Summary

What is public administration? How can we identify it and characterize it? The meaning of public administration seems more problematic than ever after the late 20th century cry for privatization. Some argue there is no need to elucidate the meaning of public administration, others stick to more limited notions like "public management" or introduce new vocabulary such as "governance". "Retracing Public Administration" deals with our understanding of public administration. Before discarding "public administration", a more profound analysis of its meaning is preeminent. Where did the concept originate, why and how was it grounded, and can we perhaps (re)establish its meaning as a core concept for understanding and changing social reality? This volume presents the reader with a number of conceptual studies that can be regarded as a prerequisite for thinking about public administration. The studies are reflections upon the administrative discourse of relevance to students of both theory and practice that seek insight into the intellectual roots of their enterprise. The topics deal with concern core issues in the discourse on public administration such as the relation between politics and administration, the differentiation of public and private, and the links between state and administrative practice. The volume presents a mixture of argumentation, playful debate, careful analysis and speculative interpretation by authors making their first contribution to the field as well as some of the field's distinguished scholars. All aim at enlightening about what lies beneath our idea of public administration and to reflect upon ways to improve our understanding of this important part of social reality.