Reimagining the bureaucracy and post-bureaucracy debate: a systematic literature review on paradoxes in public administration

Marta Ingaggiati, Giovanni Barbato, Marco Guerci and Renato Ruffini

Public Management Review, 2025, vol. 27, issue 11, 2585-2614

Abstract: The relation between bureaucracy and postbureaucracy sparks debate within public administration (PA), typically conceptualized as a ‘simplistic’ replacement of alternative paradigms. However, scholars argued for the coexistence of bureaucratic and postbureaucratic features in PAs, which may foster paradoxical tensions. This article contributes to this debate adopting a paradox lens, and by employing the PRISMA methodology to systematize literature on PA-paradoxes, and their relation to bureaucracy and postbureaucracy. The findings reveal the pervasiveness of PA paradoxes and their relation to bureaucracy-post-bureaucracy contraposition. Therefore, this paper enriches the traditional conceptualization of bureaucracy and post-bureaucracy with a more reconciliatory approach through paradoxical lens.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2024.2358322

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