Home › MCQs › Public Adminstration › Question #9537
Back to Questions
Public Adminstration QUESTION #9537
Question 1
Woodrow Wilson's 1887 essay on administration argued for a strict separation between politics and administration. Which subsequent development in 20th-century public administration theory most directly challenged and undermined Wilson's dichotomy?
  • Max Weber's theory of bureaucracy emphasizing impersonality
  • The Hawthorne experiments revealing social dynamics in organizations
  • Herbert Simon's bounded rationality and decision-making studies✔️
  • The Human Relations Movement initiated by Elton Mayo
Correct Answer Explanation
Herbert Simon demonstrated that administrative behaviour is inseparable from the cognitive and rational processes of decision-making, which are inherently value-laden. His work showed that administrators do not merely execute policy in a value-free manner — they make choices, exercise judgment, and thus embed political values into implementation.