Intellectual legacy of Guy B. Adams: Contributions to public Administration Theory and Praxis

Abstract

Guy B. Adams is well known in the field of public administration for his contributions to the study of ethics in the public sector from a historical and interpretivist perspective. He is also widely acknowledged for creating a space for theoretical heterodox approaches within the discipline—co-founding the Public Administration Theory Network (PAT-Net), whose journal Dialogue, later renamed as Administrative Theory & Praxis, he edited for six years. The aim of this article is to honor Adams’ legacy. In so doing, we return anew to the complex social and ethical questions of modernity that Adams examined—ideas that are just as relevant today as ever.

Keywords:

• Administrative evil
• Guy Adams
• technical rationality
• modernity
• heterodox

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Both authors are members of PAT-Net.

2 Ashley E. Nickels is also second author of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Felipe Blanco

Felipe Blanco, Ph.D. joined the University of Colorado-Denver as an Assistant Professor in Public Administration in Fall 2023. His research interests include social equity and ethnoracial inequalities, representative bureaucracy, and comparative public administration and policy. He obtained his Ph.D. in Public Administration at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, winning several prestigious awards during this time including NASPAA’s Staats Emerging Scholar Award and ASPA’s Founders’ Fellowship.

Ashley E. Nickels

Ashley E. Nickels, Ph.D. is an award-winning, interdisciplinary scholar. She works at the intersections of community development, urban governance, and civil society, centering her research on issues of power, civic/political engagement, and local democracy. Dr. Nickels is an Associate Professor in the School of Peace and Conflict Studies and Co-Organizer of the Growing Democracy Project at Kent State University.