New public administration and deliberative democracy within the framework of Habermas's criticism of systems theory

Although the fundamental principles and assumptions of the purposive-instrumental rationality approach are used by the new public management, no reference is given in the related literature to the source of this approach, i.e., systems theory. The assessment of the new public management in the context of systems theory which is used to analyze traditional new public management; can facilitate the examination of conceptual ties between these two different approaches. Criticisms directed by Habermas to the bureacratic organization of the Welfare State are also valid for new public management. In this paper, similaraties between the traditional and new public administration on their approach to technology and rationality are examined and the prospect for new public management to solve the problems of purposive-instrumental rationality through new methods of participation such as deliberative democracy, is discussed.