On the 75th anniversary of Herbert A Simon’s “Proverbs of Administration,” it is fitting to consider its place in the public administration canon, with an eye to contemporary realities. In Proverbs, Simon interrogated prevailing mid-century “principles of public administration.” But even as he reduced in rank each “principle,” he preserved a central tenet of earlier pioneers of a “science of administration”—namely that public administration theory should focus, first and foremost, on administrative efficiency. Seven and a half decades after its publication, a clear-eyed examination of Simon’s essay is in order, with attention to both its historical and contemporary contexts. This essay urges that the administrative efficiency tenet was already on unstable ground at the time of Proverbs’ publication, rendering Simon’s reformist agenda less than paradigm-changing. In the contemporary context, the democratic shortcomings of Simon’s agenda are even more apparent. Proverbs is out of synch with the goals for public administration promulgated by respected associations in the field. Simon’s approach also lacks inspiration for students of public service eager to shore up the American democratic project amidst unprecedented challenges.

在赫伯特·西蒙（Herbert A Simon）撰写的《行政箴言》诞辰75周年之际，考虑到当代现实，考虑其在公共行政经典中的地位是合适的。西蒙在《箴言》中审问了本世纪中叶盛行的“公共行政原则”。但是，即使他降低了每个“原则”的等级，他仍然保留了“行政管理科学”早期先驱者的中心宗旨，即公共行政理论首先应该关注行政效率。出版七年半后，对西蒙的论文进行了清晰的考察，同时注意了其历史和当代背景。本文敦促在箴言发表之时，行政效率原则已经处于不稳定的基础上，使西蒙的改良主义议程不至于改变范式。在当代背景下，西蒙议程的民主缺陷更加明显。箴言与该领域受尊敬的协会所颁布的公共管理目标不一致。对于那些渴望在前所未有的挑战中支持美国民主计划的公共服务专业学生，西蒙的方法也缺乏启发。