Logics of Legitimacy: Three Traditions of Public Administration Praxis (Hardback)

Three Traditions of Public Administration Praxis

By Margaret Stout

325 pages | 19 B/W Illus.

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Contents
Author
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About the Book

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.

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

Introduction

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

Introduction

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

Portrait of a Bureaucrat

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

Portraits of Entrepreneurs

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

Portrait of a Steward

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

Introduction

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

Introduction

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

About the Author

Margaret Stout

Morgantown, WV, US

Learn more about Margaret Stout >>

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 & Praxisand 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.