Teaching public administration: Preliminary elements of an interdisciplinary intellectual history

ABSTRACT

The analyses of Brazilian specialists are unanimous in the conclusion that the study of public administration is multidisciplinary. Although this characteristic is basic to building a transdisciplinary scholarship, it is necessary to go beyond the initial diagnosis and thoroughly explore the intellectual traditions interpenetrating this tangle of knowledge and professional practice that constitutes the so-called Campo de Públicas (Public Field). Therefore, this study aims to contribute to two problems of the field: the absence of a consolidated conceptual map and the shallow historical rooting of the field’s intellectual genealogy. The analysis focuses on teaching public administration in undergraduate and master’s programs of the Professor Paulo Neves de Carvalho School of Government at João Pinheiro Foundation in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Through an analysis of monographs and theses produced over 22 years, the research seeks to understand the school’s different intellectual traditions. In general, there is a scientific emphasis (wissenschaftliche) on knowledge and practical experience, notably in the areas of public policy, public administration, and public management. Although the study is limited to analyzing one school of government, the findings offer preliminary elements for a broader agenda of writing the intellectual history of the Public field in Brazil, assuming that its interdisciplinarity requires acknowledging the identity of its disciplinary areas.

Keywords:
Public Field; intellectual history; interdisciplinarity; school of government; public administration