The politics of discretion: toward a critical theory of public administration

This article explores the possibility of critical theory as a framework for analysing public administration. Critical theory has a tradition of resisting the predominance of instrumental rationality as the building-block for bureaucracy. The most sophisticated attempt at such an approach is the theory of communicative action developed by Jurgen Habermas. Adapting Habermas’s theory to the realities of public administration in the welfare state, the author argues that current forms of administrative action are neither as rational nor as democratically legitimate as they could be. By relying on rules rather than on consensus, and by minimizing the participation of those affected by public administration, bureaucracy under the welfare state has resulted in a general loss of meaning within the public sphere and a high degree of social alienation. By focusing on the potential of discretionary decision-making to foster a dialogue about the important judgments administrators make, it is possible to see the value of a critical approach to administrative structures. The author concludes by briefly exploring the application of a critical theory framework to the question of discretion in the context of Canadian tax administration. The politics of discretion: toward a critical theory of public administration Soinmaire : Cet article explore la possibilite d‘utiliser la th6orie critique comme cadre d’analyse de I‘administration publique. Traditionnellement, la theorie critique tend B resister I’utilisation de la rationalit6 instrumentale en tant que pierre angulaire de la bureaucratie. La version la plus sophistiquee d’une telle approche est la th6orie de I’action communicative 6labor6e par Jurgen Habermas. En adaptant la theorie de Habermas aux rCalitCs de l’administration publique au sein de I’Etat-providence, l’auteur soutient que les formes actuelles d’action administrative ne sont ni aussi rationnelles, ni aussi democratiquement Iegitimes qu’elles pourraient I‘@tre. En faisant appel aux rPgles plut6t qu’au consensus et en minimisant la participation de ceux qui sont touches par l’action administrative, la bureaucratie, dans l’Etat-proviThe author is Associate in Law, School of Law, Columbia University. An earlier version of this paper was presented under the title “Uncommunicative Action: Habermas and Bureaucracy” at the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, Charlottetown, PEI, 1 June 1992. The author wishes to thank the anonymous referees of this Journal and the following people for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper: Richard Day, Abraham Drassinower, Julia Hanigsberg, Dieter Misgeld, Carolyn Tuohy, and most of all, Ron Manzer, for supporting and guiding this research from its inception. All errors and misapprehensions, however, remain my own. CANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION / ADMINISTRATION PUBLIQUE DU CANADA VOLUME 36, NO. 3 (FALL/AUTOMNE), PP. 364-391.

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