The Democracy Problem

Through a critical reading of Wilson’s 1887 essay, I present an argument that public administration is best understood as a political project to resolve the problem of popular sovereignty. The implication of this argument is that public administration is not simply an endeavor to discover better principles of governing but also a project to create conditions for public administration by addressing perceived problems of democracy. I introduce the concept of mono-archy to conceptualize the rulership behind public administration. The implication of my reading is that public administration cannot be democratic as the political objective is to make democracy “public administrationist.