The Social Construction of Public Administration: Interpretive and Critical PerspectivesIn this conceptual guided tour of contemporary public administration, Jong S. Jun challenges the limitations of the discipline which, he argues, make it inadequate for understanding today's complex human phenomena. Drawing on examples and case studies from both Eastern and Western countries, he emphasizes critical and interpretive perspectives as a counterforce to the instrumental-technical rationality that reduces the field to structural and functionalist views of management. He also emphasizes the idea of democratic social construction to transcend the field's reliance on conventional pluralist politics. Jun stresses that public administrators and institutions must create opportunities for sharing and learning among organizational members and must facilitate interactive processes between public administrators and citizens so that the latter can voice their problems and opinions. The future role of public administrators will be to transcend the limitations of the management and governing of modern public administration and to explore ways of constructing socially meaningful alternatives through communicative action and the participation of citizens. |
Contents
1 Introduction | 1 |
2 The Changing Context of Public Administration | 21 |
3 The Social Constructionist Approach | 43 |
4 Public Administration as Social Design | 73 |
5 Social Design in Practice | 101 |
6 Understanding ActionPraxis and Change | 123 |
7 The Self in Social Construction | 147 |
Other editions - View all
The Social Construction of Public Administration: Interpretive and Critical ... Jong S. Jun No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
action activities actors agencies alternatives approach argues aspects authority become behavior beliefs bureaucracy chapter citizens civil society complex concept concerned consequences context continue countries create critical culture decision democratic dialectical dialogue discourse discussed economic effective efficiency emphasizes employees engage established ethical example experiences explore force functional globalization goals groups human ideas important improve individual influence institutions interaction interests interpretive involved issues knowledge largely learning limitations meaning moral nature objective organizational organizations participation particularly person perspective points political possibilities practice problems professional programs projects public administration rational reality reflect reflexive relation relationships requires responsibility result role rules sense sharing situation social construction social design South Korea structure subjective tend theory thinking tion trust understanding University values Western
References to this book
Die Form der Reform: eine system- und formtheoretische Rekonstruktion der ... Stefan Jung No preview available - 2008 |