On Legitimacy: Is Public Administration Stigmatized?

Abstract

Public administration scholarship has a long-standing tradition of examining the legitimacy of public administration. One of the motives behind this literature is the necessity to defend against constant criticisms directed toward public administration research, theory, and practice. In this article, we shift the focus from defending public administration by conceptualizing and accepting it as an illegitimate and stigmatized institution—one that cannot and should not rid itself of this label. Accepting and presupposing this label of illegitimacy, independent from any particular definition of legitimacy, allows scholars and practitioners to focus on creating new knowledge and performing professional responsibilities.

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