Comparative Study and the Section on Comparative and International Administration (SICA)

Abstract

Krishna K. Tummala, Kansas State University C omparative study is nothing new. Aristotle (384322 BC) and his students studied not simply the Athenian polis, but 158 different constitutions. Even then, they knew the advantages of comparing experiences as a learning device. Woodrow Wilson wrote in 1887 that long as we know only ourselves, we know nothing. With the free and fast movement of people across national boundaries through cyberspace, this exhortation is more pertinent now. Yet comparative study is not popular. Only 14 percent of NASPAAs about 230 member schools offered an option in this area in 1996. (How popular this area of study is among students, and what actually is being taught are altogether different matters!) Why is this so? For one thing, Public Administration has had scant respect among mainstream Political Scientists. Heinz Eulau, President of the American Political Science Association, called it in 1977 an intellectual wasteland. Even among Public Administration professionals, comparativists are a small minority who encounter a myriad of mundane problems such as language and cultural barriers, personal sacrifices such as separation from families, eating unfamiliar foods, health problems where medical facilities are poor, and so on. There is a lack of adequate or reliable data, only compounded by the natural suspicion of native powers that be in extending their support to an unknown foreigner whose motives are often suspect. Funding for research as well as publication outlets are scarce. Even when a piece is accepted, the time lag before publication may render the work out of date if the regime has changed in the interim. On top of all these, there is the lack of consensus among comparativists as to what they should study, much less how to study it. Given all this, the comparativists must be a hardy and unique lot to have accomplished what they already have. Incorporated in 1973 as the first section of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) the Section on International and Comparative Administration (SICA) is the organ to promote this area of study. On the eve of its silver jubilee, it is time to take stock and look forward. The following three articles comprise a mini symposium with this double goal. Hopefully these essays will provoke dialogue among colleagues and encourage more comparative and international studies. No man or woman is an island. We must understand ourselves and each other better. The comparative perspective is a powerful tool for understanding.