Humanism and Public Administration: Profiling the contours of Public Administration as Practical Humanism

Biancu, Stefano and Ongaro, Edoardo (2025). Humanism and Public Administration: Profiling the contours of Public Administration as Practical Humanism. In: Ongaro, Edoardo; Orsina, Giovanni and Castellani, Lorenzo eds. The Humanities and Public Administration: An Introduction. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, pp. 275–282.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035333608.00023

Abstract

This chapter addresses the relationship of humanism and public administration (the latter term being here used broadly to encompass the notions of public governance, government and public administration, and public management). We ask the question: can we speak of humanism of and for PA, and if so, what is its meaning and how ought humanism to infuse PA? We revisit defining issues about the very notion of humanism, to then reflect on how humanism intended as a mythical and axiological reference can provide a horizon of sense within which public administration can be studied and practised. The notion of humanism operates as a synthesising and generative category at the core of a constellation of notions – like human dignity and human rights – which require being continuously renegotiated while remaining universally shared by humankind and in need of being continually upheld. We argue such conception substantiates a notion of public administration as practical humanism.

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