The Community of Inquiry
| DOI | 10.1177/0095399703256160 |
| Published date | 01 November 2003 |
| Date | 01 November 2003 |
| Subject Matter | Journal Article |
Shields / COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY
10.1177/0095399703256160 ARTICLE
THE COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY
Classical Pragmatism and
Public Administration
PATRICIA M. SHIELDS
Texas State University
This article argues that the community of inquiry notion of the classical pragmatists has
much to offer public administration theory and practice. The community of inquiry is an ideal
position from which public administrators can effectively examine how they approach prob-
lems, consider data, and communicate. Participatory democracy is a vital component of the
community of inquiry developed by John Dewey and Jane Addams. The recognition of partic-
ipatory democracy’s place in public administration is underdeveloped. The community of in-
quiry context provides a useful lens to show how participatory democracy can nurture a cre-
ative public service.
Keywords:
pragmatism; community of inquiry; participatory democracy; John Dewey;
Jane Addams
“So he killed her, washed the knife and himself, took a knife from the
kitchen . . . Is that how you see it?”
“It’s a working hypothesis.” (p. 310)
Yet she knew that Dalgliesh was right in not hurrying Mrs. Buckley. She
had information they needed, and too many inquiries go wrong, Kate knew,
because the police had acted in advance of the facts. (p. 367) (italics added)
P. D. James, A Certain Justice (1999)
The community of inquiry is a powerful idea developed by classical
pragmatists1 that has wide application to many contexts within public
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I would like to thank Robert Brom, Vince Luizzi, Tim Wilson, Nancy
Warren, George Glaser, and James Webb for encouragement and comments while this article
was in draft form.
ADMINISTRATION & SOCIETY, Vol. 35 No. 5, November 2003 510-538
DOI: 10.1177/0095399703256160
© 2003 Sage Publications
510
Shields / COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY
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administration. The detectives in P. D. James’s novels, for example, may
become a community of inquiry as they investigate a homicide. Commu-
nity justice councils may form communities of inquiry as they deliberate
about a just sentence. If they are lucky, university faculties form commu-
nities of inquiry as they consider curriculum change. In practice, the com-
munity of inquiry is an ideal position to which public administrators
should strive. It is the position from which public administrators can most
effectively examine how they approach problems, consider data, and
communicate.
The purpose of this article is first, to clarify the meaning of the commu-
nity of inquiry concept as developed by classical pragmatists. The com-
munity of inquiry notion is powerful because it is an organizing principle
that can be applied to diverse public administration contexts. It also recon-
ciles some of the prominent controversies in public administration (PA),
such as the practice/theory dichotomy, the role of expertise, and ways to
include democracy in practice. Second, this article shows how the com-
munity of inquiry concept can be applied to both PA theory and PA prac-
tice. Links to PA theory and issues (leadership and role of expertise) are
made throughout the text, and specific practice applications are developed
in the conclusion.
BRIEF DEFINITION
Common to all communities of inquiry is a focus on a problematic situ-
ation. The problematic situation is a catalyst that helps or causes the com-
munity to form and it provides a reason to undertake inquiry. Most prob-
lematic situations require further investigation and action (i.e., inquiry).
Second, members of the community of inquiry bring a scientific attitude
to the problematic situation. The scientific or experimental attitude is a
willingness to tackle the problem using working hypotheses that guide the
collection and interpretation of data or facts. Both theory and method are
viewed as tools to address the problematic situation. In addition, the com-
munity is linked through participatory democracy. The parameters of the
problematic situation and approaches to resolution are shaped by the
interaction of the community and the facts. The democratic community
also takes into account values/ideals such as freedom, equality, and effi-
ciency as it considers goals and objectives. The three key ideas—prob-
lematic situation, scientific attitude, and participatory democracy—rein-
force each other.
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ADMINISTRATION & SOCIETY / November 2003
Many movements or trends in public administration (scientific man-
agement, rational decision-making model, planning programming bud-
geting systems, management by objectives, reinventing government, per-
formance measurement) emphasize one or two aspects of the community
of inquiry. Unfortunately, these reforms often divorce the benefits of sci-
ence from the democratic community. The emphasis for many of these
techniques is data collection and analysis. They are also viewed as meth-
ods to rationalize government. Their proponents often offer the technique
as a solution to some government problem, such as inefficiency. The com-
munity of inquiry organizing principle should enable reflective public
administrators to use and modify these tools as they approach problems.
There is no deterministic faith that these techniques offer a definitive solu-
tion. Rather, these techniques offer data for the community to consider
and use. The community of inquiry has special appeal for public adminis-
tration because it is an orientation that uses a democratic approach to
problem definition and interpretation of consequences.2 At the same time,
it is conducive to the development and use of methods for fact finding,
analysis, and democratic decision making.
The community of inquiry is not a method, such as total quality man-
agement and others; rather, it is an organizing principle that provides fer-
tile grounds for methods to be developed and tried. It is conducive to mak-
ing mistakes, and making progress. And it reinforces founding ideals such
as democracy, freedom, and equality. Thus it is an organizing principle
that encourages better method, better theory, and democracy. I propose
that it may be the missing link in public administration discourse.
CLASSICAL PRAGMATISM
Classical American pragmatism, the philosophy that is the source of
the community of inquiry concept has recently received significant atten-
tion by public administration scholars.3 For example, Karen Evans (2000,
p. 308) suggests that public administration should “reclaim the philoso-
phy of John Dewey as a guiding ethos for practice.”
Charles Sanders Peirce originally conceived of pragmatism as a phi-
losophy of science with inquiry at its center. To Peirce, the scientific
method unlocks or at least leverages the power of individualism as people
work together to address problems. Science is distinguished from all other
methods of inquiry by its cooperative or public character (as cited in
Buchler, 1955, p. x).
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513
The classic Buddhist story of the three blind men confronting the prob-
lem of describing an elephant illustrates the need for a community of
inquiry. Each blind man characterized the elephant from his own limited
perspective (“It’s a rope”—tail, “It’s a fan”—ear, etc.) (Kyokai, 1966/
1993, p. 148). The story’s moral is that we are all trapped inside our lim-
ited selves and cannot know the truth. If, however, the three blind men
were members of a community of inquiry, they would behave very differ-
ently. They would talk to each other, compare perspectives, argue, and test
hypotheses as they touched, smelled, and listened to the elephant (gath-
ered facts). Under these circumstances, it is possible to imagine that the
blind men will eventually overcome their limited perspectives and come
to a truer sense of the elephant.4
For example, take TQM, one method that ideally employs the commu-
nity of inquiry idea. The power of TQM lies in its primary goal of reducing
the psychological and organizational barriers to people sharing their
thoughts and ideas, many of which boil down to the single barrier of fear.
For example, fear of contradicting or embarrassing one’s boss. TQM is an
approach to getting the blind men to speak—both directly, by reducing the
fear of speaking, and indirectly, by getting them to use the benchmark
approach to measurement. In other words, it does not matter if folks are
completely accurate or honest; the focus is the direction the measurements
take over time.
A community of inquiry is difficult to form if members are fixed in
their belief system and impervious to fresh evidence. Charles Sanders
Peirce (1958) draws a distinction between doubt and belief and the impact
each has on action:
Doubt is an uneasy and dissatisfied state from which we struggle to free
ourselves and pass into the state of belief; while the latter is a calm and satis-
factory state. . . . The irritation of doubt causes a struggle to attain a state of
belief. I shall term this struggle inquiry. (p. 99)
Classical pragmatism argues that inquiry using the methods of science
is the best way to “satisfy our doubts” (Peirce, 1958, p. 107). Ideally,
members of the community of inquiry recognize the value of uncertainty.
The rich community of inquiry concept that pertains to public adminis-
tration grew out of the writing and experiences of Jane Addams and John
Dewey. In the late 1890s, they were both in their midthirties and worked in
Chicago (Dewey at University of Chicago, Addams at Hull-House).
Although they came from different backgrounds and had different life
experiences, they had independently come to...
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