All you need is … a network: The rise of interpretive public administration
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Author | Mark Bevir,R. A. W. Rhodes |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12817 |
SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE
All you need is …a network: The rise
of interpretive public administration
Mark Bevir
1
| R. A. W. Rhodes
2
1
University of California at Berkeley,
Berkeley, California, USA
2
Department of Politics and International
Relations, University of Southampton,
Southampton, UK
Correspondence
R. A. W. Rhodes, Faculty of Social and Human
Sciences, University of Southampton, Murray
Building, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK.
Email: r.a.w.rhodes@soton.ac.uk
Abstract
For this 100th Anniversary issue of Public Administration,
we review one of the more distinctive trends in the study
of public administration—the rise of the interpretive
approach. We tie interpretivism to an anti-naturalist histori-
cism and humanism in contrast to the formalism and scien-
tism of mainstream public administration. We review
developments in Britain, Western Europe, and the
United States, concluding there is a divide between the
empiricist Anglo-Saxon approaches and Continental inter-
pretive and critical approaches. We summarize Bevir and
Rhodes' decentred approach with its focus on traditions,
beliefs, practices, and dilemmas. We highlight its distinctive
features compared with other interpretive approaches. We
suggest the interpretive approach could develop further by
blurring genres and practising bricolage. We conclude that
interpretivism thrives in Britain and Continental Europe
because there are established networks behind which lies
the nineteenth century European tradition of hermeneutics
and idealism.
1|INTRODUCTION
The Beatles appeared at the Palladium on November 4, 1963, in front of Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Princes
Margaret, and their entourage. John Lennon introduced the song “Twist and Shout”saying,
For our last number, I'd like to ask your help. Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands?
And for the rest of you if you'll just rattle your jewellery ( Davies, 1968, p. 191; and https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=iWDFuVRWdn4)
Received: 26 October 2021 Revised: 24 November 2021 Accepted: 24 November 2021
DOI: 10.1111/padm.12817
Public Admin. 2022;100:149–160. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padm © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 149
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