Is Authority in Public Administration Separable from Authoritarianism? Personalities, Institutions, and Resistance

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between authority and authoritarianism, and the significance of this relationship to public administrators and their practice. I argue that authority and authoritarianism are not distinct, and that public administrators should rethink the value of authority as a justification for action. I explore two sources of authority/authoritarianism, personality and institutions, through the works of George Orwell, Theodor Adorno et al. (1950), and Michel Foucault. Though I do not posit a root cause of authority/authoritarianism, I suggest ways that public administrators can reduce their reliance on authority as a justification through self-awareness and the resistance of the institutional roles that they take on. In conclusion, I link the resistance of political authority to theories that undermine epistemological authority.

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