Feminist Theory of Public Administration

Abstract

The theory that interprets or explains public administration or its various aspects from a feminist perspective. Two types of feminist theory can be observed in the literature of public administration. Descriptive theory based on empirical study reports on how gender influences current practice in public agencies, especially its effect on women's access to and status in public agency employment, and sometimes attempts to account for observed differences between men's and women's employment experiences. Conceptual theory aims to use gender to rethink the existing philosophy of public administration, focusing on such issues as the politics-administration dichotomy, public bureaucratic structure and practice, the bases for defending the legitimacy of the administrative state, professionalism, leadership, and citizenship in public administration. Initial feminist theorizing in public administration was largely descriptive; more recent literature includes both descriptive and conceptual theories.