Value-based governance

Public governance is inherently normative, so it is important to study the values of public governance - particularly in the present-day context, where, given increasingly differentiated Western public governance, many different values come into play and new value conflicts arise. In this Element, a value-based governance (VBG) perspective is presented. In this perspective, values take centre stage as the guiding concept in the theory and practice of public administration and are used as a heuristic to understand and analyse public governance. One section focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of coping strategies used by actors and institutions when dealing with value conflicts. In the final section, the author return to the practice of public governance: the VBG paradigm entails public governance with normative reasoning.