Value Contextuality in Public Service Delivery. An Analysis of Street-Level Craftsmanship and Public–Private Partnerships

Abstract

This contribution questions the idea of value universalism and demonstrates that the actual meaning of good or ethical governance is context dependent—as are its constitutive values. To illustrate this point, Huberts’ value framework on integrity and quality of governance is contrasted to two empirical case studies that demonstrate the contextuality of values in two specific settings of public service delivery: street-level craftsmanship and public–private partnerships (PPPs). Findings show that values do not work along the lines of the systematic frameworks public administration scholars come up with. They work along the lines of personal interpretative repertoires, and, on an aggregate level, along the lines of the confined and decisive professional logics of bounded policy domains.

Keywords:

• good governance
• public service delivery
• public values
• value contextuality
• value universalism

Note

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Professor Leo Huberts for his lifetime inspiration and support.

Notes

1 This article appeared in a different form in a liber amicorum for Leo Huberts (De Graaf, G. (ed.). 2019. It is all about integrity, stupid. Eleven International Publishing: The Hague).