In 1886, Woodrow Wilson, not yet president but a leading intellectual in the progressive movement,

wrote a manifesto concerning the topic of the administration of government entitled, The Study of
Administration (full text found here). While not the first to discuss the matter, Wilson’s intention appeared
to be to make public administration more applicable to the administration of government as it is conducted
in the United States. Wilson discussed what other governments in various stages of development have done
to overcome the hurdles of managing the physical application of the laws imposed by their constitutions and
later by their respective lawmaking bodies. Wilson then defined what exactly Administration was as it
applied to the United States Government and attempted to determine the best method to develop and
clarify how administration may best be undertaken and improved upon in the United States and under its
Constitution. Wilson described public administration as,

“detailed and systematic execution of public law. Every particular application of general law is an
act of administration” (Wilson, 1887).

Wilson lists taxation, executions, mail delivery and military recruitment as acts of administration.

A discussion of the political climate of the time period in which the essay was written is in order to
fully appreciate The Study of Administration. Only three years prior to the writing of the essay, the
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act became law. The law placed federal government employees on a merit
system, required applicants for some federal jobs to take a competency exam and effectively ended the
spoils system. The spoils system was a practice that rewarded party loyalty with a job (often with little work
or responsibility) in the federal government. The passing of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act was seen
as a tribute by some to President Garfield, who was assassinated by Charles Julius Guiteau, who felt he was
disenfranchised by the spoils system when he was not offered a job in Garfield’s new administration. In
actuality, Guiteau was nothing more than a mentally ill man who believed he deserved an ambassadorship
from the Garfield administration because he delivered a (plagiarized) speech during the campaign to
whoever would listen. While the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act may have been a tribute to President
Garfield; who had mentioned the need for civil service reform during his campaign speeches, the passing of
the act is an important benchmark that delineates the political climate of the time period in which Wilson
composed The Study of Administration.

During this climate of change, civil service reform and public administration (even if it was not
referred to by name) was on the minds of the People and on the minds of those inclined to discuss concepts
related to political science, such as Wilson.

Wilson’s article called for a more efficient execution of how laws are physically carried out by
government agencies and those otherwise charged with carrying out the ultimate will of the People. Wilson
assumed that because the form of government in the United States is a representative democracy, the laws
are ultimately the will of the People. In discussing the administration of these laws Wilson states,

“It is the object of administrative study to discover, first, what government can properly and
successfully do, and, secondly, how it can do these proper things with the utmost possible efficiency
and at the least possible cost of either money or energy” (Wilson, 1887).

In discussing facts that Wilson used to make his case for the improvement in the field of public
administration, he lists “Three periods of growth through which government has passed in all the most
highly developed of existing systems, and through which it promises to pass in all the rest” (Wilson, 1887).
 First, Wilson discusses the period of absolute rulers and how these absolute rulers employ the
concepts of administration. Second is the period in which these countries develop constitutions to rid
themselves of absolute rulers and when popular control over government decisions begins. Wilson then
adds, “and in which administration is neglected for these higher concerns” (Wilson, 1887). The third is the
time period after the development of the constitution in which the people begin to craft the administration
of their government functions and laws under the new constitution.

To justify the validity of the claims concerning the existence of these three distinct periods in the
development of public administration within developing nations, Wilson cites the plights of Frederic the
Great of Prussia, Napoleon of France, and England and the United States during each stage of development.
It is notable that Wilson considered Prussia an example of a country in which public administration had been
perfected. Only paragraphs before, Wilson had extolled representative democracies as more evolved
systems of public administration, yet he describes Frederic the Great’s management of the government in
flattering terms.

Stern and masterful as was his rule, still sincerely professed to regard himself as only the chief
servant of the state, to consider his great office a public trust; and it was he who, building upon the
foundations laid by his father, began to organize the public service of Prussia as in very earnest a
service of the public (Wilson, 1887).

Notwithstanding, Wilson then goes on to praise the management of Napoleon, describing him as a
despot who is unconcerned with the will of the people for the sake of what Napoleon (presumably)
considered the greater good.

In a search for material that criticizes Wilson’s work in both positive and negative terms, there is
certainly no dearth of content. Professor Larry Walker of the University of West Florida wrote an article very
close to the topic at hand, interestingly, in the same publication Wilson had 103 years earlier. Walker’s
article, while not overly complimentary, does share some positive comments. In the first paragraph Walker
quotes Dwight Waldo, who referred to Wilson’s essay as “the most important document in the development
of the field” (Walker, 1989). Walker also cites biting criticism of the essay from Vincent Ostrom, who said

“The Wilsonian theory of administration was no less than a counter-revolutionary doctrine”

(Walker, 1989).

Walker then adds his own opinion by saying,

“I offer this assessment of Woodrow Wilson: There is a great deal to admire about Wilson and there
are ample grounds on which to credit him with formative influence in the founding and shaping of
modern public administration” (Walker, 1989)

Walker then moves on to a more biographical account of Wilson’s life including a discussion of when
he told his wife of his desire to study administration, the corresponding political climate in which he wrote
his most famous works on the study administration and how above all Wilson was a reformer. Walker then
comes to the conclusion that whether one agrees or disagrees with Wilson’s essay, it is in fact an important
part of the body of knowledge of public administration.

What information could be harvested that would be beneficial to the public administrator? The Study
of Administration makes dozens of points that are seemingly the basis of a progressive approach to
government. One could take away from the work an understanding of how political labels have shifted and
evolved over the years. Progressivism as it was written about in Wilson’s essay is much like today’s definition
of economic conservativism. Progressivism today is often used synonymously with modern American
liberalism. It is interesting to note that while not much emphasis is placed on these political labels within
Wilson’s essay one with an understanding of political ideologies can pick out the philosophical basis for the
political factions of the day, and for that matter all the way to present day. Accordingly, Wilson injected
progressive concepts into his writings.

An important concept that some contribute to Wilson became known as the politics/administration
dichotomy.

“Civil service reformers tried to avoid the political and ethical implications of a merit system of
personnel selection by drawing a sharp distinction-indeed a dichotomy-between politics and
administration, assigning politics to elected officials who make policy and administration to civil
servants who simply do the bidding of their political masters” (Encyclopedia of Public
Administration and Public Policy, 2003).

As a progressive candidate, governor and president, some major ground was broken that to an
outsider may be seen as overtly political; however, The Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914, The Federal Reserve
Act of 1913, and The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 were major political feats to get passed into law,
but they also had implications for the way government was administrated. One could argue that the passing
of these laws under Wilson’s watch represents the third period of growth for government; the period in
“Which the sovereign people undertake to develop administration under this new constitution which has
brought them into power” (Wilson, 1887)

In conclusion, The Study of Administration is an important document in the body of knowledge of

public administration. Wilson discussed what other developing and developed governments have done to
overcome the hurdles of managing the physical application of the laws imposed by their constitutions and
later by their respective lawmaking bodies. Wilson then defined what exactly Administration was as it
applied to the United States Government and attempted to determine the best method to develop and
clarify how administration may best be undertaken and improved upon in the United States and under its
Constitution. The essay has timeless ramifications as evidenced by its continuing relevance to the discussion
over 100 years later.
"The Study of Administration" (1887) is an article by American politician, academic, and university
administrator Woodrow Wilson promoting the study of public administration in American universities and
arguing for the implementation of administrative methods in American government. Wilson's article
examines the history and subject matter of the study of public administration and argues for a particular
understanding of administrative government and particular methods for implementing it.

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) was an American politician, academic, and university administrator who
served as the 28th President of the United States from 1913 until 1921.

The need for administrative government

 Wilson's article argues that the increasing complexity of society and corresponding issues of public
policy require administrative methods of government to deal with. He argues that questions of
administration are of more practical importance to the function of American government than
constitutional questions.
 Wilson's article contends that the application of administrative government to more areas of society
is inevitable and desirable.

Administrative and political government and the Constitution

 Wilson's article argues that administrative government is and ought to be separate from political
government and that they are only connected when political officials set the tasks and broad goals
for administrators to carry out and implement in detail.
 Related to this distinction, Wilson's article identifies a difference between constitutional and
administrative questions, in which issues within the discretion of administration are separate from
issues determined by constitutional principles.
 Wilson's article then relates both of these distinctions, emphasizing the general nature of
constitutions and the specific, detailed nature of administration.

The historical transition to administrative government

 Wilson's article divides the history of government in Europe and the United States into three parts,
the first based on absolute sovereign rulers, the second on democracy and constitutions, and the
third on administrative government implemented and approved through democracy.
 According to Wilson, efficient and effective administration is neglected during the second,
constitutional period of government. Wilson argues that, at the time the article was written, the
United States had reached the third period of government but still needed to move beyond its
constitutional mistrust of administration.
 Wilson's article argues that the progression from constitutional to administrative government will be
slow but necessary, and that it will be inhibited by the democratic instincts of the voting public.

Administrative power and its relationship with democracy

 According to Wilson's article, administrators must be given great power and discretion in order to
perform their roles effectively and efficiently. For Wilson, this is an essential feature of administrative
government, and preferable to a system that minimizes or divides and thus limits the power of
administrators.
 Wilson argues that public opinion and democracy have a place and a say in administrative
government, but that this influence ought to be limited, and administrators need to be trusted with a
great degree of discretion.
Improving constitutional democracy with administrative methods
 Wilson's article argues that constitutional democracy must be improved by the implementation of
administrative methods of government, and by the hiring of an educated, qualified civil service based
on competitive examinations.
 Wilson's article argues that the detailed study of public administration and the use of administrative
methods are necessary for the government of a complex industrial society. He suggests that the
United States study and apply administrative methods employed by other governments, including
undemocratic ones.

Importance of Woodrow Wilson's essay in Public Administration

A systematic treatise on subject matter is indispensable for not only presenting the author’s view points but
also establishing the subject as a distinct discipline in some cases. Woodrow Wilson’s seminal 1987 treatise
‘The study of administration’, achieved both these purposes.

Till 1887, PA was not identified as a distinct discipline, a coherent subject having its characteristic identity
which could separate it from other disciplines. ‘The study of administration’ established the subject matter
in coherent manner.

The purpose of Wilson in doing so was manifold; he wanted to approach the study of administration from a
scientific perspective, taking help from comparative analysis from different disciplines and regions. He was a
thinker who recognized the importance of subsequent ‘comparative administration’ which was till now
unrecognized and unthought of. He tried to de-link politics and administration, and emphasized on
administration as containing elements distinct from that of politics and political science (a subject that had
gained significance till then).

In fact the relevance of the essay is evident from the fact that genesis of PA as a distinct discipline which is
divided into six phases, originate from the year 1887 itself. His study emphasizing administration as science,
distinct discipline having characteristics subject matter, emphasis on comparative analysis, politics-
administration dichotomy (which is a controversial thought) has been subsequently revised and understood
better because of later developments. Immediate consequence was the emergence of the scientific
management and classical theorists, for whom he provided a launch pad.

Inspite of the fact that some of his thoughts were not too clear, chiefly the politics-administration dichotomy
and his continuous revision of his draft of ‘study of administration’, we can say that genesis of PA as a
distinct discipline can be traced from his essay and hence his work is the most important document in the
development of the subject.