems naturally to regard the University
as
an
excellent school for
the study
of
theory, but entitled
to
little credit for practical know-
ledge gained from experience.
This
fallacy may in due
time
die
out.
In the meantime Mr. Howard
Roberts’s
paper should be read
as
one
in
conjunction with this, and not treated as thought the
contri-
bution
of
the Universities
is
only theoretical, and as such detached
or
detachable from the practical.
If
there
should
be any substantial number
of
men and women
taking
part
in public administration, either as the elected representa-
335
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