antes de mais nada

Of the many scientists in this country, as their numbers seem to grow day by day, those which by far I find the most fascinating of all are the scientists in Administrative Law, sometimes also called Administration scientists.

Over the last thirty years, only two competing manuals were produced in this field, which is a measure of the exceedingly difficult and extremely complex nature of the subject. The first and most respected of them is Professor Freitas do Amaral "Curso de Direito Administrativo". It is this manual that for more than a generation has shaped the minds of modern administrative law scientists in the country.

I must admit that my interest in the field arose mainly as a test of my own capacities for higher learning and subtle understanding of complex issues. However, my efforts over the course of several decades were of no avail, as every time I tried to find out what this difficult science was all about I could not go beyond the definition:

"O objecto da Ciência do Direito Administrativo são as normas jurídicas administrativas. A Ciência do Direito versa sobre normas jurídicas, a Ciência do Direito Administrativo versa sobre normas jurídicas administrativas. O que se estuda na Ciência do Direito Administrativo são pois as normas jurídicas administrativas e o sistema que elas formam, com o seu espírito, com os seus princípios, com os seus conceitos e a sua técnica."

(quoted from the 1988 edition, Coimbra: Almedina, p. 168).

This always appeared to me an impressive definition of what a science could be, most likely the source of that clarity of thought, directness of purpose and economy of words so common in this class of scientists I so admired. It says, beyond a shade of a doubt, that the science of administrative law deals with administrative juridical norms. And yet, having searched the manual many times to find out what those norms are all about, my recurrent conclusion was that administrative juridical norms are those norms that the science of administrative law deals with. The science of administrative law is the only science I know that defines itself in circular terms and that is what fascinated me most.
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For a time as a young adult I entertained the idea of becoming an administration scientist. I was turned down when I read Professor Amaral definition of the science of administration and realized the momentous tasks that would be waiting for me:

"A Ciência da Administração vai estudar, antes de mais nada, como se passam efectivamente as coisas, num dado país: se os funcionários são efectivamente promovidos ou não; se as promoções demoram muito tempo ou pouco; se as promoções feitas são bem aceites no meio a que respeitam ou pelo contrário são contestadas pelos funcionários; se nas promoções efectuadas se intrometem critérios políticos ou se existe neutralidade política; se o critério de promoção por antiguidade está a produzir bons resultados ou se veda por tempo excessivo o acesso dos mais capazes; se as promoções por mérito são basedas em critérios de avaliação objectiva ou em amizades, influências, compadrio; se aqueles que são promovidos aos lugares superiores são os mais competentes, ou pelo contrário, os mais dóceis à vontade dos superiores, etc.".

(op. cit., p.177)

I simply could not see myself rising to that intellectual standing, that powerfulness of mind required to be a practicing administration scientist. To this day, this remains to me a career only available to those very few men who can genuinely rise above the rest of mankind and justly claim for themselves the status of a genius. To check if public servants are promoted, to see if those promotions are delayed or not, to scrutinize whether or not there are jobs for the boys in the system, and to do all this antes de mais nada, seemed to me such a set of excruciatingly difficult tasks that even the best of my abilities would most certainly fail at them.