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On the Theory of the Pragmatic Public

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  • Whetsell, Travis A

Abstract

The discipline of public administration has grappled with concepts regarding the public for well over a century. Scholars from public choice, public value(s), and publicness have analyzed myriad elements of administration related to the public. However, detailed explorations of this fundamental term remain relatively sparse, disparate, and under-theorized. In this essay, an ontology and intellectual history of the public is developed, starting with John Dewey’s classic work The Public and its Problems. Dewey’s social-interaction-consequence view of the public, referred to here as the pragmatic public is evaluated through multiple theories in public administration. Finally, theories of social networks and complexity science are unified with the pragmatic public, recentering and reinvigorating the theory in the context of network governance.

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  • Whetsell, Travis A, 2023. "On the Theory of the Pragmatic Public," SocArXiv 8ukmr, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:8ukmr
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/8ukmr
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