General Public Interest: between Electoral Rhetoric and Administrative Actions

Abstract

Traditionally, public administration is considered to be the operative side of government. Itis supposed to include all the activities involved in carrying out the policies of the elected officialsand some activities associated with the development of these policies. In this respect, well-knownauthors consider that the Public administration is all that comes after the last election promise and theelection night cheer: the means and ends of government. The complexity of social life, however, hasgenerated in recent years the appearance of a rationality deficit in the actions of government. It is thespread of some behaviour patterns that hinder the leadership of the system: rational options arereplaced by investment policy, the administration accepts the behaviours that are substantiallydifferent from the electoral promises. This situation generates dissatisfaction of citizens, declaringthemselves dissatisfied with the activity of the public authorities which, moreover, they have chosen.The intention of this study is to encourage analytical reflections on how the general public interest isrepresented.

Keywords

• public interest
• public authorities
• parties
• election promises