Public Administration: a postnormal and multiparadigm science

Abstract

In the study of the disciplinary field there is a theoretical current that, based on the theories of Kuhn (1962) of his
theoretical development of paradigms, normal science and scientific revolutions, holds three axioms subject to
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22201/fcpys.20071949e.2022.42.82822
* Profesor de Tiempo Completo de la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México.
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No. 42° SEPTIEMBRE-DICIEMBRE 2022. FCPyS, UNAM. http://ciid.politicas.unam.mx/encrucijadaCEAP
ENCRUCIJADA REVISTA ELECTRÓNICA DEL CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS EN ADMINISTRACIÓN PÚBLICA
La Administración Pública: una ciencia postnormal y multiparadigma
José Juan Sánchez González
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22201/fcpys.20071949e.2022.42.82822
discussion: first, Public Administration is a postnormal science -since normal science is the hard and exact sciencesbecause
its ontology and epistemology do not apply to the approaches of a paradigm of a normal science (Ricucci,
2008); the second, in Public Administration there are at least six predominant paradigms -managerial, political,
judicial, ethical, historical and integrated- in the field of study of the United States, which means that there is no
predominance of “paradigms”, which allows debates, imports and exports between paradigms; third, it is argued that
Public Administration is a “multi-paradigm” science because there are various “paradigms” in the disciplinary field
that are in theoretical dispute, in four relationships: 1) incommensurability; 2) integration; 3) bridges (where transition
zones exist); and 4) crossing contrasts (where connections exist) (Yang, Zhang, & Holzer, 2008). In conclusion,
modern Public Administration is a “postnormal science” because it is a social science and it is a “multiparadigm
science” because there are several prevailing paradigms in the disciplinary field, which have relationships of
separation, integration, transition zones and points of contrast as connections.