On the basic content and theoretical characteristics of traditional administrative theory.

A: Traditional administrative science was formed in the 1920s and 1930s of 19, and occupied a dominant position until the 1960s. The main representatives are Wilson, Goodnow, Max Weber and others. The main theories include:

(1) The dichotomy between politics and administration is an important theoretical basis of traditional public administration. This theory was first put forward by Wilson, an American scholar, in his famous paper "Research on Public Administration", and became the symbol of the birth of public administration. Later, the traditional public administration established by Goodnow on this basis has always emphasized that public administration should be completely separated from politics, politics is the field of policy formulation, and public administration is the field of completely "value-neutral" policy implementation. It emphasizes the difference between value and fact, and holds that the purpose of public administration lies in how to better implement policies and how to better implement policies. As for what to implement, it is entirely a task in the political field. As Goodnow thought in his book Politics and Action, politics is a process of achieving coordination between the expression of national will and its implementation. What needs to be pointed out in particular here is that although Goodnow once pointed out that political control over administration should be limited, not absolute, after a long period of development, the traditional administrative management theory has been embodied in the administrative practice of government agencies, which is manifested in the control relationship between administrative officials and civil servants.

(2) Public administration emphasizes that the principle of efficiency is the highest principle and the only value orientation. This is closely related to the influence of the scientific management movement at that time, which emphasized the implementation of enterprise management with scientific methods and standards to improve administrative efficiency. With the development of natural science, the complex administrative and political activities of the public are accurately calculated and described, so as to determine a standardized, precise and scientific institutional framework and operational norms.

(3) Maximum. Weber's theory of bureaucracy is the core research field of traditional administrative science, and it is also the inevitable result of the principle of highest efficiency and the fixed concept of political-administrative dichotomy of traditional administrative school. Public administration adopts systematic or jurisprudence research methods, with formal government organizations as the main research field. In their view, bureaucracy is the most efficient organizational form based on authority and rationality. It is far superior to other organizational forms in terms of command and control, accuracy, stability and rigor of discipline, and reliability of efficiency.