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Logics of Legitimacy
Three Traditions of Public Administration Praxis
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Book Description
The discipline of public administration draws predominantly from political and organizational theory, but also from other social and behavioral sciences, philosophy, and even theology. This diversity results in conflicting prescriptions for the "proper" administrative role. So, how are those new to public administration to know which ideas are "legitimate"?
Rather than accepting conventional arguments for administrative legitimacy through delegated constitutional authority or expertise, Logics of Legitimacy: Three Traditions of Public Administration Praxis does not assume that any one approach to professionalism is accepted by all scholars, practitioners, citizens, or elected representatives. Instead, it offers a framework for public administration theory and practice that fully includes the citizen as a political actor alongside elected representatives and administrators. This framework:
- Considers both direct and representative forms of democracy
- Examines concepts from both political and organizational theory, addressing many of the key questions in public administration
- Examines past and present approaches to administration
- Presents a conceptual lens for understanding public administration theory and explaining different administrative roles and practices
The framework for public administration theory and practice is presented in three traditions of main prescriptions for practice: Constitutional (the bureaucrat), Discretionary (the entrepreneur), and Collaborative (the steward). This book is appropriate for use in graduate-level courses that explore the philosophical, historical, and intellectual foundations of public administration. Upon qualified course adoption, instructors will gain access to a course outline and corresponding lecture slides.
Table of Contents
WHY AND HOW THE TRADITIONS FRAMEWORK WAS CREATED
The Legitimacy Question
Why Worry about Role Conceptualization? Professional Socialization in Public Administration
IntroductionThe Importance of Role Conceptualization in Public Administration
What Is Role Conceptualization?
How Role Conception Is Formed
Step 1: Practitioner Acts as Role Taker
Step 2: Role Performance Is Performed and Assessed
Step 3: Experience Impacts Role Conception and Conceptualization
Step 4: Pedagogy Transmits Role Conceptualizations
Using Theoretical Frameworks as Interpretive Lenses
Developing and Assessing Theoretical Frameworks
Significant Focus
Organizing Capacity
Coherency
Frameworks in Public Administration
Dwight Waldo
David Rosenbloom
Richard Stillman
Orion White
David Farmer
Jan Kooiman
Historical Eras and Schools of Thought
The Founding Era
An Orthodoxy Emerges
The Refounding Era
The Reinventing Era
The Transformational Era
Summing Up
Tradition as a Framework Metaphor
How the Traditions Framework Was Created
Introduction
Employing the Ideal-Type Method
Identify a Social Phenomenon of Interest
Choose a Culturally Significant Frame of Reference
Identify Essential Generic Elements
Interpret Genetic Meanings
Construct the Ideal-Types
THE TRADITIONS FRAMEWORK
The Generic Elements of Each Tradition
Political Ontology
Political Authority and Scope of Action
Criterion of Proper Behavior
Administrative Decision-Making
Rationality
Associated Organizing Style
Assumed Governance Context
Implications for Role Conceptualization
Pulling the Type Together
The Constitutional Tradition—Bureaucratic Accountability to the Constitutional Order
Introduction
Political Ontology
Political Authority and Scope of Action
Criterion of Proper Behavior
Accountability through Neutral Competence
Accountability through Agency Conservation
Administrative Decision-Making Rationality
Organizing Style
Assumed Governance Context
Implications for Role Conceptualization
Tradition Summary
The Discretionary Tradition—Entrepreneurial Responsibility for Desirable Outcomes
Introduction
Political Ontology
Political Authority and Scope of Action
Criterion of Proper Behavior
Responsibility for Instrumental Outcomes
Responsibility for Social Outcomes
Summary
Administrative Decision-Making Rationality
Organizing Style
Assumed Governance Context
Implications for Role Conceptualization
Tradition Summary
The Collaborative Tradition—Stewardship Responsiveness to the Citizenry
Introduction
Political Ontology
Political Authority and Scope of Action
Criterion of Proper Behavior
"Administrative" Decision-Making Rationality
Organizing Style
Assumed Governance Context
Implications for Role Conceptualization
Tradition Summary
CRITIQUE AND ANALYSIS
Mutual Critiques among Traditions
Introduction
How the Traditions Fail to Achieve Their Own Logics
Elected Officials Fail to Represent or Control
Administrators Fail to Follow Orders or Rules
Discretion Fails to Produce the Public Good
Collaboration Fails to Produce the Public Good
How the Traditions Fail According to Other Logics
Democracy Is Inefficient and Ineffective
Administrative Discretion Is Undemocratic
Representation Is Problematic
Government Has Been Captured by Market Interests or Self-Interest
Collaboration Is Unconstitutional
Collaboration Fails to Achieve the Public Interest (Because It Is Only Partial)
Summing Up
Integrations, Conciliations, and Dialectical Syntheses
Key Integrations or Conciliations of Traditions
Integrationist Approaches
Conciliatory Approaches
Summation
Dialectical Relationship Within and Among Traditions
Dialectic Within Traditions
Dialectic Among Traditions
Assessing Contextual Fit of the Traditions—A Mental Experiment
The Emerging Contemporary Governance Context
Critical Discussion
Structural Fit
Normative Fit
Barriers to (R)Evolution
How Do We Get There?
Summation
References
Appendix: Foundations Course Outline
Section 1: Introduction to the Course and Its Purpose in the MPA Program
Section 2: The Landscape of Public Administration Theory
Section 3: The Historical Roots of Public Administration
Section 4: Competing Logics of Legitimacy in Public Administration
Section 5: Putting Theory into Practice: Blended Logics and Individual Preferences
Index
Author(s)
Biography
Margaret Stout is an assistant professor of public administration at West Virginia University. Her research explores the role of public and nonprofit practitioners in achieving democratic social and economic justice with specific interests in administrative theory, public service leadership and ethics, and sustainable community development. She has a particularly strong interest in the ontological underpinnings of these issues. Her published work can be found in Administration & Society, Public Administration Review, Administrative Theory & Praxis, International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, Journal of Public Affairs Education, Public Administration and Management, Contemporary Justice Review, Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy, Second Edition, and PA Times. She serves on the board of the Public Administration Theory Network and is active in the American Society for Public Administration, serving as chair of the Section on Public Administration Education and on the board of the Section on Democracy and Social Justice. She also serves on the editorial board of Administrative Theory & Praxis and provides peer review for a host of other academic journals.
Dr. Stout’s first career was in human resource development, with a focus on work/life balance programming. Leading directly from related experiences in statewide and regional community and economic development initiatives, her second career was in community and youth development, serving as a community organizer, project manager, executive director, and organizational consultant to a host of nonprofit and government agencies in Arizona. She enjoys bringing these varied practitioner experiences into her current career as a professor.