The Bright Future of Value Pluralism in Public Administration

• Date: 01 November 2015
• DOI: 10.1177/0095399715598346
• Author: Gjalt de Graaf
• Published date: 01 November 2015
• Subject Matter: Disputatio Sine Fine

Administration & Society

2015, Vol. 47(9) 1094 –1102

© The Author(s) 2015

DOI: 10.1177/0095399715598346

aas.sagepub.com

Disputatio Sine Fine

The Bright Future of

Value Pluralism in Public

Administration

Gjalt de Graaf1

Abstract

In their critique of Spicer’s and Wagenaar’s account of value pluralism (VP),

Talisse, Overeem, and Verhoef seem to suggest either that VP does not

exist or that it is irrelevant for public administration (PA). My argument is

that in public governance, there are many conflicting intrinsic values. This

means we can speak of incommensurability, the key feature of VP, and there

is much potential for PA in this realization. I propose additional research

questions on the nature of value conflict in late modern governance: which

intrinsic values conflict in public governance, how often do they conflict, and

how is this dealt with by both individuals and institutions? Answers to these

questions will have a great deal of practical relevance and might possibly lead

to what Beck Jørgensen and Rutgers call a new “Public Values Perspective

(PVP)” in PA.

Keywords

values pluralism, public values, conflicting values, incommensurability

Introduction

While reading the very interesting debate on value pluralism in Administration

& Society, I felt increasingly tempted to make a contribution. However, the

concluding lines of Talisse’s contribution almost scared me off. He asks us to

1VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Corresponding Author:

Gjalt de Graaf, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The

Netherlands.

Email: g.de.graaf@vu.nl

598346AASXXX10.1177/0095399715598346Administration & Societyde Graaf

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