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Matthew Holden, Jr. argues that the study of public administration is indispensable to understanding politics. Essentially, public administration consists of making decisions about information, money, and force-three crucial sources of power: politics and administration cannot be separated, and no political system can be sustained when its administrative core collapses.

The electric power system is a crucial aspect of the infrastructure of contemporary society. The electric power system has undergone an artificial earthquake. Vertical integration was broken up, generation made competitive, and utilities pushed out of generation. Did this artificial quake, which is of worldwide interest, have to happen or are there lessons to learn? From the viewpoint of delivering physical reliability of services to customers, the system clearly was not "broke." Interest groups'politics seem to have been the driver, the main groups being industrial customers, independent power producers, and "Chicago School" economists. The changes have not producedthe expectedreduction of rates to customers, have resultedin major financial consequences for utilities, ledthe state into the power-purchasing business, andcalledinto question aspects of the state's own finances. In policy making, the pure theory of any discipline is likely to yieldunexpectedandundesirable results.

Political science is two realms, the intellectual and the organizational, and the task is to consider how the organizational realm might be adapted to the highest improvement of the intellectual realm. Political science has a certain competence (domain) in the study of politics as the organization of power. It also seeks to expand competence as capability. Charles Merriam provides a point of departure Merriam's most successful idea has been that of enhancing competence through improvements in "the field of method." Competence, however, now demands methodological flexibility, so as to probe more into theexerciseof power. Four fields are strategic: public administration, political interests, urbanization, and the interpenetration of politics and economics. Competence also leads into unorthodox subjects, such as force and foolish, irrational, and pathological decision making (or "the Oxenstierna-Mullins Effect"). Finally, competence demands (and is enhanced by) the reach of political science into serious practical problems of human affairs.

Political science is two realms, the intellectual & the organizational, & the task is to consider how the organizational realm might be adapted to the highest improvement of the intellectual realm. Political science has a certain competence (domain) in the study of politics as the organization of power. It also seeks to expand competence as capability. Charles Merriam provides a point of departure. Merriam's most successful idea has been that of enhancing competence through improvements in "the field of method." Competence, however, now demands methodological flexibility, so as to probe more into the exercise of power. Four fields are strategic: public administration, political interests, urbanization, & the interpenetration of politics & economics. Competence also leads into unorthodox subjects, such as force & foolish, irrational, & pathological decision making (or "the Oxenstierna-Mullins Effect"). Finally, competence demands (& is enhanced by) the reach of political science into serious practical problems of human affairs. 106 References. Adapted from the source document.