The article discusses the situational approach developed by Carlos Matus, whose operational techniques (PES methodology) were widely disseminated within the area of government planning, in contrast to his epistemology, which is largely ignored in specialist academic circles. Questioning the positivist view and reductionist economicism of the dominant orthodoxy, the situational epistemology proposes that public policies be thought of within the logic of the social game, the theoretical fundamentals of which are complexity, indecision and uncertainty. After describing the intellectual trajectory of Carlos Matus, the bibliographic analysis research methodology is used for investigating the main texts and establishing evidence of their contribution to the post-modern orientation of government management. Reviewing the literature of public policies, it is argued that the adoption of a situational perspective might inspire alternative solutions for contemporary problems in public administration, such as increasing administrative efficiency and strengthening democracy.
Situational epistemology; public policies; Carlos Matus; post-modernism; public management
