Abstract

CARVALHO, Elisabete de. Decision-making in the public administration: a dialogue of rationalities. Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas [online]. 2013, n.73, pp.131-148. ISSN 0873-6529.  https://doi.org/10.7458/SPP2013732811.

The Science of Public Administration has been the stage for a heated debate on the search for the management models and organisational designs that best suit a system which will simultaneously achieve the goals that are set for it and make appropriate use of the resources at its disposal. The desired end is an instrumental, managerial rationale derived from a theoretical modelling of the decision-making process that is widely adopted in both management and economic fields: the rational decision-making model. However, it is not entirely clear that this model matches what actually happens in the reality it seeks to describe and explain. There are other models, born out of studies of an inductive, pragmatic nature, that provide different visions of and explanations for decision-making processes, particularly when two variables are introduced: the political context; and when decisions concern ambiguous problems that tend to be complex. The author synthetically systematise some of these models, in the hope that considering them may provide valuable assistance in the process of transforming the administrative system effectively.

Keywords : decision-making processes; rationality; public administration.

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