Postmodernism,Public Administration,and Political Association: Some Reflections on Fox and Miller

Abstract

This paper examines Charles Fox and Hugh Miller's Postmodern Public Administration. I argue here that Fox and Miller's argument for a public administration suitable for the postmodern era is surprisingly conventional in that, like orthodox public administration, it assumes a purposive view of political association. This paper argues further that such a view of political association may be problematic given the fragmented nature of postmodern political culture, which Fox and Miller identify, and that an alternative view of the state as a civil association may be more helpful. This being the case, I conclude that both writers and practitioners in public administration might pay more attention to American constitutionalism as an expression of the view of the state as a civil association.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Arrow, K. J. (1963). Social choice and individual values (2nd Ed.). New York: Wiley.

Dennison, H. S. (1937). The need for the development of political science engineering. In L. Gulick & L. Urwick (Eds.), Papers on the science of administration. New York: Institute of Public Administration.

Fox, C. J. , & Miller, H. T. (1995). Postmodern public administration: Toward discourse. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Goodnow, F. (1900). Politics and administration. New York: Russell and Russell.

Gulick, L. (1937). Notes on the theory of organization. In L. Gulick & L. Urwick (Eds.), Papers on the science of administration. New York: Institute of Public Administration.

Oakeshott, M. (1975). On human conduct. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Oakeshott, H. M. (1991). Rationalism in politics and other essays. Indianapolis: Liberty Press.

Rohr, J. A. (1986). To run a constitution. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press.

Rorty, R. (1989). Contingency, irony and solidarity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

10.

Rorty, R. (1991 a). Essays on Heidegger and others: Philosophical papers, Volume 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

11.

Rorty, R. (1991 b). Objectivity relativism, and truth:: Philosophical papers, Volume 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

12.

Spicer, M. W. (1994). Public administration and the Constitution: A conflict in world views. American Review of Public Administration, 24(1), 85-97.

13.

Spicer, M. W. (1995). The founders, the Constitution and public administration: A conflict in worldviews. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

14.

Urwick, L. (1937). Organization as a technical problem. In L. Gulick & L. Urwick (Eds.), Papers on the science of administration. New York: Institute of Public Administration.

15.

Wilson, W. (1887). The study of public administration. Political Science Quarterly, 2, 197-222.

16.

Wilson, W. (1889). The state: Elements of historical and practical problems. Boston: D.C. Heath.