Conclusions: Governance and Public Management: A Vindication of the Classical-Liberal Perspective?Governance and Public Management: A Vindication of the Classical-Liberal Perspective?

Abstract

The public administration principles articulated in the previous chapters are sufficiently distinct to validate the notion that there is indeed in nuce a classical-liberal theory of public governance to be derived from the foundational liberal philosophical and theoretical writings and from the public rhetoric and positions inspired by them. Further development of the theory and its translation into practice is, however, a more complicated task. Yet, a closer look at the developments in public governance during the past couple of decades offers a fresh and intriguing view of the issue. The more we advance in articulating, by using the intrinsic logic of the classical-liberal perspective, diagnoses and solutions to public governance problems, the more we can see that such diagnoses and solutions are far from alien to the contemporary field and practice of public administration. Those changes have led to a move from regulation based on command and control to flexible and diverse forms of regulation in which self-regulation is an important element. The concluding chapter of the book explores these developments.