production progress-these barriers will soon
be a thing of the past.
But to make full use in administration of
these new tools will require a stupendous effort
at understanding, communication, and inven-
tion by the students and practitioners of ad-
ministration as well as by the installers and
salesmen of the new gadgets.
The Use and Control of the Expert
MANY years ago, the late Jan Smuts said to
me, "The use and control of the expert is
the greatest problem of our generation." This
is still true; or shall we say even more true to-
day because we have with each decade more
and more specialties and experts, who know
more and more about less and less, and there-
fore less and less about the totality of any sit-
uation.
This development of expertise is, I am con-
vinced, desirable, and in any case inescapable.
This inevitable development creates more and
more steps between the experts and the "man
in the street," who has become the ultimate
ruler in human affairs under democracy and
the pluralistic universe of values.
In our area of responsibility, that is in gov-
ernment, how shall we fill in the steps between
the experts who must do the work and the man
in the street who must have the final say on
matters of ultimate result and value?
I submit that public administration and po-
litical science must give more attention to this
problem over the next years than it has in the
past. It is not enough to say that we will build
up the operating hierarchy with experts on
the firing line, and with generalists in the cen-
tral office coordinating and directing the enter-
prise on the basis of "policy decisions" made
by politically responsible and generally elected
officials. In the process of policy formulation
and decision we cannot dispense with the ex-
pert so neatly. Nor have we exhausted the
problem when we dispose of line and staff
functions. We need more than the "service of
knowledge." We need also the service of ap-
praisal, of foresight, of values; yes, and the
service of character as well. Thus the old
dichotomy between "politics" and "adminis-
tration" breaks down, and we need to develop
a new doctrine and practice for the fullest pos-
sible use of the expert in an appropriate frame-
work of political and professional responsi-
bility.
There is involved in this also a considera-
tion of the problem of communication be-
tween the expert and the "common man"-
and we are all common men except in narrow
fields-and of the education of mankind to ac-
cept and use the expert.
Conclusion
ROM these all too brief statements I hope
you will apprehend why I feel that we in
public administration stand now at the thresh-
old of new developments of the greatest sig-
nificance. Looking into the future, and assum-
ing that we can live without a war which will
bring back the Dark Ages, it is my expectation
that we in administration will step forward
and meet the demands of this new age. In so
doing, it seems to me that five tasks lie ahead:
1. The adaptation of administration to meet the
needs of the new environment, particularly inter-
nationally, in the economic field, and in the rising
"great cities."
2. The recognition that we are dealing with pur-
posefully organized human action generally rather
than with public administration alone, thus bring-
ing us into direct partnership with those whose
concern is business administration.
3. A fresh attack on manpower for government,
that is, what we call "personnel administration."
4. An understanding of the great possibilities of
automation.
5. A fresh exploration of the place of the expert in democratic administration
production progress-these barriers will soon be a thing of the past. But to make full use in administration of these new tools will require a stupendous effort at understanding, communication, and inven- tion by the students and practitioners of ad- ministration as well as by the installers and salesmen of the new gadgets. The Use and Control of the Expert MANY years ago, the late Jan Smuts said to me, "The use and control of the expert is the greatest problem of our generation." This is still true; or shall we say even more true to- day because we have with each decade more and more specialties and experts, who know more and more about less and less, and there- fore less and less about the totality of any sit- uation. This development of expertise is, I am con- vinced, desirable, and in any case inescapable. This inevitable development creates more and more steps between the experts and the "man in the street," who has become the ultimate ruler in human affairs under democracy and the pluralistic universe of values. In our area of responsibility, that is in gov- ernment, how shall we fill in the steps between the experts who must do the work and the man in the street who must have the final say on matters of ultimate result and value? I submit that public administration and po- litical science must give more attention to this problem over the next years than it has in the past. It is not enough to say that we will build up the operating hierarchy with experts on the firing line, and with generalists in the cen- tral office coordinating and directing the enter- prise on the basis of "policy decisions" made by politically responsible and generally elected officials. In the process of policy formulation and decision we cannot dispense with the ex- pert so neatly. Nor have we exhausted the problem when we dispose of line and staff functions. We need more than the "service of knowledge." We need also the service of ap- praisal, of foresight, of values; yes, and the service of character as well. Thus the old dichotomy between "politics" and "adminis- tration" breaks down, and we need to develop a new doctrine and practice for the fullest pos- sible use of the expert in an appropriate frame- work of political and professional responsi- bility. There is involved in this also a considera- tion of the problem of communication be- tween the expert and the "common man"- and we are all common men except in narrow fields-and of the education of mankind to ac- cept and use the expert. Conclusion ROM these all too brief statements I hope you will apprehend why I feel that we in public administration stand now at the thresh- old of new developments of the greatest sig- nificance. Looking into the future, and assum- ing that we can live without a war which will bring back the Dark Ages, it is my expectation that we in administration will step forward and meet the demands of this new age. In so doing, it seems to me that five tasks lie ahead: 1. The adaptation of administration to meet the needs of the new environment, particularly inter- nationally, in the economic field, and in the rising "great cities." 2. The recognition that we are dealing with pur- posefully organized human action generally rather than with public administration alone, thus bring- ing us into direct partnership with those whose concern is business administration. 3. A fresh attack on manpower for government, that is, what we call "personnel administration." 4. An understanding of the great possibilities of automation. 5. A fresh exploration of the place of the expert in democratic administration
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