Idealism
Idealism is a diverse group of metaphysical views which all assert that "reality" is in some way
indistinguishable or inseparable from human, or non-human, perception and/or understanding,
that it is in some sense mentally constructed, or that it is otherwise closely connected to ideas.[1]
In contemporary scholarship, traditional idealist views are generally divided into two groups.
Subjective idealism takes as its starting point that objects only exist to the extent that they are
perceived by someone. Objective idealism posits the existence of an objective consciousness
which exists before and, in some sense, independently of human consciousness, thereby bringing
about the existence of objects independently of human minds. Insights from modern quantum
mechanics are generally supportive of objective idealism and provide evidence for the creative
function of consciousness at the moment of first observation and wave function collapse.
Idealism is a term with several related meanings. It comes via Latin idea from the Ancient Greek
idea (ἰδέα) from idein (ἰδεῖν), meaning "to see". The term entered the English language by
1743.[10][11] It was first used in the abstract metaphysical sense "belief that reality is made up only
of ideas" by Christian Wolff in 1747.[8] The term re-entered the English language in this abstract
sense by 1796.[12]
In ordinary language, as when speaking of Woodrow Wilson's political idealism, it generally
suggests the priority of ideals, principles, values, and goals over concrete realities. Idealists are
understood to represent the world as it might or should be, unlike pragmatists, who focus on the
world as it presently is. In the arts, similarly, idealism affirms imagination and attempts to realize
a mental conception of beauty, a standard of perfection, juxtaposed to aesthetic naturalism and
realism.[13][14] The term idealism is also sometimes used in a sociological sense, which emphasizes
how human ideas—especially beliefs and values—shape society.
administration
administration, the implementation of government policies. Today public administration is
often regarded as including also some responsibility for determining the policies and programs of
governments. Specifically, it is the planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling
of government operations.
Public administration is a feature of all nations, whatever their system of government. Within
nations public administration is practiced at the central, intermediate, and local levels. Indeed,
the relationships between different levels of government within a single nation constitute a
growing problem of public administration.
In most of the world the establishment of highly trained administrative, executive, or directive
classes has made public administration a distinct profession. The body of public administrators is
usually called the civil service. In the United States, the elitist class connotations historically
attached to the civil service were consciously abandoned or from the early 20th century, with the
result that civil servants were recognized as professionals and valued for their expertise.
In most countries the civil service does not include local government or public corporations. In
some countries, however—particularly those unitary states in which provincial administration is
part of the central government—some provincial staffs are civil servants. In the United States, all
levels of government have their own civil services—federal, state, and local—and a civil service
is specifically that part of governmental service entered by examination and offering permanent
tenure.
Certain characteristics are common to all civil services. Senior civil servants are regarded as the
professional advisers to those who formulate state policy. In some countries entry requirements
for a career in the higher civil service stress qualifications in technical fields such as accounting,
economics, medicine, and engineering. In other countries legal training is deemed appropriate,
and in others no specific technical or academic discipline is required among candidates for senior
posts. Whatever their precise qualifications, senior civil servants are professional in the sense
that their experience of public affairs is thought to provide them with the knowledge of the limits
within which state policy can be made effective and of the probable administrative results of
different courses of action. Civil servants in every country are expected to advise, warn, and
assist those responsible for state policy and, when this has been decided, to provide the
organization for implementing it. The responsibility for policy decisions lies with the political
members of the executive (those members who have been elected or appointed to give political
direction to government and, customarily, career civil servants). Customarily, civil servants are
protected from public blame or censure for their advice. The acts of their administration may,
however, be subject to special judicial controls from which no member of the executive can
defend them.
Civil services are organized upon standard hierarchical lines, in which a command structure rises
pyramid-fashion from the lowest offices to the highest. This command implies obedience to the
lawful orders of a superior, and in order to maintain this system the hierarchy of offices is
marked by fixed positions, with well-defined duties, specific powers, and salaries and privileges
objectively assessed. In some countries there may be direct appointment to higher office of
persons not previously employed by the service, but even then a recognized system of internal
promotion emphasizes the nature of the hierarchical pyramid.
