Public administration and the colonial administrator

By title, function and history, the colonial administrator was prima facie an early example of the professional administrator. Yet how far public admi nistration was an integral element in his training and performance is quest ionable. By the decolonizing 1950s, public administration was still not a c onspicuous feature in the administrative vocabulary. Even when the latter-d ay colonial administrator was subjected to the educating influence of the J ournal of African, neither he nor the Journal widely resorted to the use of public administration pur sang. Yet administrative training was the keywor d for both. This article directs attention to the way in which colonial adm inistrators were selected and how they were trained. Three critical, post-1 950, influences on the latter-day colonial administrator are examined: the impact of the Journal of African Administration; the role and staffing of A frica's new Institutes of Administration; and the colonial administrator's 'second career' in public administration in the UK. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.