Unmasking Administrative Evil [Hardcover]

Guy B. Adams (Author), Danny L. Balfour (Author), Charles Perrow (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2004 | ISBN-10: 0765612496 | ISBN-13: 978-0765612496 | Edition: Revised

Although social scientists generally do not discuss "evil" in an academic setting, there is no denying that it has existed in public administration throughout human history. Hundreds of millions of human beings have died as a direct or indirect consequence of state-sponsored violence. The authors argue that administrative evil, or destructiveness, is part of the identity of all modern public administration (as it is part of psychoanalytic study at the individual level). It goes beyond a superficial critique of public administration and lays the groundwork for a more effective and humane profession.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: M E Sharpe Inc; Revised edition (March 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765612496
• ISBN-13: 978-0765612496
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,337,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unmasking Adminstrative Evil, January 20, 2002

By 

E. L. Roe "lizha99" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unmasking Administrative Evil (Rethinking Public Administration) (Paperback)

I am a conservative by nature, and have tried for two years to convince my republican husband to read this book, but he has not yet seen the light. I was not only lucky enough to read this book in my Adminsitrative Ethics class, but also had the priviledge to have Professor Balfour as a professor in my graduate program. The information provided in Unmasking is shocking to say the least; as an administrator, you tell yourself that initiatives and programs the government is doing "for the good of the people" is simply that. However, scratch the surface, and you will find what Adams and Balfour refer to as "moral inversion"--an act that is evil or destructive is redefined as "good and worthy." I can think of a million examples on a local, state, federal and international level that refer to this phenomenon. This book is a must-read for any person presently in public managment, or considering a career in government or politics. And hey, maybe one day my husband will read it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dangers of Devil Theory, November 5, 2000

By 

Noel Byrne "Noel Byrne" (Sebastopol) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unmasking Administrative Evil (Rethinking Public Administration) (Paperback)

Humankinds's historic efforts to deal with the problem of evil are exemplified by the understandings of evil provided by psychology, as well as by most theologies and ideologies. All of these resort to some variant of Devil Theory: that evil outcomes are the products of evil people. From this standpoint, an obvious solution to the problem of evil is to identify evil people so that they can be neutralized or destroyed. This kind of understanding is viscerally satisfying, simple, obvious, wrong and dangerous. Unfortunately, it is possible to have evil outcomes in the absence of evil people. This sad truth has been demonstrated experimentally many times (e.g., Stanley Milgram's experiments at Yale University, replicated hundreds of times around the world), and suggested by the work of other researchers (e.g., Phillip Zimbardo at Stanford University). Of the millions of perpetrators of souch holocausts as those of Nazi Germany, Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia, most of them were ordinary human beings. Ameliorative actions grounded in Devil Theory might rid us of such figures as Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and Jack the Ripper, giving us much satisfaction and relief. However, this dangerous theory would ensure that our history continues to record such spectacular atrocities as Mai Lei, the Inquisition, ethnic cleansing, the Oklahoma City Bombing, and the deaths of millions of Kulaks. In their book, Unmasking Administrative Evil, Adams and Balfour provide an important contribution by examining the way in which organizational dynamics and administrative processes --- the very life blood of which is provided by the faceless bureaucrat, the impersonal official, the compliant, dispassionate civil servant --- can generate evil outcomes large in scale and spectacular in impact. Adams and Balfour argue that a linkage of the dynamics of evil with administrative processes is typically lost to view: that is, it is masked. This linkage is masked by the bloodless technical rationality of modern bureaucracy and confluence of science and technology in modernity. To illustrate this, they present two case studies examining these linkages. The first of these is the relation between the Nazi Holocaust and public administration. The second is an examination of organizational dynamics and administrative evil in the Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA, and the launching of the Space Shuttle CHALLENGER. They conclude with chapters on "Public Policy and Administrative Evil" and "Finding a Basis for Ethics in the Public Service." Remaining to be addressed is the nature of evil as such. Also, while they do address some of the social psychological dynamics that account for evil outcomes, they do not go far enough. Worse, I regard their resort to object relations theory to be a misdirected return to Devil Theory. Were they to discuss with me my own research and writing, these difficulties might have been avoided. Regardless, they make an important contribution that deserves close attention.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, disturbing, informed and depressing., March 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Unmasking Administrative Evil (Rethinking Public Administration) (Hardcover)

This book links the Holocaust, the Challenger disaster and contemporary issues of public administation, questioning the methods and motivations. It ties in a wide variety of disciplines to give a full and well argued perspective. It brings home the horrors of 1940s Germany to America today. It pleads with the reader to develop an historical conscience. If you work in public administration you should read it. The book has relevance for everyone, but limits itself to the public sector, due to its links with the series on advances in public administration. An uncomfortable, but important book to read.