When the modern administrative state emerged in America during the Progressive Era, at the beginning of the twentieth century, it was typically grounded on the premise that administrative officials are experts who should be insulated from politics. This theory, combined with emerging ideas of scientific management, contributed to the intellectual justification for the administrative state. However, progressives never fully reconciled the tension between this theory and the democratic nature of American politics. Because of this ambiguity and tension in the progressives’ theory of expertise, the politics/administration dichotomy was abandoned shortly after the administrative state was constructed. The place of expertise in the administrative state is still ambiguous, even in the twenty-first century.

中文翻译：

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行政国家专业知识的模糊性

20世纪初，进步时代的美国出现了现代行政国家，其典型的前提是行政官员是专家，应该与政治隔绝。这一理论与新兴的科学管理思想相结合，为行政国家的思想辩护做出了贡献。然而，进步人士从未完全调和这一理论与美国政治的民主性质之间的紧张关系。由于进步主义者的专业理论中的这种模糊性和张力，政治/行政二分法在行政国家建立后不久就被抛弃了。即使在 21 世纪，专业知识在行政国家中的位置仍然模糊不清。