Analysis of the Field of Public Management: A Response to Kelman, Thompson, Jones, and Schedler
Loading...
Authors
Candreva, Philip J.
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2004
Date
Publisher
Language
Abstract
This essay examines the field of public management as explicated in the dialogue
between Kelman, Thompson, Jones and Schedler (2003) and others, from the perspective
of the philosophy of science. While there may be wide consensus that a substantial body
of information about public management exists, Kelman, Thompson, Jones and Schedler
are consistent in their view that empirical generalizations and underlying principles do
not exist. This assertion notwithstanding, this essay does not attempt to make sense of the
theories of public management, rather it tries to make sense of public management as a
separate and distinct field of scientific inquiry, and, for that purpose, the philosophy of
science is useful. What follows are three views of public management looking through
that philosophical lens: the origins of the discipline, the nature of the practice, and the
community of scholars.
Type
Article
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Graduate School of Business & Public Policy (GSBPP)
Organization
Graduate School of Business & Public Policy (GSBPP)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
Citation
International Public Management Review, Volume 5, Issue 1, pp. 58-69, 2004.
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.