This document discusses the politics-administration dichotomy, which proposes a separation between political and administrative functions in government. It explores the origins and development of the dichotomy in classical works and criticisms of it. The dichotomy is analyzed as both a description of reality and a constitutional principle for structuring government. The document aims to understand the meaning and ongoing relevance of the politics-administration dichotomy.

1. The Politics-Administration Dichotomy
A Reconstruction

3. The Politics-Administration Dichotomy
A Reconstruction
PROEFSCHRIFT
ter verkrijging van
de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden,
op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. mr. P.F. van der Heijden,
volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties
te verdedigen op woensdag 13 januari 2010
klokke 15.00 uur
door
Patrick Overeem
geboren te Ede in 1978

4. Promotiecommissie
Promotor: prof. dr. M.R. Rutgers
Overige leden: prof. dr. M.A.P. Bovens (Universiteit Utrecht)
prof. dr. D. Lowery
dr. F.M. van der Meer
prof. dr. R.J. Stillman II (University of Colorado Denver)
© 2009 Patrick Overeem. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
the prior permission in writing from the proprietor.
© 2009 Patrick Overeem. Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets uit deze uitgave mag
worden verveelvoudigd, opgeslagen in een geautomatiseerd gegevensbestand,
of openbaar gemaakt, in enige vorm of op enige wijze, hetzij elektronisch,
mechanisch, door fotokopieën, opnamen, of op enige andere manier, zonder
voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de rechthebbende.

5. For Joanneke

6. ISBN/EAN: 978-90-5335-242-7
Printing, cover design and lay-out by:
Ridderprint, Ridderkerk - www.thesisprinting.nl
The research for this dissertation was made possible by a financial grant from the
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

7. Contents
PREFACE ix
1. A QUANDARY 1
1.1 The standard account 1
1.2 Waldo’s challenge 4
1.3 Aims and central question 7
1.4 Scope of the inquiry 13
1.5 Approach and plan of the study 15
2. CONCEPTUAL ORIGINS 21
2.1 ‘Beyond Woodrow Wilson’ 21
2.2 Traditional political thought 24
2.3 The separation-of-powers doctrine 27
2.4 Montesquieu or Hegel 32
2.5 The French approach 36
2.6 The German approach 44
2.7 At crossroads 51
3. CLASSICAL FORMULATIONS 55
3.1 Revising revisionism 55
3.2 Wilson: ‘Administrative questions are not political questions’ 57
3.3 Goodnow: Two primary functions of government 66
3.4 Weber: Different orders of life 70
3.5 Separation and subordination 79
3.6 Classics contra constitutionalism 82
4. HETERODOX CRITICISMS 87
4.1 A tenet of orthodoxy? 87
4.2 From ‘politics’ to ‘policy’ 91
4.3 ‘A seriously erroneous description of reality’ 96

8. 4.4 ‘A deficient, even pernicious, prescription for action’ 102
4.5 A note on discretion 104
4.6 Heterodoxy as a radical rupture 107
5. VIABLE SUBSTITUTES? 113
5.1 The quest for ‘the formula’ 113
5.2 Quasi-alternatives 116
5.3 Typologies 122
5.4 Complementarity 128
5.5 Unifying concepts 135
5.6 Towards a renewed understanding 138
Appendix: Typologies of political-administrative relations 143
6. A CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE 147
6.1 Mistaken identity 147
6.2 The Constitutional School 149
6.3 The dichotomy as constitutional principle 155
6.4 Counterfactual reasoning 159
6.5 Constitutional functioning in practice 162
6.6 The dichotomy and the separation-of-powers doctrine 167
6.7 Coming full circle 174
7. THE MEANINGFUL DICHOTOMY 179
7.1 The ‘perdurability’ of the dichotomy 179
7.2 Content: A layered construct 183
7.3 Purpose: Political, administrative, and constitutional 190
7.4 Relevance: Escaping from the quandary 195
7.5 ‘A commonsense usefulness’ 200
EPILOGUE: THE STUDY OF ADMINISTRATION AND POLITICS 203
LITERATURE 211
SAMENVATTING 231
CURRICULUM VITAE 241