The bright future of value pluralism in public administration

In their critique of Spicer’s and Wagenaar’s account of value pluralism (VP), Talisse, Overeem, and Verhoef seem to suggest either that VP does not exist or that it is irrelevant for public administration (PA). My argument is that in public governance, there are many conflicting intrinsic values. This means we can speak of incommensurability, the key feature of VP, and there is much potential for PA in this realization. I propose additional research questions on the nature of value conflict in late modern governance: which intrinsic values conflict in public governance, how often do they conflict, and how is this dealt with by both individuals and institutions? Answers to these questions will have a great deal of practical relevance and might possibly lead to what Beck Jørgensen and Rutgers call a new “Public Values Perspective (PVP)” in PA.