Complementarity of Politics and Administration as a Legitimate Alternative to the Dichotomy Model

Although the politics-administration dichotomy model has frequently been presented as historically important but conceptually and empirically faulty, the criticisms have missed two fundamental points. First, it is not—as commonly presumed—the founding theory of public administration in the United States but rather a poorly grounded characterization of the early literature that took hold in the late 1950s. The term dichotomy was rarely used before that time and never used by the “founders” of the field who were supposed to have invented the model. Second, there is an alternative model of complementarity that has been present in the literature from Wilson onward. It stresses interdependency, reciprocal influence, and extensive interaction between elected officials and administrators along with recognition of the need for distinct roles and political supremacy. The politics-administration complementarity model—elaborated here with references to the “old” public administration literature prior to 1960—offers a strong foundation on which we can build.