Philosophy

Let us imagine ourselves sitting in one of Platos lectures in a warm summer morning under the blue sky of Athens during the ancient times. Then, one of his students asked him of his position on the issue of citizen participation in public administration, what do you think will his answer be. Using his works and interpretation of his works, let us speculate what those answers could be.

    His answer could be found implicitly stated in Platos myth of metals. From this, my thesis is that Plato would never recognize the participation of common citizens in public administration in decision making. According to his myth of metals, the leaders of the society ought to be the philosopher-kings (Plato, 360 BCE). These philosopher-kings will undergo intensive education with regards to their decision-making skills. This is the reason why Plato also proposed that the education of such leaders be in accordance with what he stated as the allegory of the cave (Plato, 360 BCE).

    He captured it very well in the final statements of his discourse with Socrates, Adeimantus, Glaucon and Thrasymacus stated in Book V of The Republic, he said
And I think that, if there is to be a chance of our escaping, we must explain to them whom we mean when we say that philosophers are to rule in the State then we shall be able to defend ourselves There will be discovered to be some natures who ought to study philosophy and to be leaders in the State and others who are not born to be philosophers, and are meant to be followers rather than leaders (Plato, 360 BCE).
   
Public administration and decision making are viewed by Plato as noble undertakings and thus demand such condition that is the philosopher-kings hold the leadership for the common good of the society. Although, these may seem as an alien idea, many states and other political community across the history of mankind have employed such principle in governing their peoples. A critical point however is that the philosopher-king should have the wisdom to know the will of the people. His decisions must be based on an honest to goodness feedback from his constituency while at the same time being careful so as not to be populist. He will not make decisions simply because the people wills it but it is because it is the wisest decision to make. So while we say that Plato may not require citizen participation in public administration decision, the requirements of being a philosopher-king would require a deep understanding of the will of the people. The act of the philosopher-king trying to feel the pulse of the people is where lies the inherent participation of the citizens in letting the philosopher-king know their thoughts and feelings.  

What position do you think Aristotle would take on the issue of citizen participation in public administration decision making Why

    Now, imagine if Aristotle was one of the students present during the said lecture of Plato, his reaction could very well be expected as contradictory to what the latter said. Indeed, Aristotle was one of the students of Plato but his ideas were rather contrary to what his teacher thought. Hence, my thesis statement is that Aristotle views the participation of citizens in public administration as an integral aspect in the decision making within such field.

    In Aristotles Nichomachean Ethics, he presented an inductive view of society and thus with how public administration must be directed. He considers the rational part of the soul of the individual citizen as being divided into two (Aristotle, 350 BCE). The soul being referred to in his works is the human mind and it consists of two parts  the rationally calculating and the scientific (Aristotle, 350 BCE). From such comes the five virtues of thought of an individual (Aristotle, 350 BCE). Hence, it can be construes that Aristotle gives much regard to the human propensity to think for himself and make rational decisions.

    According to Aristotle, a citizen should take an active part in public administration and governance within the state for they are the essential elements that comprise a political community (Aristotle, 350 BCE). He considers the citizen as the one who rules and the one being ruled. Citizenship within the city-state or polis requires one to be actively involved in the administration and governance of such political entity (Aristotle, 350 BCE). Although the government of ancient Greece is basically elitist and patriarchal, the basic positive belief in human nature of Aristotle led him to outline the first ideas on democracy and government of the people, by the people and for the people.

In light of the constitutional theory and worldview of the Founders of the American republic, which of these two positions on the issue of citizen participation do you think is most appropriate for American public administrators Why

    With such principles laid down by Plato and Aristotle concerning the participation of the citizen in public administration and governance, there seems to be a conflict form where should we ground our principles of such undertaking. Furthermore, in my view, this issue should be no less than different from the question of what the better principle to use is or how to deliver efficient and effective decision making skills for the state. This could be brought into further light using the perspectives of American constitutionalism and the worldview employed by our Founding Fathers.

    This view prompts us to go back to our Declaration of Independence which is the brainchild of the flaming desire towards the liberation of the country. The Declaration articulates the political theory employed by our Founding Fathers and the list of administrative abuses by the colonists. The Declaration of Independence is a significant aspect of the establishment of the public administration system in the country.

    The basic tenets of the Declaration of Independence echoes to a certain extent Aristotles belief in humanityour inherent rights, the equality of all human beings and our search for happiness and perfection.

    Woodrow Wilson was one of the pioneers in the field and laid down the primary principles in governance that is the politics-administration dichotomy (Scott, n. y.). Recently, however, there has been a renewed debate on what approach to employ in administering decision making in governance. The debates have been mostly centered on whether we should pursue a deterministic vision of the state or a purposive state (Spicer, 2005).

    However, going back to my thesis statement and based on the contending views of determinists and purposive state advocates, the question remains as is whether we regard the citizens as the significant elements of governance or allow the leaders to do the job and let the former on the sidelines, what is most important is how to deliver the necessary decision making skills in governance and provide the state and citizens with effectiveness and efficiency, as what Wilson had envisioned.