Accordingly, Browder notes that "the discipline of public administration has little sense of its historical circumstances and constantly re-issues 'new' calls for science and rigour. Instead, we must focus more research on critical, historically-based studies." (p. 1) Browder argues that the insertion of administrative evil into such discussions provides just such a basis for consideration.

Key Scholars:

The key scholars of importance in this discussion are Adams & Balfour, whose 1998 text Unmasking Administrative Evil is identified as the seminal work on the subject by Dubnick & Justice. Indeed, Adams & Balfour have continued to examine these issues, resolving as recently as 2007 that "the ethical framework within a technical rational system thus posits the primacy of an abstract, utility-maximizing individual, while binding leaders and professionals to organizations in ways that make them into reliable conduits for the dictates of legitimate authority, which is no less legitimate when it happens...
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