Theories in Frederickson’s book,: The Public Administration Theory Primer

As explained in Frederickson’s book, “The Public Administration Theory Primer” there is so many types of organizational theory in public administration. We are going to explore only three of these theories and their applications to public and non-profit administrations in the 21st century.

The first theory we are going to analyze is the theories of Political Control of Bureaucracy. This theory focuses on the question of bureaucracy compliance with the law and the preferences of the lawmakers. There is much distrust of American philosophy in the power of government in public administration. Theories of political control of bureaucracy have a basic objective to explain and ensure how administration can be accountable and subordinate to the formally designated institutions of democratic decision-making. The key challenge of this is the separation administration from politics. The explanatory orientation and the underlying logic in theories of political control require a conceptual distinction between politics and administration. It is this distinction that provides these frameworks with their strengths and weaknesses. A pro of this theory is the imposition of the dichotomy that provides considerable parsimony and elegance. This is done through the conceptualization administration in technical terms and not worrying about political implications. If the dichotomy remains, the theories have high explanatory capacity, providing a comprehensive, well-ordered explanation of administration that serves as a solid guide for action. Due to the lack of support of assumption of the dichotomy, this theory lacks support. Frederickson states, “The inaccurate portrayal of the real world represented by the dichotomy lessens the replicative, descri...

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...tical model of institutional theory, it would not be the ideal framework for public or nonprofit organizations in the 21st century to model. Although it encompasses many theories that very may well be effective in each of the entities, the theory as a whole is not ideal and too vast to apply for solid organizational management. A more concise theory may be sought in order to clearly manage the public and nonprofit organizations.

Each theory explained in Frederickson’s book has its flaws and will be contradicted by another scholar’s findings one way or another. Understanding which theory will work best in public administration is difficult due to its variations on each level of government as well as among the different sectors. It may be hard to define which theory is best suites public organization and may show that a combination of theories actually defines it.