A Relational Perspective for Public Administration

Relationality has been around for quite some time in a lot of work and literatures but for various reasons has not been defined or used in a really relational manner. So how would a relational perspective look like and what would it help us do in public administration? We will review conceptualizations, usages, and shortcomings of various analytical approaches, develop a relational perspective through practice theory based on the work of Bourdieu, Follett, and Turnbull, and provide several empirical illustrations and methodological recommendations to advance theory and empirical research. Our perspective focuses on relational enactment of power, relational dynamics of unifying differences, and practical argumentation as relational rhetoric. We argue this relational approach enables us to better understand social power and inequality in the new governance, account for socially situated individual practices, and practically enact more productive and democratic encounters.