Public Administration and the Military

Abstract

A new student of public administration trying to relate his/her academic studies to the practical field of public administration soon finds that the practical focus is narrow; with few exceptions, it is tranditionally concerned with the executive branches of national, state, and local governments and their efforts to carry out public policy. Indeed, one standard text specifically excludes the judicial and legislative agencies within government even though they are also clearly involved in the administration of public policy.1 The student discovers that the focus narrows even further, however, as he/she becomes aware that within the Executive Branch, public administration concern lies with the administration and carrying out of domestic public policy; almost conspicuous by its exclusion from the traditional field is concern with the administration of public or international policy. Hence, it is not surprising to the student that the field of public administration also excludes concern with military administration and its effects on public policy, since the military is an instrument of foreign policy. Likewise, the student of military administration soon finds the military neither readily nor easily