ACHANYA Julius John
Email: jayjayachanya@gmail.com
Phone number: 08035753905
Department of Public Administration, Federal University Wukari
Taraba State, Nigeria.
VARZOA Luma
Luma4real@yahoo.com
08039241329
Department of Public Administration, Federal University Wukari,
Taraba State, Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
Understanding the science of public administration is tied to understanding the nature of public
administration. This paper set out from a theoretical point of view to simplify and thereafter put
to rest the confusion about whether public administration qualifies to be a science or not as well
as show the connect between the theory and practice of public administration. Utilizing evidence
based secondary information; the article clearly established that public administration is both a
scientific and practical discipline, depending on which of the divide one is looking at. And this
primarily draws from the nature of the subject matter which is an embodiment of theory and
practice: theory (principles) and practice (processes or activities). However, the paper posits that
it is remarkable to note that public administration is not a science when the yardstick of
controlled experiments and measured and testable observation are applied, but it is, if we use the
term „science‟ in the sense of the spirit of enquiry and systematic research and investigation, as it
is more commonly interpreted in the social or management sciences today.
Keywords: Public administration, science, practice, theory, understanding