The development, social sciences and decision-making in the public sector

• Autor(a) principal: Klees, Steven J.
• Data de Publicação: 1981
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista de Administração Pública
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.fgv.br/rap/article/view/11620

In this article the author analyzes the inferences of two lines of thought it the realm of the social sciences, applied to development, experimental research and decision-making. The one he denominates dominant paradigm avails itself of well-defined techniques, criteria and processes to orient and appraise the actions of the public sector, although based upon a completely unreal outlook, in terms of today's world. On the other hand, the line called critical paradigm seems to be lacking a clear-cut way to orient and appraise the decisions of the public sector, its analysis, however, being much more sensitive of Brazilian social reality. Through this article, the author tries to present his personal view of the interrelations between developmental strategies, notions prevailing in the field of the social sciences and decision-making within the public sector. His arguments may be summarized as follows: a) in the realm of the social sciences, two clear-cut and coherent lines of thought permit differing implications for the analysis of any problem confronting the public sector; b) conceptual and practical problems in methods of empirical research hinder their being used to corroborate the validity of said lines of thought; c) limitations inherent to theories and methods applied by the social sciences hinder the improvement of strategies adopted to solve the more serious problems faced by the public sector; d) as concerns public administration, it is necessary to develop a new approach, particularly emphasizing the span and the opportunity for action offered by the decision-making process of the public sector.