Evolution of Philippine Public Administration as a Practice and Discipline
Public Administration as defined is the cultivation of the human race to organize
society and its capacity to direct it by virtue of laws and regulations according to Caiden
in Brillantes (2008).
The practice of public administration dates back to the early known
civilizations. As a discipline, it started in 1887 with the work of Woodrow Wilson, The
Study of Administration. Wilson espoused that public administration be a self-conscious
professional field. He was the first one to introduce the idea that public administration
must be studied as a separate discipline apart from politics.
Traditional/Classical Public Administration has some distinctive features according
to Caiden in Brillantes (2008) which includes the following: (a) institutionalization of
administrative capacity for collective purposes; (b) client-oriented public administration
and not considered as “administration of the public” but instead “administration for the
public”; and (c) Public Administration as a distinct field of study.
According to Brillantes and Fernandez (2008), the evolution of public
administration can be classified into major phases: the traditional/ classical phase from
the late 1800s to 1950s to the modern phase from the 1950s to the present. The modern
phase is further classified into the following phases: (1) development administration, (2)
new public administration, (3) new public management and reinventing governance, (4)
and public administration as governance.
In the period of Traditional/Classical Public Administration, ideas of separation
between politics and administration that Wilson claimed is the dominating concept which
they refer to as the “Politics-Administration Dichotomy”. Frank Goodnow further Wilson’s
idea on the separation of politics from administration by establishing a functional
distinction between politics versus administration. According to Goodnow in his book,
Politics and Administration, “Politics has to do with policies or expressions of the state
will” while “Administration has to do with the execution of these policies.” This has spurred
debates which persists even today. Following Goodnow is L.D. White’s claim that public
administration as an art can be transformed into a value-free science.
Succeeding figures further re-echoes Wilson’s view of the politics-administration
dichotomy, which led to the advancement to a new type of public administration, a value
free science of management. There are principles that are common among organizations
which when followed will bring about the most efficient and economical results. Frederich
Winslow Taylor and Henry Fayol were among those who have contributed in the
principles of administration/management in the field and practice of administration. Taylor
introduced the concept of “one best way” of carrying out a task, focusing on improving
organization procedures and the quality of the public servants, also described as
“organizational housekeeping”.
After World War II, public administration branched out to the analysis of
organization as social systems focusing on behavior and relationships of people.
Attention was given to the relation between policy and administration and decisionmaking in the government. It was Herbert Simon and his contemporaries who developed
the Behavioral Science Theory in public administration. This school of thought challenged
the principles of administration and its mechanistic way and argued that decision-making
must be the subject to be studied because decision-making is the heart of administration.
The Modern Phase of Public Administration revolves around the period where
most countries just came out from wars and colonization. The world is divided into
developed and developing countries. A lot has to be done to rebuild the ravages of war
and strengthen administrative capacities. These group of theorists called for values in
public administration and the commitment of administrators and scholars of the discipline
towards integrating values in policy formulation and implementation. This time, not only
does it tackle a more humane and client orientation but also a science perspective. Thus,
the concept of New Public Administration came forth.
New public management and reinventing governance emerged somewhere in the
1980s to 1990s where organization reforms are demanded and public administration
shifted from being client-oriented to a more business oriented discipline. Concepts such
as reinventing government came out during this period also.
Public Administration as Governance emerged from the 1990s into the 2000s.
Governance as defined by ADB, in Brillantes (2008) “involves the institutionalization of a
system through which citizens, institutions, organizations, and groups in a society
articulate their interests, exercise their rights, and mediate their differences in pursuit of
the collective good”. Principles like decentralization, participation, responsiveness and
accountability are tackled during this period.
Public Administration in the Philippines
Like most countries in Asia, Philippines has early interactions with other earlier
developed civilizations in Asia like the Chinese and Hindu. However, the Philippines has
never been regulated not until its colonization by the Spaniards. Although there are some
sort of organization already in practice when the Spaniards came, it cannot be said that
there are hard and fast rules to follow. The Philippines is divided into groups called
Barangays, led by a Datu who acts as the ruler, overseeing the community, its territory,
its people as well as its activities.
During the Spanish Colonial Period, the Philippine Public Administration was
centralized and bureaucratic, with the clergies meddling in the affairs of the state, which
caused issues like incompetence and corruption. As a response, the three distinct
branches of government were created with the Governor General exercising political,
military and governmental powers, the Audencia for judicial matters and the Royal officials
for management of resources. Merit and fitness and accountability were also
institutionalized in the civil service.
It was during the American Colonial Period, after the wars, when a political system
of governance was introduced patterned after the republican and democratic character of
the American Government. Philippine Public Administration theories and practice was
greatly influenced by the American Public Administration.
The Philippine Public Administration as a field of study was formally introduced in
1952 when the Institute of Public Administration was established in the University of the
Philippines patterned after University of Michigan’s curriculum. It was created to help train
those in the civil service and prepare them in the practice of administration.
However, Philippine Public Administration experience ironically negates that of its
counterpart. The study and practice of public administration in the Philippines though, can
be largely attributed to the influences of the many colonizers who have introduced
concepts and practices that the Philippines has assimilated, adapted through time, to
reflect its own features and character, values and principles. Philippine public
administration, though clouded by western influences, is truly representative of its own
unique experience. Thus, there may be complexity in practice and in theory but this must
not deter public administration scholars from further advancing a public administration
that is truly Filipino and to localize best practices from outside influence that are
appropriate and acceptable to the local situation.
References:
Brillantes, A. Jr. and Fernandez, M, (2008) Is There A Philippine Public Administration?
Or Better Still, For Whom is Philippine Public Administration? UP National College of
Public
Administration
and
Governance
(UP
NCPAG)
Retrieved
from
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/eropa/unpan032064.pdf
Sajo, T. A. (1993). Book Review: Introduction to Public Administration in the Philippines:
A Reader. Philippine Journal of Public Administration, Vol. XXXVII, No. 4. Retrieved from
http://lynchlibrary.pssc.org.ph:8081/bitstream/handle/0/4046/11Book%Review.pdf?sequ
ence=1&isAllowed=y
Wilson, W. The Study of Administration. Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 2
Retrieved
from
www.iupui.edu/~V502/Orosz/Units/Sections/u1s5/Woodrow_Wilson_Study_of_Administ
ration_1887_jstor.pdf
Manoj K. (2016,September 11) Evolution of Public Administration as a Discipline (Blog
Post).
Retrieved
from
https://polticsmania.wordpress.com/2016/09/11/evolution-of-
public-administration-as-discipline/
Lorenzo, MP. (2018, January 07) The Birth of Philippine Public Administration: In the
Shadow of the USA (Blog Post). Retrieved from https://shabka.org/blog/2018/01/07/birthphilippine-public-administration-shadow-usa/