journal of public affairs education - NASPAA *The Global Standard ...

Enhancing Professional Socialization Through the Metaphor of Traditionsets of interacting variables. Indeed, per Weber’s (1949) method, the varyingmeanings and prescriptions for these “generic” elements are used to generateideal-types. Each tradition of public administration is based on a “geneticcode” of mutually exclusive legitimacy logics—Constitutional, Discretionary,and Collaborative—which respectively create three distinct roleconceptualizations of the Bureaucrat, Entrepreneur, and Steward.A brief narrative can explain how these role conceptualizations weregenerated using the genetic meanings of a specific set of generic elements. Eachtradition has a unique perspective and description of the governance contextthat is assumed in its theories. The world as seen from this perspective is takenas the reality that theory either responds to or promotes. Ontology andpolitical philosophy frame the underlying meaning of democratic legitimacythat is promoted by a given tradition. In turn, this political ontology prescribeshow political authority should be distributed to government, and theappropriate scope of action delegated to administration. In order to ensure thatneither authority nor scope is being overstepped, each tradition prescribesspecific ways to achieve responsibility and accountability. These limitations onscope of action, and paths to responsibility and accountability, further dictatethe type of decision-making rationality that should be used. Furthermore, thesecombined elements dictate the type of organizing style best suited forimplementation. All together, these elements imply a specific roleconceptualization for public administration and administrators in a democraticsociety, including their relationship to elected officials and citizens. Through allof these constraints, the behavior of the administrator is channeled into aspecific role pattern.By way of a basic sketch, in the role of Bureaucrat, actions are framed bythe rules and procedures commanded by the separated powers of theconstitutional order, through the organizational hierarchy, in order to ensurelegitimacy. This approach empowers the role of elected official, to whomadministrators must be accountable. In the role of Entrepreneur, actions areframed by the independent pursuit of various performance criteria, as standinsfor the legitimate public good, which empowers public administrators asdiscretionary experts who are responsible for desirable outcomes. In the role ofSteward, legitimate actions are framed by the standards of direct democracy,and are answerable to the citizens impacted by the decision or action, therebyempowering citizens as democratic sovereigns to whom administrators mustbe responsive. Table 1 provides a summary of the findings pertaining to eachtradition and its unique role conceptualization. While these details are beyondthe scope of this discussion, they are offered as examples of the way that keyconcepts of public administration can be organized via the metaphor oftradition. These elements are common concepts, covered in the corecurriculum of most MPA programs. (See Table 1.)Journal of Public Affairs Education 297