Theories of the public interest
- Substantive view: the public interest is a normative entity beyond the sum of private interests, as in Plato's justice or Rousseau's general will.
- Process view: the public interest emerges from competition and compromise among interest groups, as in Bentley and pluralism.
Critics warn that the first lets elites define the public good, while the second lets powerful groups present their interests as public.
Elements of publicness
Publicness is usually described through a public actor, orientation to the common good, openness of information and decisions, and accessibility for all. Habermas's public sphere highlights openness and citizen participation.
Bozeman's dimensional publicness
Barry Bozeman (1987) argued that all organizations are public to some degree and treated publicness as a continuum of exposure to political authority. His later idea of public value failure shows that efficient markets can still undermine public values.
Debates
Privatisation and contracting under New Public Management raised concerns about weakened publicness, and similar debates surround public broadcasting, social welfare corporations, education and health care.
References
- Bozeman, B. (1987). All Organizations Are Public: Bridging Public and Private Organizational Theories. Jossey-Bass.
- Bozeman, B. (2007). Public Values and Public Interest: Counterbalancing Economic Individualism. Georgetown University Press.
- Schubert, G. (1960). The Public Interest: A Critique of the Theory of a Political Concept. Free Press.
- Habermas, J. (1962/1989). The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. MIT Press.
- 이종수 외. (2022). 『새행정학 3.0』. 대영문화사.