CRITICAL THEORY' BASIS OF THE PUBLIC VALUE APPROACH

Abstract

Since the mid-1990s, a new approach has emerged in the field of public administration in the center of the concepts of ""public value"" and ""public values"". This approach is rapidly developing and spreading in both theory and practice, following the Traditional Public Administration (TPA) and New Public Management (NPM) paradigms. However, the literature on the Public Value Approach (PVA) is very fragmented. In this approach, a fourfold distinction may be applied as ""public value framework"", ""public values framework"", ""the essence of public value"" and ""public value pragmatism"". There are very few studies on PVA in the Turkish literature. Therefore, PVA has the status of a new topic, especially in the Turkish literature. However, it is seen that PVA, which foresees a value-oriented approach in the field, often lacks the critical theory basis in the literature. With this study, it is aimed to contribute to the Turkish literature about PVA and to discuss the mostly neglected ""critical theory"" basis of this approach by making a literature review.