The principal dilemma in defining the"public" in public administration appears to have one with of dimension. Traditionally, the basis of definition for the term has been an institutional dimension. For example, the Department of Defense has been perceived by scholars as the legitimate locus of study for public administration, while the Lockheed Corporation was seen as beyond the field's proper locus of concern. These were institutional distinctions. Recently, however, this institutional dimension seems to be waning among scholars as a definition base, while a growing philosophic and ethical dimension appears to be waxing. Hence, we are witnessing the rise of such concerns for the field as"the public interest" and on"public affairs." As concepts, these terms tend implicitly to ignore institutional arrangements and concentrate instead on highly normative issues as they relate to the polity. Thus, rather than analyzing the Department of Defense as its legitimate locus of study, public administration finds itself scrutinizing the Department's relationships with Lockheed and other private contractors as these relationships affect the interests and affairs of the public. The normative dimension supplants the institutional dimension as a defining base for the locus of public administration.