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Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking? Using the Sociology of Professions to Compare the Public Values in Public Administration and Urban Planning Literatures

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The Palgrave Handbook of the Public Servant

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Abstract

When it comes to urban management and public service, public administrators and city planners often work side by side. They both address public policy issues and the public interest, but they come from different professional traditions and stake different jurisdictional claims, as seen through the sociology of professions and public values. As a result, they may not always agree, and they might not always appreciate or know how to use each other’s tacit knowledge and overarching theories. Understanding each other’s points of view can help them work across professional boundaries and within multidisciplinary settings. Public administration researchers created a “public values universe” inventory for public administration through a cross-national content analysis of public administration literature. Following this research model, a city planning “public values universe” was created using cross-national planning literature. The public administration and city planning universes were then compared showcasing areas they have in common (public interest, common good, social cohesion, user democracy, local governance, citizen involvement, altruism/humanitarianism, competitiveness–cooperativeness, innovation, accountability, honesty, moral standards, ethics, integrity, legality, justice, equity, fairness, dialogue, responsiveness) but also differences (regime dignity, political loyalty, public opinion, user orientation, quality of life, planning, dreaming, spatial orientation, context sensitivity, redistribution, common-pool management, agonistic debate, making policy, proactive advocacy, stability, timeliness, enthusiasm, friendliness). Public servants can create inventories of public values using simple training and educational activities to enable them to cross boundaries and enhance collaboration, problem-solving, and innovation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Affairs and Administration, Urban Planning Program, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Bonnie J. Johnson

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  1. Bonnie J. Johnson
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Correspondence to Bonnie J. Johnson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, Australia

    Helen Sullivan

  2. UNSW Australia, Campbell, ACT, Australia

    Helen Dickinson

  3. College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Hayley Henderson

Section Editor information

  1. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Paul Williams

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Johnson, B.J. (2019). Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking? Using the Sociology of Professions to Compare the Public Values in Public Administration and Urban Planning Literatures. In: Sullivan, H., Dickinson, H., Henderson, H. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the Public Servant. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03008-7_47-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03008-7_47-1

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