Conciliation of Rationalities: The Essence of Public Administration

Abstract

In view of the characteristics of (post)modern public administrations, the question whether the rationality of their structures and functions, and through this the rationality of their outcomes, can be safeguarded is of paramount interest. In this paper rationality is seen as the core of public administrations. In history this core is approached successively in a predominantly legal-procedural, a political, a scientific and an economic way. A fifth approach, a postmodern paradigm, based on a “four rationality model” of public administration, is developed here. According to this paradigm, every act of public administration has to meet simultaneously the requirements of four rationalities, which are not translateable into each other. The only way out of this problematic is to attempt the conciliation of the incompatible requirements within a path of boundary conditions, confined by the rationalities. Some case material is presented, some negative effects of a one-sided rationality in politics and public administration are demonstrated, and some alternative approaches to steering in a postmodern environment are proposed.

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