Communitarianism, Vickers, and Revisioning American Public Administration

Abstract

Classical liberalism and the unrestrained individualism that is of its essence are inappropriate for current ever-increasing interdependence. Recent communitarian thinking in the United States suggests that the exclusive pursuit of private interest is, in fact, inimical in the long run to individual liberty. Sustained policy change depends, however, on a fundamental rethinking of ethics and epistemology; Vickers's concept of appreciation is an important contribution to this task. The authors conclude that there is a need both for more government and for more democracy; greater intrusions on autonomy are inevitable if Western culture in its present form is to survive. The sanest like the maddest of us cling like spiders to a self-spun web, obscurely moored in vacancy and fiercely shaken by the winds of change. Yet this frail web, through which many see only the void, is the one enduring artifact, the one authentic signature of humankind, and its weaving is our prime responsibility. —Geoffrey Vickers “The Psychology of Policymaking and Social Change”