Reconciling the varieties of pragmatism in public administration Article

Whetsell, TA, Shields, PM. (2011). Reconciling the varieties of pragmatism in public administration . ADMINISTRATION & SOCIETY, 43(4), 474-483. 10.1177/0095399711418915

cited authors

  • Whetsell, TA; Shields, PM

authors

abstract

  • Pragmatism has become a topic of growing discussion in public administration, as demonstrated by ongoing debate within the pages of Administration & Society. Karen Evans recently argued that the pervasive influence of logical positivism has produced a public administration, dominated by an ethically vacuous overemphasis on efficiency. Keith Snider recently responded to Evans by pointing toward confusion arising from debates between competing varieties of pragmatism, arguing that calls for pragmatism may produce unintended consequences under the present paradigm. However, this debate has the potential to produce a more intellectually experienced and mature public administration. Moreover, American pragmatism is uniquely appropriate as a philosophy of public administration in its dual academic/practitioner roles. © 2011 SAGE Publications.

publication date

  • May 1, 2011

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 474

end page

  • 483

volume

  • 43

issue

  • 4