- Summary
- Contents
The contributors to this volume contend that the North American political system is undergoing a serious governmental crisis - political leaders know only how to campaign, not how to gain consensus on goals or direct a course that is to the good of the nation. Public administration is therefore forced to compensate for the growing inadequacy of the `leaders', and with a normative-based body of theorizing, perform its key role of governance within a democratic system of polycentric power. The book offers a revisualization of the relationship between public servants and the citizens they serve, and a continuing discourse on how public administration can constructively balance forces of change and stability in order for democr
Chapter 13: A Public Philosophy and Ontological Disclosure as the Basis for Normatively Grounded Theorizing in Public Administration
A Public Philosophy and Ontological Disclosure as the Basis for Normatively Grounded Theorizing in Public Administration
Recently I had the misfortune to open a book I had coauthored nearly 30 years ago at the beginning of my academic career. I was dismayed to read the following words, which I could just as well have written today:
The search for a theory of public administration over the decades has taken on aspects of a quest for the Holy Grail or a hunt for the mythical unicorn. The search has been filled with zeal and piety, but seldom has it been made clear what it is that ...
