Theorizing public organisation: An australian perspective

There is a widespread critique of government, in Australia and elsewhere, which raises questions about the conceptual frame mobilised by analysts and practitioners to make sense of public organisation. This article examines the practice and the analysis of public organisation in Australia, and identifies three distinct patterns of theorising it, which it labels "traditional", "modern" and "post-modern". The discussion of these alternative patterns raises questions about how public organisation is theorised, and about the relationship between the theorisation and the practice.