What do public values mean for public action? Putting public values in their plural place

Paul Davis, Karen West

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Public values are moving from a research concern to policy discourse and management practice. There are, though, different readings of what public values actually mean. Reflection suggests two distinct strands of thinking: a generative strand that sees public value emerging from processes of public debate; and an institutional interpretation that views public values as the attributes of government producers. Neither perspective seems to offer a persuasive account of how the public gains from strengthened public values. Key propositions on values are generated from comparison of influential texts. A provisional framework is presented of the values base of public institutions and the loosely coupled public propositions flowing from these values. Value propositions issue from different governing contexts, which are grouped into policy frames that then compete with other problem frames for citizens’ cognitive resources. Vital democratic commitments to pluralism require public values to be distributed in competition with other, respected, frames.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)602-618
Number of pages16
JournalAmerican Review of Public Administration
Volume39
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Dec 2009

Keywords

  • public values
  • modeling
  • plurality
  • values conflict
  • value framing regime

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