Keys for locks in administrative argument
- 25(4), Feb 1994, p.467-88
Developments in public administration are better understood as rhetorical rather than scientific in Herbert Simon's meaning. Administrative arguments succeed by using the six keys to acceptance of classical rhetoric: symmetry, metaphor, ambiguity, private interest presented as public good, selective use of information, and suspension of disbelief. To test this proposition, we compare managerialism with cameralism and utilitarianism, which were earlier attempts at new public administration. Cameralism, which was developed by a body of academics and practitioners who might be termed consultants in today's nomenclature, influences administrative developments in Central Europe from the 17th century extending it