Emerging perspectives: positive public administration and Islamic public value

Abstract

The discussion on Positive Public Administration (PPA) emphasises that success and failure in governance are not strictly binary. PPA may simultaneously present both successes and challenges across different dimensions. This multidimensional approach allows scholars to appreciate the complexity of public administration, where success often results from multiple interdependent factors. Thus, the positive outcomes in governance are typically not due to a single cause but emerge from a mix of institutional, social, and historical conditions. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the meaning and implications of PPA for the study and practice of public administration. In doing so we also stress a fundamental point that PPA advocates have already made; that in pursuing a PPA agenda we need to ensure that so-called “positive” research is truly scholarly, rather than some unwarranted optimism about the state. This chapter argues that PPA's goal of mapping success in public governance is not an uncritical endorsement but rather a nuanced, evidence-based inquiry. By using methods like Qualitative Comparative Analysis to examine diverse “pathways” to positive outcomes, PPA contributes to a broader, contextually sensitive understanding of governance, incorporating global and historical perspectives, such as those found in Islamic Public Value (IPV).