The Mingling of Study and Practice in Public Administration

• Author: John M. Gaus
• Published date: 01 December 1951
• Date: 01 December 1951
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591295100400407
• Subject Matter: Articles

623

THE

MINGLING

OF

STUDY

AND

PRACTICE

IN

PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION

1

JOHN

M.

GAUS

Harvard

University

1

The

article

was

delivered

as

the

main

address

at

the

joint

luncheon

meeting

sponsored

by

the

Western

Political

Science

Association

and

the

Western

Chapters

of

the

American

Society

for

Public

Admin-

istration,

on

August

27,

1951,

during

the

fifth

annual

meeting

of

the

Western

Political

Science

Association.

Introductory

remarks

have

been

omitted

here.

HAVE

BEEN

preparing

this

paper

in

an

old

house

in

the

village

of

Prospect,

New

York,

in

the

region

where

I

lived

as

a

boy

fifty

years

ago,

and

where

my

wife

and

I

have

in

recent

years

been

spending

our

summers.

Prospect

is

not

a

summer

resort,

but

a

region

of

dairy

farms

on

the

edge

of

the

Adirondack

Mountains,

the

rooftree

of

New

York

State,

where

waters

flow

down

the

southern

slope

into

the

Hudson-

Mohawk

watershed,

and

down

the

northern

one

to

the

Black-St.

Lawrence.

To

explore

the

back

country

roads,

to

read

the

local

history,

provide

both

a

summer

recreation

and

a

stimulation

to

longer

and

wider

views

of

the

subject

matter

of

my

job

as

teacher.

The

range

of

my

own

personal

observation

of

the

local

region,

a

half-century

in

time

and

two

or

three

small

valleys

in

space,

gives

me

a

useful

cross-check

on

the

generalizations

that

are

so

much

our

stock

in

trade

in

the

study

and

teaching

of

social

institutions.

The

current

local

issues,

such

as

the

budget

of

the

high

school

district,

the

location

of

a

state

highway,

the

preservation

of

a

mountain

intervale

as

wilderness

as

against

its

flooding

for

a

power

site,

all

reveal

the

application

locally

of

general

social

changes

arising

from

technology,

both

physical

and

social.

Catastrophes

such

as

war

or

hurricane,

also

leave

their

mark.

Just

to

the

north

of

our

village,

in

what

I

had

always

thought

of

as

isolated

and

wild

country,

a

radar

tower

now

functions

as

part

of

the

northern

defenses

of

our

country;

the

big

blow

of

last

November

25 struck

down

so

much

timber

that

the

constitutional

pro-

hibition

against

lumbering

in

the

Adirondack

Preserve

has

been

modified

by

interpretation

to

permit

for

the

first

time

the

removal

of

timber

which

constitutes

a

fire

hazard.

The

longer

processes

of

social

change

arising

from

an

increase

in

the

proportion

of

the

aged

is

reflected

locally

in

the

easing

of

the

burden

of

elderly

people

through

social

insurance.

I

think

the

greatest

change

which

I

note

in

comparing

the

region

in

1900

with

today

comes

from

the

paved

highways.

They

have

transformed

the

life

of

the

countryside,

its

economy,

and

the

distribution

of

people;

their

influence

is

reflected

in

fiscal

policy,

allocation

of

functions

to

levels

and

jurisdictions

of

government,

the

provision

of

school

and

other

public

services.

Our

village,

like

many

others,

now

has

a

good

many

families