PUBLIC VALUE AND POLITICAL ASTUTENESS IN THE WORK OF PUBLIC MANAGERS: THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE

What is it about?

The public value framework, with its call for more entrepreneurial activities by public managers, has attracted concern and criticism about its implicit breaching of the politics/administration dichotomy. This article explores the role of political astuteness not only in identifying what is publicly valuable and working to make it happen, but also in enabling public managers to be sensitive to the dichotomy so that they don't usurp the political power of elected politicians. We describe a conceptual framework identifying the skills of political astuteness, and then articulate these in relation to identifying and generating public value. Drawing mainly on in-depth interviews with 42 senior public managers, we examine the perceptions and capabilities of public managers in producing value for the public while traversing the line (or zone) between politics and administration. We conclude that political astuteness is essential to both creating value and maintaining allegiance to democratic principles.

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