THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF UNIVERSITIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION

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CHAPTER 3 THE DEVELOPMENT AND RELEVANCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

In the previous chapter the development, traditional role and function of higher education and universities were looked at along with the development of curricula. Chapter 2 showed the important paradigm shift and changes that took place in higher education and showed that universities are under increasing pressure to keep up with new needs and rising demands from future employers and society. Chapter 2 also provided an overview of the university of the future and its role in meeting those needs.
Chapter 3 will look at the development of Public Administration and the relevance of technology in the development of Public Administration. At university level the study of Public Administration as an academic discipline is of recent origin. Public Administration has gone through many phases and paradigms of development since Woodrow Wilson published his essay The study of administration in 1886. An important development is the use of technology in Public Administration. Therefore chapter 3 will also determine whether there is evidence of a presence of information technology in the development of Public Administration education.
Various authors internationally and in South Africa have written extensively about the development of Public Administration as an academic discipline and the importance of studying Public Administration. This chapter will also determine the relevance of Public Administration education in South Africa. The requirements and standards for Public Administration education with regard to the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) and the National Qualification Framework (NQF) will also form part of chapter 3.
This chapter consists of a comprehensive literature study that relied heavily on the reading and analysis of books and journal articles. A literature study was done in order to get a clear understanding of the development of education in Public Administration as well as the presence of the use of information technology in Public Administration education. A literature study was also done to get relevant information about the standards, guidelines and requirements for Public Administration education nationally and internationally.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION EDUCATION

As the development of Public Administration education forms an important part of this chapter, a comprehensive study was done to get a clear understanding about the development of Public Administration education and the content, relevance and use of information technology in the subject. Rabin, Hildreth and Miller state in the Handbook of Public Administration (2006:4–5) that the 1880s were the seedtime of public administration. The first theoretical writings on Public Administration in the English speaking world are attributed to Woodrow Wilson. For many students of Public Administration, Woodrow Wilson, who became the 28th President of the United States of America, was the first thinker to use the concept “public administration” referring to a separate discipline of study. Wilson’s contribution The study of administration, published in the Political Science Quarterly in 1887, laid the foundation for a systematic study of Public Administration. Wilson integrated history, philosophy and the concept of the good society in his study. Wilson’s views as expressed in The study of administration led to many controversies, interpretations and an ideological basis for reforms in administration in the 19th century (Prasad et al 1989:3–4). According to Henry (1992:21), Wilson’s contribution resulted in the realisation that Public Administration should be studied. Wilson maintained that Public Administration was worthy of academic study and reasoned that “… it is getting harder to run a constitution than to frame one”, meaning that the complexity of the executive activities of government makes it impossible for a public official without specific training, equipped with only a layman’s knowledge of governmental activities, to cope successfully with his or her executive function, because as Wilson postulated “… mere unschooled genius for affairs will not save us from sad blunders in administration” (Wilson 1886:online).
Various authors wrote extensively about the different stages, paradigms, phases and generations in the development of Public Administration as an academic discipline, however, not all authors had the same point of view about the importance and development of the subject. According to Thornhill (2006:793–821) the following four generations can be identified as being important in the development of Public Administration:
Apart from these four generations of Public Administration, various authors, for example Coetzee (1988:134), Hanekom (1988:69–73), Gildenhuys (1987:69–73), Greene (2005:48–74) and Henry (1992:21–45), state that other different phases and paradigms can also be used to explain the development of the study of Public Administration. However, the contribution of Nicholas Henry in his book Public Administration and Public Affairs (1992:21–45) provides a comprehensive explanation of the development of Public Administration and is used in this chapter as a main source of reference and information. Although these authors, including Henry, wrote extensively about the development of Public Administration, they did not include information technology as part of Public Administration. This research will therefore include the development, use and relevance of information technology competence as part of Public Administration. The development and study of Public Administration as an academic discipline, according to Henry, can be separated into the following five paradigms:

Paradigm 1: The politics/administration dichotomy, 1900–1926

The year 1900 is recognised as the starting point of the idea of the separation of politics and administration. The start of this paradigm corresponds to the publication of books written by Frank J Goodnow (1900) and Leonard D White (1926). In his book Politics and administration: a study of government, Goodnow states that there are two distinct functions of government namely politics and administration as stated in the title of his book. Goodnow (in Shafritz & Hyde 1997:27–29) shows a separation between political processes and administrative processes. Although information technology did not exist at that time, Goodnow opened the way for a focus on work based competence, for example the use of technology in administrative processes. His view was that public administration concentrated on executive government institutions and not on the policy making processes that precede the executive functions. Policy making was seen as the function of politicians rather than administrators (Goodnow in Shafritz and Hyde 1997:27–29).
The emphasis of paradigm 1 was on locus – where public administration takes place. According to Goodnow and other authors of this period public administration should focus on the government’s bureaucracy. Public administration received its first serious recognition from scholars during this period because of the public service movement that was taking place in American universities. Formal training programmes in public administration started at American universities between 1914 and the late 1920s. However, as information technology did not exist, it was not included in training programmes. As Goodnow (Goodnow in Shafritz and Hyde 1997:27–29) stated, training programmes at this time focused mainly on government bureaucracy. Public administration became even more important in the 1920s with the publication of Leonard D White’s Introduction to the study of Public Administration in 1926, the first textbook entirely devoted to the field of Public Administration study (Henry 1992:21–23). White’s textbook focused on the scope and nature of Public Administration and the emergence of administration. In chapter 1 of this book White states that “the objective of public administration is the most efficient utilization of resources at the disposal of officials and employees. In every direction good administration seeks the elimination of waste, the conservation of material and energy, and the most rapid and complete achievement of public purposes consistent with economy and the welfare of the worker” (White in Shafritz & Hyde 1997:45). Even at this time when information technology did not exist, White realised that resources must be utilised to eliminate waste and that public work should be completed as quickly and effectively as possible.

Paradigm 2: The principles of administration, 1927–1937

During 1927 WF Willoughby’s book, Principles of Public Administration was published as the second textbook in the field of public administration (Henry 1992:23). Other influential writers that contributed to this paradigm include, Mary Parker Follet’s Creative experience, HenrI Fayol’s Industrial and general management and James D Mooney and Alan C Reiley’s Principles of organisation. All these writings included important aspects of administration.
Another important contribution was made by Frederick W Taylor’s Principles of scientific management. Hanekom (1988:70) states that the “scientific management” view of public administration resulted in a need for trained public administrators.
Luther H Gulick and Lyndall Urwick highlighted the principles of administration in their book titled Papers on the science of Administration, a landmark study for Public Administration that was published in 1937. This study emphasised the principles of administration or the functions of those involved in administration. This study was written during the industrial revolution and humans were seen as an extension of the machine. Gulick interpreted this as technical efficiency. The introduction of the machine changed the work environment and increased specialisation was needed. Workers were divided into those who can and those who can’t use a particular instrument or machine, for example a typewriter effectively (Mosher 1981:148–149; cf Gulick in Shafritz and Hyde 1997:81–83). Although information technology did not exist at that stage, one can argue that writers such as Gulick and Urwick paved the way for the inclusion of technology in administration at a later stage, for example to use a machine along with humans to increase specialisation and efficiency. Gulick and Urwick also proposed the seven principles of administration and gave students of Public Administration the anagram POSDCORB. Each letter in the word represents one important function that a public official should do (Prasad, Prasad & Satyanarayana 1989:95). The anagram is explained in Table 3.2:
Stene (1940:1–2) writes in the book Perspective in administrative theory that the concept of POSDCORB has been cited as the symbol of traditional or “classical” theory of Public Administration. These recognisable steps were seen as the principles of administration. These steps represent the functions of those engaged in administration (Stene 1940:2). In this phase of the paradigm the subject matter of Public Administration was identified for the purpose of study (Henry 1992:23). It was also during this time that students of Public Administration established the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) which functions as the primary association of scholars and practitioners of public administration and is responsible for the journal Public Administration review (Henry 1992:24).

Paradigm 3: Public Administration and Political Science, 1938–1947

During this time, Public Administration as a discipline and as an activity was challenged and received a lot of resistance from various authors. In 1938 Chester I Barnard’s The function of the executive was published. The impact of Bernard’s book on Public Administration was not overwhelming but it had a considerable influence on Herbert A Simon when he was writing his critique on the field of Public Administration (Henry 1992:25). Simon’s article The proverbs of administration that was published in the Public Administration Review stated that there could not be any principles of administration. Simon stated that for every principle of administration, an equally plausible and acceptable contradictory principle can be found (Simon in Shafritz & Hyde 1997:127).
As a result of this critique, writers left the field and the study of Public Administration and the subject was deprived of an own identity (Henry 1992:29). In 1952 Roscoe Martin published an article in the American Political Science Review stating that political science should continue to dominate Public Administration (Martin 1952:665). Dissent from public administration accelerated and students of Public Administration returned to the field of Political Science. Public Administration was threatened by absorption into other branches of administrative sciences such as business administration. Public Administration was critiqued heavily at this time and as a result nearly disappeared (Henry 1992:29). Although it was during this time that Konrad Zuse started developing the first computer in Germany, technology still did not form part of Public Administration education or government (Computer hope 2009:online).

Paradigm 4: Public Administration as Management, 1956–1970

During this period some Public Administration writers and practitioners began searching for alternatives, for example the use of management to develop the study of Public Administration again. According to Henry (1992:33) there is an overlap in time for paradigm 3 and 4; both the political science and management paradigms had a loss of trust in the study and identity of Public Administration. However, management as a paradigm provided a new focus and during the 1960s a new school of thought developed known as the “New Public Administration” (Henry 1992:33). Public Administration was still at this time part of Political Science programmes but in the United States of America the need developed for administration to be studied as a part of management. By 1962 nearly a fifth of the business administration programmes in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico combined the study of Business Administration with the study of Economics, Public Administration and other social sciences (Henry 1992:34).
A conference held at Syracuse University in 1968 with Dwight Waldo and a group of young Public Administration thinkers and students produced, Towards a new Public Administration, published in 1971, that remains the most important work in this area (Greene 2005:60). Paradigm 4 also saw a rise in professionalism for the practitioner and the founding of the National Academy of Public Administration in 1967. Although a new wealth of literature was produced in the subject area (Greene 2005:60) and although information technology and the use of computers grew during the 1960s with an increased use of memory space for computers and the selling of computers for the use in businesses, technology as a field of study was still not part of Public Administration education. However, mention of technology was made in an article by Douglas M McGregor titled The human side of enterprise published in 1957 that stated “it has become trite to say that industry has the fundamental know-how to utilize physical science and technology for the material benefit of mankind ….” (McGregor in Shafritz & Hyde 1997:192). Although the technology mentioned by McGregor refers to new development in industry, it does lead the way for including technology in Public Administration.

Paradigm 5: Public Administration as Public Administration, 1970 to date

In 1970 the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) was founded (Henry 1992:43). At this time Public Administration was known and acknowledged as a separate field of study and focused on areas of state, local government, executive management, administrative law and aspects of public interest (Henry 1992:43). The curricula of graduate Public Administration programmes reflected these aspects (Henry 1992:43).
NASPAA adopted standards of excellence for Public Administration education and members of the association agreed to vigorously pursue the goal of bringing a strong professional focus to the field of Public Administration (Uveges 1982:93). Since the start of the 1970s Public Administration has been well established in the United States of America with its own professional associations, accreditation and professional journals. Public Administration has developed as a rich body of literature that is multidisciplinary and theoretical (Henry 1992:43–45).
Public Administration scholars in the United States of America contributed greatly to the development and progress of Public Administration as an academic discipline. However, in Europe, France took the lead in developing the theory and practice of public administration (Cloete 1986:41). According to Cloete (1986:41) writers like Jean-Charles Bodin with his Principes d’administration publique in 1808, Vivien’s Etudes administrative in 1845 and Aucoc’s Conferences sur Ladministration et le droit administrative in 1969 contributed greatly to the development of Public Administration in France. Lorenz von Stein (1815–1890), a German economist, sociologist and public administration scholar (Wikipedia 2010:online) is widely regarded as the founder of Public Administration as an academic subject in Europe (Thornhill 2006:794). At the time when Von Stein was a professor in Vienna, Public Administration was considered as being part of administrative law (Thornhill 2006:794). This was in line with the administrative thought in the rest of Europe, which strayed into a purely judicial approach resulting in the Administrative Law turning into the focal point of scholarly interest in most European studies in Public Administration (Langrod 1961:71).
Von Stein is known for applying Hegel’s dialectical method of argumentation to Public Administration trying to improve the systematic nature of the subject (Wikipedia 2010:online). Although Von Stein may be recognised as the founder of Public Administration as a separate subject field in Europe, Langrod (1961:74) points out that he developed his ideas on the work of other scholars who actually deserved to be credited for founding this subject field. He argued that scholars such as Fisch, Phieffer, Rossig, Jung Seckendorff, Gasser and Dithmar provided the transition from the somewhat abstract approach to a more concrete approach in describing Public Administration in Europe (Langrod 1961:74).
In Britain, nothing was written about Public Administration as a field of study for many years (Cloete 1986:41). The authors who entered the field of Public Administration did so indirectly in their writings on Political Science and History (Cloete 1986:41). Even during the twentieth century very little was done in Britain to develop Public Administration. As a result, Britain was far behind the United States of America and Europe in the development and education of Public Administration (Cloete 1986:41).
Chapman (1993:166) states that Public Administration courses at British universities were provided in departments of politics as part of a political degree. Although not a requirement, university courses in Public Administration were established already between 1926 and 1936 (Chapman 1993:169). These courses were continued and even expanded after World War II, but according to Langrod (1961:94), most of the research and writing was either purely descriptive, judicial and extremely specialised, or technical. Although a number of university professors were engaged in accumulating and constructing practical Public Administration knowledge, they were, according to Langrod (1961:94), hesitant to refer to Public Administration as a science. It was only during the 1940s that the first chair of Public Administration was established at Oxford University (Chapman 1993:167–168).
However, important changes during the 1960s and 1970s in Britain led to unprecedented expansion of university education while the government, in addition, created a new category in higher education called polytechnics (Chapman 1993:168). Six of these polytechnics launched full-time degree programmes in Public Administration involving practical experience or placements in public administration (Chapman 1993:168). Not only have the programmes of these institutions been designed for vocational purposes, but they have expanded their technological focus by acquiring contracts “at home and overseas for offering training programmes or public sector management consultancies” (Chapman 1993:169).
Since 1970 information technology and computers developed rapidly along with the internet (Spaulding 2009:online). It was also during this time that writers started thinking about and including information technology in Public Administration education. Klay (1982:7), for example, stated that the computer holds great promise to convey technical knowledge and skills to the administrator of the future. Snellen and Van de Donk (1998:5) write in their book Public Administration in an information age that the acquisition, storage, handling and communication of technology are directly related to all aspects of public administration.
Kramer et al (1986:595) state that knowledge and skills about the use of computers are important assets for Public Administration graduates to have. They also say that computing needs to be integrated into the Public Administration curriculum and taught to students, since many students do not have computer knowledge or skills. Therefore, Public Administration education in the growing information society could include computer literacy; computer literacy can be seen as a form of literacy like, for example, reading, writing and mathematics. Computer literacy means the ability to use a computer and to understand how a computer works (Wikipedia Encyclopaedia 2007:online).
Computer literacy also includes having an appreciation of how a computer can relate to the work situation and the ability to create and complete work with a computer (Wikipedia Encyclopaedia 2007:online). Bustamante (2008:online) agrees with Kramer and states that the use of technology in Public Administration education will prepare students with knowledge and skills to function properly in the public service. A wealth of articles, books and conference papers on information technology and Public Administration was written during this time, for example The computer revolution in public administration: the impact of information technology on government by Pitt and Smith, published in 1984, and Information technology and computer applications in public administration: issues and trends by Garson, published in 1996.
Electronic government also became a relevant topic at this time with authors writing on various topics related to technology and e-government, for example e-Government: information and communication technology in public administration by Trauner that was published in 2002. Garson’s book Public information technology and e-government: managing the virtual state that was published in 2006 and e-Government research: policy and management that was published by Norris in 2008, focus on the worldwide use of e-government and the development of web government. The next section will show that authors in South Africa also wrote extensively about the development of Public Administration education, information technology and e-government.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH DESIGN
1.1 General introduction
1.2 Motivation of the research topic
1.3 Problem statement
1.4 Objective and aims of this research
1.5 Conceptual analysis
1.6 Other terminology associated with the research
1.7 Preliminary literature review
1.8 Research design and methodology
1.9 Framework for this research project
CHAPTER 2 THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF UNIVERSITIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The philosophy of higher education
2.3 Origin and traditional role and function of universities
2.4 Changing role of universities and higher education
2.5 The university of the future
2.6 The information society
2.7 Conclusion
CHAPTER 3 THE DEVELOPMENT AND RELEVANCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION EDUCATION
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The development of Public Administration education
3.3 The development of Public Administration education in South Africa
3.4 The relevance of Public Administration education in South Africa
3.5. Requirements for Public Administration education in South Africa
3.6 International standards for Public Administration education
3.7 Conclusion
CHAPTER 4 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLIC SERVICE
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Information technology use in South Africa
4.3 The benefits of using information technology in the public service
4.4 The use of information technology in the public service
4.5 Information technology skills required by public servants
4.6 Information technology skills in the private sector
4.7 The future of technology
4.8 Conclusion
CHAPTER 5 UNDERGRADUATE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CURRICULA IN SOUTH AFRICA
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The higher education landscape of South Africa
5.3 Public Administration curricula at South African universities
5.4 Conclusion
CHAPTER 6 UNDERGRADUATE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION MODULES THAT INCLUDE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Information technology in undergraduate Public Administration curricula
6.3 An evaluation of undergraduate Public Administration modules that include information technology against information technology skills required
6.4 Conclusion
CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Research summary
7.3 Final conclusion
7.4 Recommendations
LIST OF SOURCES
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