Introduction to Perspectives

Published date01 November 2021
Date01 November 2021
DOI10.1177/00953997211053483
Subject MatterPerspectives
https://doi.org/10.1177/00953997211053483
Administration & Society
2021, Vol. 53(10) 1580 –1581
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/00953997211053483
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Perspectives
Introduction
to Perspectives
Adam Eckerd1
The concept of public value emerged in part to reframe the context of policy
analysis away from a strict notion of monetization of costs and benefits and
toward a more humanistic conception of the values that are derived from
policy choices. It emerged 30 or so years ago as New Public Management
ideas were taking hold and as Western governments sought ways to rational-
ize the provision of government services, often borrowing techniques from
the private sector that were premised on efficiency. As with any notion of
government goals beyond efficiency, the meaning of public value, like the
meaning of public interest and public good, is vague. However, the idea
remains conceptually appealing as, at least initially, a rationally oriented
approach to thinking about the effectiveness of public policy that can encom-
pass more than an accounting of the monetary costs and benefits of govern-
ment action.
The challenge of shifting to this line of thinking has always been the extent
to which public value is knowable, and if so, who the arbiter of public value
is. These questions revolve around the nature of epistemology in public
administration and force us to refocus on the tensions between democracy
and administration, going to the crux of the theme that Administration &
Society has spent decades exploring.
We thought that this time of crisis in both politics and world events, of
populism and threats to the stability of democracy, and open challenges to
the legitimacy of administrative expertise was the right time to revisit pub-
lic value. In this extended Perspectives section, Mark Prebble asserts that
Public Value is Unknowable. Prebble argues that, owing to the complexity
1Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Corresponding Author:
Adam Eckerd, O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI, 801 West
Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Email: aeckerd@iu.edu
1053483AAS0010.1177/00953997211053483Administration & SocietyEckerd
other2021

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