Philosophical analysis of public administration theories in the framework of sociological paradigms

• Published in: Pizhūhish/hā-yi mudīriyyat-i ̒umūmī (Online) 2024-02, Vol.16 (62), p.161-198
• Main Authors: Habibollah Salarzehi, Asma Salehinodez, Mahdi Alipour
• Format: Article
• Language: per
• Subjects: barrell and morgan; paradigm; public administration
• ISSN: 2538-3418; 2676-7880
• DOI: 10.22111/jmr.2024.44978.5966

Abstract Public management theory in the field of public administration has been influenced and dominated by the knowledge of political science, economics, law, behavioral sciences, and social psychology in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Since the emergence of theoretical and applied knowledge of public management, theories of public management have been classified and introduced within the same paradigms and theories of classical public management, managerialism or new public management, good governance, new public service, public value management, and so on. This article aims to explore the main paradigms and theories of public management within the framework of Barl and Morgan. Contemporary theories of public management, under the titles of classical public management paradigm, bureaucratization, managerialism or new public management, have to a large extent roots in functionalist sociology and carry values of objectivity, hierarchical obedience, positivist epistemology, and a tendency towards universalizing theories of public management beyond cultures, emphasizing the preservation of the existing state. Modern orientations in public management, with a focus on human-centricity by shifting attention from economics to culture and cognitive processes, carry values of mentalism, inter-mental relationships, meta-positivism, voluntarism, and conscious choice of actors, and emphasize the space of interpretation, discourse, and social constructions.Introduction The history of science has witnessed numerous revolutions, leading to the replacement of old perspectives with new ones, a phenomenon referred to by Thomas Kuhn as paradigm shift (Kuhn, 1995). A paradigm is the broadest accepted unit in a scientific field that distinguishes scientific communities and defines what should be studied, the probable questions, and how to answer them (Nargesian, 2007: 157).Management, as a social science, is not exempt from this rule and has experienced multiple transformations throughout history. Public management is a combination of theory and practice. According to Estilman (1980), there is no specific point in history for its theoretical aspect, but its practical aspect dates back as far as human existence (Lamidi, 2015: 1). Various authors and researchers argue whether public management is a science or an art. While many accept management as an art, a few researchers such as Anderson (2002), Shafritz (2006), and others believe it to be purely a scien