ABSTRACT
This chapter builds upon insights from the Constitutional School but also go beyond them, arguing that the dichotomy is in fact quite consistent with their line of thinking. It presents a negative argument for understanding the dichotomy as a constitutional principle, based on Waldo's suggestion to think through a situation in which there is no dichotomy at all. During the greater part of the twentieth century, the field of Public Administration has paid little attention to constitutionalism and constitutional thinking. The notion that constitutional principles contain empirical elements as well as normative elements applies also to the politics–administration dichotomy. The chapter argues that the dichotomy already actually functions as a constitutional principle in practice. It attempts to reconcile the dichotomy to the constitutional idea most closely related to it: the separation-of-powers doctrine. The chapter concludes with by showing how this approach connects to the dichotomy's original purpose, particularly as it was understood in the French approach.
