Book Reviews : Public Administration. MARSHALL E. DIMOCK and GLADYS O. DIMOCK. Third Edition. (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1964. Pp. vi, 410. $7.50.)
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296401700427 |
| Published date | 01 December 1964 |
| Date | 01 December 1964 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
814
the
Middle
East,
who
reject
private
oil
companies.
The
author
points
out
that
the
ideology
of
equalitarian
collectivism
came
easily
to
Mattei,
who
had
been
active
in
the
Italian
resistance
during
the
war.
He
also
concluded
that
private
oil
companies
are
losing
ground
because
they
fail
to
see
that
the
modern
corporation
is
a
semi-
autonomous
social
and
political
entity
serving
social
needs
and
not
just
the
maximiza-
tion
of
profits.
He
thinks
they
could
learn
a
great
deal
from
ENI,
which
advocates
mixed
corporations.
ENI
itself,
because
of
the
peculiar
balance
of
forces
in
Italian
politics,
is
actually
an
autonomous
foreign
policy-maker,
which,
in
his
term,
is
&dquo;para-
sovereign.&dquo;
At
present
ENI
is
in
the
process
of
changing
the
economic
balance
of
the
whole
Mediterranean
basin
by
developing
new
sources
of
oil
and
natural
gas
in
Sicily,
Libya,
and
elsewhere.
It
may
thereby
lose
some
of
the
advantages
of
buying
wherever
oil
was
to
be
had
at
a
discount.
Professor
Dechert’s
book
could be
read
profitably
by
many
outside
the
academic
field.
FRANK
MUNK
Reed
College
Public Administration.
MARSHALL
E.
DIMOCK
and
GLADYS
O.
DIMOCK.
Third
Edition.
(New
York:
Holt,
Rinehart
and
Winston,
Inc.,
1964.
Pp.
vi,
410.
$7.50.)
In
recent
years
the
content
of
public
administration
has
changed
from
essentially
a
legal,
structural,
and
procedural
approach
to
one
which
emphasizes
the
social
and
political
dynamics
of
administrative
action.
The
third
edition
of
this
widely
used
text
reflects
this
broadened
perspective.
Like
earlier
editions
it
&dquo;stresses
the
role
of
political
dynamics
and
discusses
the
relevance
for
public
administration
of
some
of
the
newer
insights
into
motivation
and
leadership
that
psychologists
are
studying.&dquo;
Also,
as
in
the
former
editions,
the
authors
focus
on
the
role
of
the
operating
adminis-
trator
by
emphasizing
what
he
&dquo;should
know
in
order
to
continue
his
education
throughout
a
career
in
the
public
service.&dquo;
The
authors’
conception
of
what
the
successful
operating
administrator
should
know
is
evidenced
by
the
expanded
emphasis
they
give
to
public
administration
as
a
field
of
knowledge
and
to
the
implications
of
the
social-political
context
of
the ad-
ministrative
process:
its
relations
to
society,
to
the
economy,
and
to
public
policy.
But
given
the
nature
of
this
orientation
it is
rather
surprising
that
several
of
their
earlier
chapters
dealing
with
the
President,
his
policy
staff,
the
central
staff
agencies,
the
departmental
system,
the
independent
regulatory
commissions,
and
government
corporations
plus
others
have
been
omitted
in
the
new
edition.
In
terms
of
their
approach
the
authors
emphasize
that
their
book
is
not
an
argu-
ment
for
any
particular
&dquo;structural&dquo;
or
&dquo;behavioral&dquo;
school
of
thought.
The
re-
curring
theme
is
that
&dquo;administration
is
an
art
and
potentially
it
is
also
a
science,
but
most
of
all
it
is
an
intricate
and
challenging
synthesis
of
many
elements.&dquo;
Their
approach
is
therefore
eclectic;
it is
designed
to
create
a
synthesis
&dquo;of
different
ele-
ments
as
the
subject,
the
art
and
the
science,
mature
[sic]
through
additional
insights
into
institutions
and
human
behavior.&dquo;
It
is
in
this
way
that
the
authors
attempt
to
bridge
the
cleavage
that
exists
between
those
who
are
operationally
oriented
and
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