The limits of post-traditional public administration: towards a Gramscian perspective

Abstract

‘Celebrations of transformation abound’ in public administration (Nickel 2009, p. 383), heralding the emergence of a post-traditional discipline according analytical and normative priority to networks. This paper develops a critique of post-traditional public administration, arguing that it overlooks the continuance of ‘traditional’ practices, such as the tendency for governing networks to resolve into hierarchies and historical continuities between governing forms. The paper advances a Gramscian critique of the celebration of governance networks, understood as a moment in the struggle for hegemony. Drawing on the author's study of strategic partnerships in the UK, it argues that tacit citizen resistance to managerialism maybe one explanation for why governing networks are prone to resolving into hierarchies. Interpreted through the lens of the ‘integral state’, the incremental retreat from the politics of hegemony towards bureaucratic domination occurs, at least partly, because ‘active citizens’ are unwilling or unable to learn and play by the rules of the game.

Keywords:

• governance networks
• post traditional public administration
• Gramsci
• strategic partnerships
• hegemony

Notes

1. http://www.nationalschool.gov.uk/programmes/programme.asp?id=19606 [Accessed 20 December 2010].