Foucauldian Power and Schmittian Politics

Abstract

A political pattern of power focused on defining enemies of the state permits administrative agencies to be grounded in framework that allows them to create meaning. In an effort to better understand how agencies act as political players in a web of power relationships, this article suggests a framework based jointly on Foucault's concept of power and Schmitt's understanding of the political. Although these models may at first appear to be incompatible, Foucault and Schmitt's ideas on power and politics are in fact complementary, and together can enrich an understanding of how administration is deeply constitutive.

On Legitimacy: Is Public Administration Stigmatized?

“…This literature has led to valuable insights into administrative theory and practice. For example, in using the theory that legitimacy (and power) comes from the Constitution (Rohr, 1986) combined with a more complete historical examination of major events that have disrupted the status quo (Newswander, 2011), Moran (2001), notably, has examined the inability of the administration to reign in powerful businesses, finding that the constitution failed to explicitly provide the necessary powers—a concern common to many legitimacy debates. In addition, the race to fine-tune the theoretical argument of legitimacy led to research about the importance (or not) of the Constitution to the administrative state, which led to scholars investigating the source of power of administrators and the authority that “the public,” the legislature, and the judiciary have over them (Christensen, Goerdel, & Nicholson-Crotty, 2011).…”

Poder en la política de salud colombiana: la sociedad civil y la reforma a la salud de 2013

“…Para Foucault, las personas no tienen formas de escape o de emancipación para librarse de las relaciones de poder, sino que el poder siempre se hace manifiesto, a través de normas, tradiciones o regímenes (Newswander, 2011). El alcance que el poder, sus relaciones y sus formas de operación tiene sobre la salud es explicado por Foucault desde la revisión histórica de la medicina, toda vez que ella es una práctica social (Foucault, 1977a).…”

Moral Leadership and Administrative Statesmanship: Safeguards of Democracy in a Constitutional Republic

“…Additionally, the establishment of means through administrative discretion provides meaning to ends. This dynamism is a core insight of the role of administrative constitutiveness (Newswander , ). Administrators do not merely deal with the given; they also must create in order to resolve problematic situations (Newswander and Newswander ).…”