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Politics and the Limits of a Science of Governance: Some Reflections on the Thought of Bernard Crick
Author(s) -
Spicer Michael
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00759.x
Subject(s) - politics , corporate governance , character (mathematics) , epistemology , sociology , political science , law and economics , law , philosophy , management , economics , mathematics , geometry
This paper examines Bernard Crick’s ideas on the nature of politics and explores their implications for a scientific approach to governance like that advocated recently by public management writers. It is argued here that such an approach generally downplays the inherently political character of governance because it ignores the conflicts of values and the uncertainty that are an inherent part of the way in which we have come to govern ourselves.