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Enhancing Professional Socialization Through the Metaphor of Traditionseparated powers of government. Decision-making by the administration in thiscase is deontological, with procedural rules handed down through thebureaucracy from political leaders who have managed the substantive issues athand. Therefore, the instrumental rationality is administrative in nature, andseeks the most efficient way(s) to achieve the given goals. In order to achievehierarchical accountability, analysis techniques tend to be quantitative, andprocedural measures of an output nature are of great importance. Because this isthe Constitutional norm, we must prepare students to work with electedrepresentatives who may expect them to play this functionary role.In the Discretionary tradition, the analyst uses expertise to guide and interpretpolicy independently from the political system. Rather than following strictdirectives from the elected leaders, the analyst is asked to act in an influentialadvisory capacity, and is then given large amounts of discretion to achieve adoptedgoals with high levels of efficiency and effectiveness. Analysts not only influencepolicy designs and choice, but also determine how it will be implemented andevaluated. Decision-making, therefore, is dependent upon objectives defined byexperts using a teleological form of rationality to pursue both technical andnormative ends. In this regard, practices such as cost-benefit analysis are inpartnership with social science evaluation approaches. In this tradition, outcomemeasures play a greater role in analysis and evaluation, and political analysis mustbe added, in order to ensure successful adoption and implementation of favoredpolicies. Given the highly complex nature of public policy, this is the mostcommon role that analysts are asked to play, which puts expertise in a greaterleadership position, as part of a blurred political and administrative rolecontinuum. In fact, many reform efforts since the birth of the field have beengeared toward empowering administrative expertise in these processes.In the Collaborative tradition, the analyst offers substantive expertise as anequal participant in a self-governing network—being fully on tap but never ontop. Thus, all forms of technical and substantive analysis and evaluation are putto work toward goals defined collaboratively by all those affected. Decisionmakingand problem-solving activities occur through deliberative, consensusbasedprocesses. Here, critical and interpretive forms of policy analysis andevaluation must be brought to bear on the process, in addition to output- andoutcome-oriented techniques.It also should be noted that research methods beyond these applied analyticaltechniques are related to the ontological assumptions of the traditions and themanner in which they are manifested in epistemology. The Constitutionaltradition is closely linked to positivism by its reliance on deontological rules andprocedures. The Discretionary tradition, on the other hand, is very behaviorallyoriented, and is more closely linked to post-positivist approaches to knowledge.Finally, the Collaborative tradition is linked to a postmodern orphenomenological understanding of knowledge. Ideally, all three should be310 Journal of Public Affairs Education
Enhancing Professional Socialization Through the Metaphor of Traditioncovered in courses on quantitative and qualitative research. The notion ofdiverse traditions helps clarify the meaning and importance of multiepistemologicalapproaches and methodological pluralism.Financial and Information ManagementWhile it is common for information management and policy to be deliveredas a curriculum component that is integrated into a number of courses, here Iwill link it with a particular form of information entrusted to administration —financial data. Of course, human resource management also has criticalinformation policy elements, and most forms of policy analysis requireinformation technology skills. So, this is a rather arbitrary grouping.Compared to the various organizing characteristics of the three traditions,financial and information management activities are vastly different incontexts of discrete government organizations, public-private partnerships,and cross-jurisdictional or multi-sectoral networks. While we often may beteaching with an assumption of bureaucratic hierarchies—where control overfinances and information was possible and desirable—these conditions nolonger hold. Therefore, students must learn practices that are better linked toDiscretionary or Collaborative bases of legitimacy. They would be best servedto understand how these prescriptions for practice are related, becausepartnerships under the assumption of entrepreneurial discretion are quitedifferent from collaborative networks.For example, in the Discretionary tradition, it would be completelyappropriate to control financial issues and withhold information from externalsources, be they citizens or partners. But, in the Collaborative tradition, thistype of privileged, “meta-governance” position may not be acceptable. In short,we must consider the implications of shifting issues—such as authority andscope of action, responsibility and accountability, decision-making rationality,and organizing style—on these basic government processes. If we are movingdown a continuum that runs from absolute control to absolute responsiveness,we must be aware of how these changing value systems can impact budgeting,accounting, and information management policies and practices.CONCLUSIONIn conclusion, I assert that it will benefit the field of public administrationand individual students of the discipline to use the metaphor of tradition fororganizing the field’s competing philosophical foundations andrecommendations for practice. When one has a framework from which toreflect and act, external chaos is calmed, and put into a perspective thatsupports choice-making. At a more fundamental level, it could be reasonablyargued that the turmoil of our times is largely grounded in the question oflegitimacy in governance. No sector of society is immune from the legitimacyJournal of Public Affairs Education 311
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