The Politics–Administration Dichotomy
An Empirical Search for Correspondence between Theory and Practice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7984699 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tansu Demir (0000-0002-6502-368X, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Ronald C Nyhan (Florida Atlantic University) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 81-96 |
| Publication date | 2008-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Public Administration Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00839.x |
| OpenAlex | W2093625546 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 52 |
| References cited | 66 |
The politics–administration dichotomy has been one of the most disputed theories of public administration. Despite serious critiques, neither the theoretical utility nor the normative power of the dichotomy has totally disappeared over the past decades. The dichotomy has been advocated on the grounds that the dichotomous division of labor and authority between elected and administrative officials increases the democratic accountability and planning ability of public administrators. This article first builds a theoretical model of the politics–administration dichotomy and then evaluates the model using empirical data collected from a nationwide sample of city managers serving in council‐manager local governments. Results of structural equation modeling illustrate that the politics–administration dichotomy fails to obtain its predicted tendencies in actuality. The authors interpret the findings in light of the contemporary public administration literature. The article aims to make a theoretical‐empirical contribution to one of the most challenging questions in public administration
Accountability · Administration (probate law · Democracy · Economics · Empirical research · Epistemology · Normative · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Power (physics · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research
Political Transition and Inclusive Development in Malawi
Public Administration and Political Science
The Influence of Redistributive Politics on the Decision Making of Quasi-autonomous Organizations. The Case of Infrastructures-Transport (Quebec–Canada)
Years of women representation in Afghanistan
A relação política-administração. Que se conclui da revisão sistemática da iteratura mais recente
Does governing board involvement impact strategy implementation effectiveness? The role of information sharing in the politics-administration interface
Councils, Managers. . . and Consultants? Management Consulting and Complementarity in Municipal Strategy Implementation
The Management Impact of Elected Leaders
Relational Leadership, Storytelling, and Narratives
The Impact of Formal Organizational Structure on Politico‐administrative Interaction
Public Value and Political Astuteness in the Work of Public Managers
Expert knowledge use and deliberation in local policy making
Legitimacy of Algorithmic Decision-Making
Has Cost Benefit Analysis Improved Decisions in Colombia? Evidence from the Environmental Licensing Process
Role Conceptualisations and the Purple Zone
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Politics and Administration
Coping with political interference and resource scarcity
The politics and public administration nexus in the practice of football administration in Zimbabwe
Is Neutrality a Feature or a Bug? Delegation, Discretion, and the Democratic Implications of Administrative Law in a Polarized Institutional Environment
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Oversight as Constraint or Catalyst? Explaining Agency Influence on State Policy Decision Making
Reconceptualizing the Politics-Administration Dichotomy to Better Understand Public Leadership in the Twenty-First Century
The Determinants of Public Administrators’ Participation in Policy Formulation
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The Burden of Bad Intentions
Questioning the Constitutional Order
Into the Purple Zone
Searching for Newness in Management Paradigms
Theory–Practice Exchange in Local Government Management
Control pliers in principal‐agent relations
Democratic backsliding and public administration
Does Policy Influence Hollow Out Public Managers’ Political Neutrality
Representative Bureaucracy, Age-Friendly Planning, and the Role of Gender, Public Engagement, and Professional Management
The Professional Mind-Set of City Managers
In the Mayor We Trust? Trust as the Micro-Foundation of Complementary Politico-Administrative Relations in Local Governments
Foucauldian Power and Schmittian Politics
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Towards a Measure of Local Legislative Professionalism
Policy coordination and integration in local government
Parabureaucracy
Legislative capacity, bureaucratic reputation, and delegation from a trust perspective
Politics, Competence, and Performance
Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Understanding Shared Roles in Policy and Administration
The Complementarity View
Transformative urban food governance
Partisan political staff at the local level
Politician–manager relationship, procurement decisions, and corruption risk in local governments
Crisis management in cities
Business as usual
Bureaucratic Perceptions to the Politics–Bureaucracy Relations in Bangladesh
The end of liberalism
The case for bureaucracy
Public Administration and the Paradox of Professionalization
A Beginner's Guide to Structural Equation Modeling
Official Leadership in the City
Congress Oversees the Bureaucracy
Effects of sample size, estimation methods, and model specification on structural equation modeling fit indexes
Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling.
Testing Structural Equation Models
Legislatures and Oversight
Beyond Woodrow Wilson
Complementarity of Politics and Administration as a Legitimate Alternative to the Dichotomy Model
Councilmaanic Intervention in Municipal Administration
Neutral and Responsive Competence
Politics and Public Administration
The Old Public Administration is the New Jurisprudence
Interest Group Influence in City Policy-Making
The Fading Legacy of Woodrow Wilson
Base Closings and the Politics-Administration Dichotomy Revisited
Elected Local Leadership in Municipal Government
Comparative fit indexes in structural models
The Mayor as a Policy Leader in the Council-Manager Form of Government
Mayor-Manager Relationships in Large Council-Manager Cities
Mayoral Leadership in Council-Manager Cities
Ties That Bind
The City Manager and His Council
The Myth of the Dichotomy
A Case for Reinterpreted Dichotomy of Politics and Administration as a Professional Standard in Council-Manager Government
The Use of Budgeting/Management Tools by State Governments
Reflections of a "Pracademic" on the Logic of Politics and Administration
The Need for Elected Leadership
Paradigms of Public Administration
Administrative Responsibility in Democratic Government
Public Administration and the Paradox of Professionalization
Role Emphases of City Managers and Other Municipal Executives
Improving the Goal-Setting Process in Local Government
Blending Professionalism and Political Acuity
Citywide Strategic Planning
Long–Serving City Managers
Management Tools in Municipal Government
Research and Planning as Functions of Administration and Management
Power and Administration
Politics, Administration, and Local Land-Use Regulation
The Politics of Court Budgeting in the States
The Use of Management Tools in Municipal Government
The American Administrative State
Facilitating Community, Enabling Democracy
Policy Development and Legislative Oversight in Council Manager Cities
Demonstrating Neutrality
Public Administration and American History
Public Policy and Administration
The Troublesome Cleft
Democracy and (the) Public(s)
Above Politics
City Council Legislative Committees and Policy-making in Large United States Cities
Interest Group Influence in City Policy-Making
The Study of Administration
The City Manager, Administrative Theory and Political Power
Emerging Conflicts in the Doctrines of Public Administration
American City Government and Administration
Preconditions of Mayoral Leadership
Alternative Ways of Assessing Model Fit
| Unique citing works | 52 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,89 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2025 (18) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 51 |