A Review Of The Thinking Of The New Public Administration School

In the picture of the history of public administration study, the new public administration school is undoubtedly the most colorful. With the end of the "golden age" after the second world war,the western countries struggled in the pressure of turbulence and revolution as series of problems emerged in all aspects including the economy, politics, society and culture. The harsh reality posed a huge challenge to both public administration and public administration research. The traditional bureaucratic administration however, was unable to solve these major issues caused by the times, hence led to the decline of the government's credibility. The public administration study suffered an "identity crisis" as people began to challenge the legitimacy and authority of the government. The new public administration school arose at such a historic moment that Waldo called it "the Era of Turbulence". The new public administration school,basing on the idea of "social justice" and focusing on the public purpose and rational value of public administration, provides a real normativity basis for the public administration study.The development of the new public administration school is inseparable from the joint efforts of the outstanding scholars of the field. The successful convening of the three Minnowbrook meetings has not only consolidated and continued the tradition of the new public administration school but also written a legend in the history of the public administration study. The content of the new public administration school is extremely broad, including the idea of fairness in the process of public administration,the composite theory of social justice, the idea of intergenerational equity, and the viewpoint that the principles of efficiency and fairness are complementary and compatible in the process of public administration. To solve the identity crisis of public administration, the new public administration calls for the "publicness" to come back to the field of public administration, emphasizes administrative ethics and government responsibility, actively seeks revolution, establishes dynamic and open organizations, encourages the expansion of citizen participation, and pays attention to fostering civic spirit. Under the unremitting efforts of the new public administration scholars, the values of fairness, justice, democracy and equality return to the public administration, which greatly promotes the prosperity of public administration, brings new ideas to us in studying public administration, and points out a direction for us to achieve a better life. Since 1887, the western administration study has become matured with various schools established through the stages of start-up, evolution,deepening and expanding. The new public administration is like a bridge, one end of which inherits the traditional value of the traditional public administration study and the other has affected the development of new public service ideas. The new public administration however, cannot penetrate and expand to the entire field of public administration as its pursuit is too idealistic to become a dominant paradigm of public administration, and its influence cannot reach that of the the traditional public administration.Although the new public administration school has many shortcomings, its merits overweigh. It has made a profound impact on the development of both the theory and the practice of the public administrative study as it supplements and develops the mainstream theory of public administration, critically reflects on the traditional public administration, and promotes the value of social justice. China's administrative reform is how to build an administrative management system with "normative conduct,coordinated operation, transparent work, and honest and efficient staff". The reform will lose its direction if the administrative value is lacking in the process of the reform.Considering that the new public administration school shall still be an important reference for the present practice of China's administration that is facing various of problems in the process of the reform, despite the difference of the realities of China and western countries.