One More Look at (Neo-)Pragmatism in Public Administration

Abstract

The continued interest in (neo-)pragmatism for public administration is a validation of the very kind of democratic discourse that the philosophy holds dear. Yet the back-and-forth also reinforces a critique coming from one of its major figures, Richard Rorty: We seem to be jockeying for position in an analytic language game that will never have a winner. The matter may not be “settled” per se, but the groundwork of (neo-)pragmatism’s use in public administration is practically done and, in the spirit of one of its very basic ideas, administrators should sally forth and see how it works.