Political Science

SUBJECT:

“With the help of relevant examples from Zambia, discuss the sustainability of the Politics-Administration Dichotomy ”

FROM: PATRICK. M. CHALWE

P O BOX 510659, CHIPATA, ZAMBIA

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Concepts of ‘politics-administration dichotomy’ have been a part of emancipatory discourse and practices for the last decades. Advocates of these concepts have claimed that the responsibilities and accountabilities of the politicians (elected) and the bureaucrats (employees) must be separate in concept and practice. But the question still being asked is whether there can be sustainability of this separation of politics and administration.

This exercise/ assignment   looks at convergences between approaches towards politics-administration, how these have been played out, and how they have been or could be constructively integrated into projects, programmes, policies, and institutions.

In the following section, background is given on the definition and concepts of public administration, the theory of politics-administration dichotomy, Part three looks at whether this separation is sustainable with examples from the Zambia. Part four describes ways in which the two have been used to influence policy and to what extent measures have been institutionalised. Part five concludes the assignment, draws out recommendations for policy and identifies gaps in research on this area.

2.0 BACKGROUND ON PUBLIC ADMINSTRATION   AND POLITICS- Defined

According to Prof. Sofronio Dulay (2008), he begins to describes how democracy   was viewed in the early days of Industrialisation. A progressive movement to professionalize public service produced the Pendleton Act of 1883 which instituted the merit system in the civil service. In 1887, Woodrow Wilson’s “The Study of Administration” revolves around the team of professionalizing the bureaucracy by separating administration from politics and prescribing what he termed as an approach towards the science on... [continues]

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