What Do We Mean by Democracy? Reflections on an Essentially Contested Concept and Its Relationship to Politics and Public Administration
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-24-2018
Publication Title
Administration & Society
Abstract
This article argues that democracy is an essentially contested concept in that its meaning and applications appear to be subject to endless contestation, but that the origins of such contestation are to be found in our political practices rather than in the concept per se. It is also argued that the idea of contestation itself is an important part of our own historically situated understanding of democracy. The implications of these arguments for how public administration scholars should think about democracy and constitutionalism are examined.
Repository Citation
Spicer, Michael W., "What Do We Mean by Democracy? Reflections on an Essentially Contested Concept and Its Relationship to Politics and Public Administration" (2018). All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications. 0 1 2 3 1558.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/urban_facpub/1558
DOI
10.1177/0095399718786881
