Exploring the “In-Between” Place: Dialogue, Hermeneutics, and Transformation in Governance

Abstract

The vocabulary of governance has yet to come to terms with hermeneutic processes. This article explores the emergence and transformation in governance of Ohio’s Cuyahoga River using an interpretive approach based on philosophical hermeneutics. Drawing on Gadamer’s hermeneutic concepts of tradition, authority, and prejudice, this research reveals how hermeneutic space is created in dialogue, deliberations, and collaborative work. This more fluid understanding for the governance process has key ramifications for public administration research and practice in terms of an ontological understanding of governance, rethinking of the practice of administrative skills, and shifting the manner in which authority is understood and exercised.

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