Fiction Phenomenology, and Public Administration

Abstract

Such narrowness in professional education during an age of involvement is inexcusable; in a discipline as dull as administration it can be virulent. As an alternative, imagine a school of public administration which complements professional scholarship with imaginative literature which uses bureaucratic films such as M.A.S.H. to demonstrate behavioral theories, which admits fiction as relevant research experience, and which even involves students in producing a Sesame Street for Bureaucrats on television video tape. Any perception of reality ought to be relevant to the study of administration in an age of organization. This article will argue that the discipline has delineated too narrowly the variety of fiction that may be relevant to the teaching of administration. It will also explore the potential for using fiction to supplement existing research data and to open new insights into administrative theory. Finally, the application of fiction will be suggested through a bibilography of novels not typically included within the world of administration.3 Fiction is here defined as all art forms which utilize imaginative narration, whether written or visual. * This article proposes a far larger role for fiction than its traditional place as a supplement to textbook theories. It suggests that a closer relationship between imaginative literature and public administration will occur as scholars recognize the importance of perceptions in the study of organizational phenomenon, and that fiction has utility for research purposes in the testing of existing theories and the opening of new insights. The theoretical contributions of imaginative literature are illustrated through a compact bibliographic essay relating 100 novels to the major fields of study in public administration-administration, bureaucracy, organization theory and behavior, management science, and comparative administration.