The romantic vision in american administrative theory: Retrospectives and prospectives

The 1980s witnessed an explosion of new theoretical approaches for public administration. This essay explores the intellectual basis and orientation of several of these “new” approaches. It argues that many share distinctly common outlooks and values which the author terms, “a romantic vision” for the field, that is opposite to rational “classicalism.” This current wave of romantic philosophy mainly has historic roots in the Minnow brook perspectives of the late 1960s and early 1970s but “flowers” today in quite diverse schools under new names such as critical theory, phenomenology, new public administration and many others. All share common romantic values and outlooks. Several intellectual dilemmas for public administration posed by the rise of romanticism are outlines in this essay.