The aim of this article is to determine the role of administrative science with regard to the governance concept. It is argued that governance in the way it is employed in current discussions is not restricted to an analytical function, but comprises certain normative connotations. This leads to risks and potential distortions in the analysis of administrative structures. The paradoxes of New Public Management serve as an example of governance offering an interpretation whose coherence is at least questionable. Against this background, administrative science is depicted as the discipline which offers the methodological tools for preventing possible new interpretations from becoming misconception.
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