Discourse Interrelation in Public Administration Epistemology: A Review of Recent Two Books

Abstract

Public administration is not a mature science with a single and static principle. On the other hand, as the definition attached to it, public administration is responsible for sustaining the reality of public affairs. The epistemology of public administration was born from a historical nature in political philosophy; in its journey, the breadth of the dynamics search for forms, rational truth values, and debates to embrace its existence in public affairs. Riccucci in Yang (2007) explains that so far, there is no paradigmatic basis that coherently regulates the praxis of public administration research. Riccucci’s primary focus is not on the operationalization of the method (Yang, 2007). Riccucci critically traces the question of the substantial irrelevance of the theory. The factual background of the findings and different interpretations becomes an important reference for reconciliation and the narrative of developing public administration theory. On the other hand, at the bottom up pole, the epistemology of public administration will continue to develop, inspired by the results of repeated examinations, contributions from various research, and the integration of different disciplines. In another section, Riccucci (2010) reiterates that epistemology and ontology public administration rests on human existence; there is almost no certainty of reduction as natural and physical knowledge. Riccucci deeply argues that science and the art of public administration are not fragmented. Both are intertwined from long practice as exercises amid a dynamic reality. Apart from the debate ‘which priority choice is confirmed first between theory and method?’, the development of overlapping thoughts forms the flexibility of approaches in understanding the epistemology of public administration. This diverse approach underlies the writing of this review essay that the epistemology of public administration is not singular. The epistemology of public administration is a long series of dialectics whose development is endless. The nature of public administration can only be approached with interpretations, as the truthiness version of Plato and Aristotle. The truthiness has no original and authentic form other than a predictive approach. However, the epistemology of public administration has a clear goal of weaving meta perspectives into harmony. These two books directly add to a series of attribution ideas for developing the epistemology of public administration. Instead of deconstructing the ontology, these two books dissect the discourse embedded in the epidermis of contemporary public administration ideas and then examine the possibilities of epistemological support from multidisciplinary elements. The concept of public administration adapted from linguistic thinking to contemporary visual communication studies. This review essay relates to two books that carry the nuances of discourse interrelation, complementing the epistemology of public administration as well as opening the door to the discursive landscape. The first book was written by Charles F. Abel and Arthur J. Sementelli on justice and public administration. The second book was written by Arthur J. Sementelli to divide the epistemology of public administration with the analogy of a sandbox.