The Statesman

by Taylor, Henry; Schaefer, David Lewis; Schaefer, Roberta Rubel

• ISBN13: 9780275942854
• ISBN10: 0275942856
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-10-01
• Publisher: Praeger Pub Text

Summary

Sir Henry Taylor's classic treatise The Statesman, originally published in 1836, is the first modern book to be devoted to the subject of public administration. It has been read and studied by generations for its keen insights into the relationship between public administrators and elected officials in a democracy. It has also been appreciated for its wit. The present volume is the first twentieth-century edition to be based on the revised and expanded text that Taylor published in 1878 as part of his Collected Works. It is also the first edition to be fully annotated. The lengthy editors' introduction to this volume emphasizes the relevance of Taylor's thought to the fundamental issues of public administration in the contemporary United States. The editors demonstrate the superiority of Taylor's understanding of the relationship between politics and administration to the widely accepted model of that relation that derives from the thought of Woodrow Wilson. Above all, they argue, Taylor's insights merit our attention because they indicate how a properly organized civil service can be a locus of statesmanship in a democracy, fulfilling the intentions of the authors of the American Constitution in a contemporary context that differs significantly from what the Founders themselves anticipated.

Author Biography

DAVID LEWIS SCHAEFER is Associate Professor of Political Science at Holy Cross College.ROBERTA RUBEL SCHAEFER is Executive Director of the Worcester (Massachusetts) Municipal Research Bureau and Lecturer in Politics at Assumption College.

Table of Contents

Preface<BR>

Introduction: Sir Henry Taylor and the Study of Public Administration<BR>

Concerning the Education of Youth destined for a Civil Career<BR>

Of the Age at which Official and Parliamentary Life should commence<BR>

A Statesman's most pregnant Function lies in the Choice and Use of Instruments<BR>

On the Getting and Keeping of Adherents<BR>

In the Choice of Men how far Literary Merit may be a Guide<BR>

Of Official Style<BR>

On the Inferences of Merit or Demerit from Popularity, and something concerning False Reputations<BR>

Concerning Interviews<BR>

Concerning the Conscience of a Statesman<BR>

Concerning the Age at which a Statesman should marry, and what manner of Woman he should take to Wife<BR>

Concerning the Effects of Order and the Maintenance of Equanimity<BR>

Concerning certain Points of Practice<BR>

On Official Criticism<BR>

On the Arts of Rising<BR>

On Quarrelling<BR>

On the Ethics of Politics<BR>

On Consistency in a Statesman<BR>

On Secrecy<BR>

On Ambition<BR>

Concerning Rank as a Qualification for High Office<BR>

On Decisiveness<BR>

Concerning Reform of the Executive, and the Constitution of an Office or Establishment for Transacting the Business of a Minister<BR>

Further respecting the Establishment of a Minister-Private Secretaries-Clerks<BR>

Concerning Precis-writers, and Processes of Business<BR>

On the Methods by which a Statesman can upon occasion get his Work done out of Doors<BR>

On Parliamentary Interposition in Administrative Business<BR>

On Aids to Legislation to be derived from Executive Experience<BR>

Of the Manner in which able, and of the Manner in which indifferent Statesmen are deterred from availing themselves of able Service; and of the Evils which ensue from Men's Authority being in the inverse Ratio of their Abilities<BR>

On the Administration of Patronage<BR>

Concerning the Amusements of a Statesman<BR>

On Manners<BR>

Of Statesmen bred such, and of Statesmen bred in the Army, in the Navy, in Commerce, and at the Bar<BR>

The Statesman out of Office<BR>

Conclusion<BR>

Notes<BR>

Index