University Education in Public Administration

Date01 October 1926
AuthorW. G. S. Adams
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1926.tb02275.x
Published date01 October 1926
University Education in Public
Administration
By
W.
G.
S.
ADAMS,
MA.
Professor
of
Political
Theory.
AII
Souls’
College,
Oxford
T
is
worth while stopping to consider what we include in the study
I
of public administration. There are two main fields
of
study, vjz.
that of the administrative system of the central government and the
subordinate but no less important administrative system of local govern-
ment. But we must
look
also into other and even wider fields. There
is the new territory which is being opened up of international adminis-
trative organization and which comes in
to
make more complete the work
of administration in national and local government
;
and there is also
for us the inner field, within the great international area of the British
Empire with the administrative problems which arise in the development
of this sphere. Again, looking at the problem from another standpoint,
there is the parallel development in all of these spheres of voluntary
agencies which often pioneer the way for the statutory administrative
authorities, and which even when the ground has passed into the charge
of the statutory authorities can do useful work in co-operating with them
in the carrying out of services. There is thus a very wide field
for
study
and investigation.
Turning to the consideration of how studies at the Universities and
other institutions
of
higher education relate to this
great
field of study,
the first impression is how very small has been the required effort
in
our
country to deal with the subject. It is remarkable that in
this
country
which has had
a
more continuous and also a richer and more varied
experience in government and administration than any other country,
political science has been the Cinderella among organized public studies.
In the chief modern European States, and still more in the United States
and Canada, politics,
or
to use the less coloured term, government, has
been the subject-matter of organized study to
a
degree which should
bestir us to observe, reflect, and act.
It
is
true that Political Philosophy
has long held a place in our Universities, but those who know what is
meant by this very catholic term, are aware that it approaches
only
from
afar the problems of administrative structure and method. Many of our
Universities, indeed most of them,
are
still
without
a
chair
of
political
science, while the provision of lectures
in
public administration has been,
apart from the London School of Economics and Political Science, very
431
29

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT