Public administration in South Africa: The state of the academic field
Journal Article
2008-01
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Administratio Publica
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ASSADPAM
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
This article is an overview of the state of the academic field of Public Administration in South Africa. The major argument is that there has been a lack of a knowledge-based approach to the discipline in both the apartheid and democratic South Africa. The evolution of the discipline from apartheid days through to the present is traced. During apartheid the administrative processes approach was the dominant academic paradigm. This approach was narrowly focused and did not engage with the governance problems of apartheid. In democratic South Africa the administrative processes approach has largely been replaced by approaches in uenced by New Public Management (NPM). While the discipline is more legitimate, as a knowledge-based discipline it has not really advanced. There has been a shift away from social sciences towards a management and business-type approach in the discipline. Traditional academic concerns with knowledge are being supplanted by a narrow focus on skills and techniques. This has had detrimental effects on both teaching and research. The article concludes by arguing for a more knowledge-based approach to the discipline.
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Reference:
Cameron, R. (2008). Public administration in South Africa: The state of the academic field. Administratio Publica, 15(2), 43-68.