Rediscovering a Fundamentally New and Practical Administrative Alternative

The dissertation explores the two primary types of public administration feminist literature, equity feminism and other voice feminism, and determines that they do not reveal a clear typology that practically outlines the characteristics of an alternative organizational viewpoint from that of the dominant viewpoint. Building on Camilla Stivers' metaphor of the home, and drawing on nine other strands of literature, a typology comprised of 4 primary dimensions -- epistemology; ontology; social theory; and ethics -- was constructed that opposed the home metaphorical perspective and the dominant business metaphorical perspective. The home metaphor, based on Stivers' historical analysis of the early founding of the field of public administration, provided a framework for implementing the rediscovered typology. The home metaphor was then practically illustrated and revealed through a content analysis of two cases of community policing. The analysis of these case studies revealed the apparent difficulty of moving from the dominant business metaphorical perspective to the less familiar home metaphorical perspective. Despite this apparent difficulty, the case studies revealed rich examples of how the home metaphor plays out in cities that are striving to utilize community policing practices. Public administrators and researchers may use this typology to identify other alternative perspectives for analysis and praxis, as well as nonconventional courses of action. The case studies demonstrated that a critical aspect of public administration, that of policing, has begun to strongly value this alternative perspective and the positive gains that it brings to strengthening the relationship between public administrators and citizens.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Public Administration and Public Affairs

Department dc:contributor.department

Public Administration and Public Affairs

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Hall, Tracy Smith

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Dudley, Larkin S.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Wolf, James F.
• White, Orion F. Jr.
• McSwain, Cynthia J.
• Woodard, Colleen A.

• public administration
• feminine organizational theory

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-09242006-143004

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/29075