Governance in Dark Times: Practical Philosophy for Public Service

Introduction

Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C. www.press.georgetown.edu© 2008 by Georgetown University Press. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Stivers, Camilla. Governance in dark times : practical philosophy for public service / Camilla Stivers. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. sbn 978-1-58901-197-7 (alk. paper) 1. Public administration. 2. Public administration—Philosophy. I. Title. jf1351.s845 2008 351.01—dc22 2007026038 R This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 First printing Printed in the United States of America What can I know? What ought I to do? What may I hope? —  m m a n u e l k a n t It is true of every conversation that through it something different has come to be. — h a n s - g e o rg g a da m e r And since today the world has not yet blown away, I take out fresh paper . . . — ta d e u s z b o row s k  This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments / ix Introduction / 1 pa rt  Thinking, Reason, and Truth: Philosophy for Public Service 1 Rethinking Reason after September 11 / 19 2 Public Administration and the Question of Torture / 36 3 Thinking, Judging, and Public Life / 53 pa rt   Two Models of Governance 4 There’s No Place Like Homeland: Security in Dark Times / 73 5 The Social Reality of Public Space / 90 6 Governance from the Ground Up / 104 pa rt    Philosophy for Practice 7 Pragmatism in Public Service / 125 8 Public Service Ethics in Dark Times / 141 Index / 157 Contents This page intentionally left blank Like others who teach public administration classes filled with practicing administrators, since September 11, 2001, I have wrestled with the question of its lesson for professional public service education. This book is a product of that struggle. I owe a great debt to the public administration students at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs of Cleveland State University: undergrads, MPA students, and doctoral students.The vast majority are already professionals in public service, in government itself, or in community-based nonprofits. This book has benefited tremendously from their willingness to share insights on their lives in public service, and their unsparing but constructive critiques not only of specific chapters in earlier versions but also of my general approach to teaching ethics, administrative and organization theory, citizen participation , and management. Thank you, one and all. Several colleagues read part or all of the manuscript in draft. I am grateful to Guy Adams, Larry Luton, Cynthia McSwain, and Orion White for making it better. Thanks to the anonymous reviewers, including five who commented on a description of the project in embryo several years ago. I am also particularly grateful to whoever it was who urged me to read Hobbes! Sharp questions from audiences at conferences and several universities also helped me to see many places where the arguments needed improvement. ix Acknowledgments My husband, Ralph Hummel, is in a class by himself. His commitment to philosophy in public administration has been an example to me, and he is an editor par excellence, wielding the editorial pen with the brio of Luke Skywalker and his light saber. He has saved me from a great deal of foolishness (not all of it scholarly), and our life together means more to me than I can say. The book is dedicated to my grandchildren, Jeffrey Daniel, Matthew Jacob, and Leonora Camilla, who give me hope for brighter times. x Acknowledgments T he catastrophc events of September 11, 2001, brought Americans face to face with profound questions that in ordinary times people seldom consider. Few who watched the unfolding effects of the terrorist attacks, or read accounts of them, could have helped but feel the pity and terror that tragedy calls forth...