Similarities between Simon and Waldo on Traditional Management

Simon and Waldo's criticism of traditional public administration is based on different paths, but there is no doubt that they have seriously weakened the "knowledge base" of "orthodoxy". Simon criticized the research results of traditional public administration from the perspective of methodology (introducing logical positivism and behaviorism), while Waldo shook the "unquestionable" value orientation and attitude of traditional public administration from the perspective of value. Moreover, the dispute between China and the West objectively formed two completely different research paths, which led to the division of the original public administration scholars community and further increased the difficulty of internal integration of public administration. Generally speaking, Simon's path has promoted public administration to win its disciplinary status and academic recognition, but at the expense of "the legitimacy of public administration as a practice"; Waldo's path has found the normative value and constitutional principle for public administration, but at the same time, it has made public administration give up its efforts to strive for the status of a discipline and become a "specialty", which has reduced the "legitimacy of public administration as a discipline".