Philosophy and Public Administration

Edoardo Ongaro, Professor of Public Management, the Open University, UK

Contents: Foreword by Geert Bouckaert Acknowledgements 1 Introduction and rationale 2 Key streams in philosophical inquiry: a selection and succinct overview for the field of public administration – Part I 3 Key streams in philosophical inquiry: a selection and succinct overview for the field of public administration – Part II 4 Ontological perspectives and Public public administration doctrines and themes revisited from a philosophical perspective 5 Political philosophy and public governance: the quest for justification in ‘common good’ and in ‘social contract’ arguments and their significance for the debate on the organisation of the public sector 6 Epistemological perspectives and the study of public administration 7 Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas More: on virtues, realism and utopian thinking in public administration 8 Utopias, ideal-types, paradigms, models and ‘good practices: Repertoire of conceptual tools for public administration? 9 Elements (fragments) for the philosophical foundation of a theory of public administration 10 The search for consistencyResearching and teaching philosophy for public administration Postscript to the second edition: philosophy in and of Public Administration Today, global-Western and non-Western by Wolfgang DrechslerPostscript: philosophy in and of Public Administration Today by Wolfgang Drechsler References Index