Can we satisfactorily gauge the socio-political trends of our own age? Mark Bevir’s views on governance and changing democracy

ABSTRACT

Assessing the socio-political trends as they unfold is an art, and it needs to be approached from various angles. Bevir’s anti-foundationalist approach hinges upon the belief (not fact) that governance and networks have replaced government and hierarchies. His analysis is constructed around several strawmen (expert civil servants, street-level bureaucrats, judges, Keynesians, social welfare officials, and the wicked, modernist social sciences) rather than based in careful and balanced empirical evidence. To ‘cherry-pick’ some non-representative cases in support of an ideological perspective is academically unsatisfying.

KEYWORDS:

• New Governance
• Anti-foundationalism
• Political Philosophy
• Deliberative Democracy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Jos C.N. Raadschelders is professor of public administration and associate dean of faculty at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University. His research interests include epistemology of public administration, administrative history and comparative government.