Public Administration and Politics are interdependent. Government politics, in the simplest terms, is the process by which government officials such as the senate members make decisions for the country and its people[i]. And Public Administration involves the implementation of said decisions or policies[ii]. In this article, we will consider two definitions of government politics, and discuss the topic in light of both perspectives.
The first one is where politics is defined as the making of laws or decisions. And the second view is when an administrator is influenced by the political party or leaders’ agenda[iii].
First Viewpoint
According to the first definition; the answer to the question Can Public Administration work independent of government politics is no. Because the two are so closely related that one would collapse without the other. The overall purpose of administration is to follow the policies and laws that are created by the government. If there were no government politics (the act of making group decisions) then there would be nothing for Public Administration to implement.
Second Standpoint
If you consider government politics as a leader influencing an administrator’s job, then there is generally little of that happening in the administrative offices. So in that case, yes administration can work independently of politics.[iv] Because a Public Administrators’ job is to implement policies irrespective of any loyalties or party agenda, they are required to stay objective.
As a Public Administrator, you can decrease the level of political influence on the administrative duties by focusing on the policies and not being swayed by the political situation around you[v]. Hence, the everyday administrative tasks can be carried out without the governments’ influence but the overall policy-making and law-approving process cannot happen without politics.
It is important to note that there can be a clash between politics and public administration. That happens when bureaucrats or administrators refuse to carry out the law for any reason. In such a case, the government fails to function. To prevent that from happening there needs to be a balance between political control and professional independence.[vi]
Conclusion
The bottom line is this; Public Administration and politics are highly interlinked. A public administrator can do his/ her daily job independent of government politics. But major decisions such as budget allocation, incarceration laws and police support etc. are influenced by government politics. Politics lays out the guidelines for public administrators to follow. These guidelines go through an extensive approval process so that the policies represent the public’s interest rather than any one person’s agenda.
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