Call for Papers

The Copenhagen Public Value Consortium Biennial Workshop 2010

Heterogeneity and Convergence in Public Values Research

Research workshop to be held at Leiden, The Netherlands

June 10-12, 2010

Most topics and issues in the field of public administration are inherently normative, i.e. public administration concerns establishing and realizing public values. This workshop takes as its starting point public value realism, the acknowledgement of the heterogeneity in public values (over time and place), as well as the diversity in perspectives on studying values.

The inaugural Workshop of the Copenhagen Public Value Consortium in 2008 dealt with the broad topic of ‘Public Values and Public Interest: Normative Questions in the Evaluation and Development of the Public Sector.’ In the call for papers, it was noted that “(p)ublic administration today has to deal with value pluralism, relativism, as much as with dogmatism. Sometimes this results in denying the possibility of shared values for public administration, to the opposition others call for administrators as the very guardians of public values, i.e. of the public sphere, democracy and the ‘Rechtstaat.’” (for information on this workshop: http://polsci.ku.dk/english/public_value_workshop/). The need both in theory and praxis for convergence in public values is evident. The question remains: can it be realized?

In the spring of 2008, few realized that public value would become an even more widely discussed topic, especially in the context of the present economic crisis and concomitant debate on the role of government in relation to public values. The rise of interest in public values, both in theory and praxis, does not imply that diversity in approaches to normative questions has diminished. Indeed, at the 2008 workshop it was concluded that research should and can perhaps be integrated more, without annihilating pluralism. Six topics were identified for future consideration:

• How can constitutive public values be identified?
• How are public and private values related?
• How can public values be classified and compared?
• How can public values be safeguarded?
• How can public values be implemented?
• How should public values be theorized and researched?

The 2010 workshop will again focus on these issues. Contributions are expected not only to deal with a particular topic or case, but also to address overarching issues and questions. General studies are welcomed, as well as particular studies relating to these issues, dealing with, for instance, public service motivation, method(ologie)s for measuring values, and value genesis and value dynamics.

Admission

The workshop will have a limited number of participants (20 to 30). Participants will be selected based on paper proposals and the expected fruitful interaction arising from the presentations. All participants must have a completed paper distributed 14 days before the workshop begins.

Program

• Wednesday June 9th: pre-conference welcome
• Thursday June 10th: Sessions
• Friday June 11th: Sessions
• Saturday June 12th: Morning session, and final discussion early afternoon.

Location

The workshop will take place at Conference Hotel Oud Poelgeest, located near the city of Leiden: Poelgeesterweg 1, 2341 NM, Oegstgeest, The Netherlands, +31 (0)71 5174224. See http://www.oudpoelgeest.nl/.

Seminar fee etc.

The workshop is free for accepted participants. That is, the fee of € 600,- will be waived on actual participation in the conference. The fee covers hotel accommodation, breakfast, lunches, drinks during the sessions, and a conference dinner on Thursday. Travel costs, (other) dinners and drinks are not covered.

Application

An application with a paper proposal should be sent to both Patrick Overeem and Mark Rutgers (see e-mail addresses below) before December 1, 2009. You will receive an answer as soon as possible, but no later than February 1, 2010.

Conveners

• Patrick Overeem, Department of Public Administration, University of Leiden, The Netherlands: Overeem@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
• Mark R. Rutgers, Department of Public Administration, University of Leiden, The Netherlands: Rutgers@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
  

Conference Committee

• Guy B. Adams, Department of Public Affairs, University of Missouri, United States of America: adams@missouri.edu
• Michael B. Charles, Graduate School of Management, Southern Cross University, Gold Coast, Australia: michael.charles@scu.edu.au
• Karsten Vrangbaek, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark: KV@ifs.ku.dk
• Karen West, Languages and Social Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom: k.west@aston.ac.uk
  

Board of Advice

• Torben Beck Jørgensen Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark: tbj@ifs.ku.dk
• Barry Bozeman, Department of Public Administration and Policy, University of Georgia, United States of America: bbozeman@uga.edu