Governing: A Philosophical-historical Account for Some Modern Deficits of Public Administrations (Public Policies)

Dimitris K Kioukias

doi:10.11648/j.history.20190702.17

Abstract

In our view, who the real policy makers are as well as which the particular premises upon which a public policy is based have not been abundantly clarified. The fact that there are often plural possible alternatives available before decision on a critical issue is taken suggests the multidimensional character of public policies. Which choices shall be eventually made is a very interesting issue which merits attention. This calls for an analysis of the concrete principles governing a public issue. Quite often plural principles may be discovered around a public issue. Policy makers have then to choose among them the right one. While achievement in the respective area cannot be denied, some public policy decisions (outputs) may still leave much to be desired. Examples may be taken from numerous policy areas. The aim of this paper is to address such concerns and try to provide explanations of a classical philosophical character. To this end it rests upon such assumptions: a. Decisions are stemming from ideas represented by verbal utterances. Material conditions by themselves cannot produce such ideas, for good knowledge of a language is required. They are not irrelevant, but they are not producers. b. Principles (ideas) often clash with each other. Priorities then must be placed (rule of selecting the right principle for each case).

Highlights

Testing public administration performance is usually based on accepted criteria originating from definitions discussed and accepted by social science and policy makers
Public administration is divided into policy areas and checked according to standard criteria
We normally suppose that public policy decisions originate from specific policy makers and administrations

Summary

Introduction

Testing public administration performance is usually based on accepted criteria originating from definitions discussed and accepted by social science and policy makers. At the end of the day public policies originate from ideas-principles, as we shall try to prove. Public administration is divided into policy areas and checked according to standard criteria. I shall try to focus on real inadequacies observed at the level of decision making. From this point of view, “some deficits of public administrations” is in itself some kind of overstatement. To sustain our argument, we shall select particular issue areas such as foreign policy making and parts of domestic policy making. Nowadays, these two are, interwoven, due to the existence of a multilevel governance.

The True Origins of Public Policies

Some Critical Factors Affecting Public Policy Decisions

Some Misconceptions

Conclusion