Trends in Development Administration

One of the difficulties associated with assessing studies of development administration arises from the broadness of the field. This discussion will be confined to rural studies in the English-speaking countries of Subsaharan Africa that center around aspects of administration as it affects development in the central government bureaucracy, regional and local governments, departmental offices and international agencies. Successful studies seem to have no single base. Perceptive research has been made of projects such as agricultural schemes or resettlement agencies and the cooperative movement has attracted excellent scholars. Others have intensively studied one geographical area, a village, district or region, and some have studied historical developments within one country, isolating the effects of political party, of the transfer of power, or of the nature of the bureaucracy on development. Although political interests predominate in such studies, there have also been valuable contributions made by anthropologists, economists and others. What is more important than the scholar's discipline is the approach he uses; enough good studies and commentaries have now been made to allow one to make some generalizations about the approaches likely to be fruitful. First, there is impressive evidence of a need for rigorous supporting theory, rather than mere applied research with the hope that some theoretical byproducts will result. It is the essence of studies in this field that they should make a contribution to both social theory, and to policy, by indicating to development administrators the range of relevant variables. This latter is the least they can do; in some instances more specific recommendations may be appropriate. It is a fallacy to think in terms of a sharp division between theory and applied research; the two must be fused if any useful results are to emerge. Second, students in this field agree on the need to emphasize two broad areas: the intensive, detailed, anthropological form of investigation of specific communities or agencies and, concurrently, a constant attempt to elaborate and refine the theoretical models on which the detailed studies are based. There is clearly a reciprocal relationship, as excellence in one area results in improvements in the other

Administration (probate law · Political science · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · International Development and Aid · Law

• Bureaucracy and Political Development. (SPD-2)

  Joseph La Palombara•Bureaucracy and Political…•1963

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• Man Takes Control

  Charles J Erasmus•Man Takes Control•1961

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• Rising Expectations and the Revolution in Development Administration

  Warren F Ilchman, Henry Frank Goodnow et al.•Public Administration Review•1965

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• The Civil Service in New African States

  Ammishadai Lawson Adu•International Affairs•1965

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• Cultural Frontiers of the Peace Corps

  Dennison Nash, Robert B Textor•American Sociological Review•1966

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• Managing Planned Development

  Open Access•Anthony H Rweyemamu•The Journal of Modern African…•1966

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• The British and Their Successors, a Study in the Development of The Government Services in the New States

  Rupert Emerson, Richard Symonds•Pacific Affairs•1966

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