TUCKNESS, Alex

John Locke and public administration - Thousand Oaks : SAGE, May 2008

John Locke, whose thought greatly influenced the American founding, makes an important contribution to contemporary public administration theory and to our understanding of the history of American public administration. Locke's theory gives an account of why it is legitimate for public administrators to sometimes perform functions that are legislative or judicial in nature and encourages public administrators to interpret directives from those with greater political authority in light of a respect for rights and the public good. Historically, Locke put his ideas into practice as he helped oversee the administration of the early American colonies and made proposals for administrative reform