Postmodernism and public administration: Implications for the cia in an age of uncertainty

Abstract

This article discusses the concept of the "postmodern administrative mentality" and employs it to explain the mindset behind the administrative reforms currently being enacted at the Central Intelligence Agency. The postmodern administrative mentality is characterized by a.) a hostility to the notion of objectivity and objectively grounded truth; b.) a call for "flattened" administrative hierarchies; and c.) an insistence on "gray," or ill-defined mission boundaries. The paper concludes that should the postmodern administrative mentality continue to guide administrative reform of the CIA, the results would be that the CIA would no longer be an effective intelligence-gathering agency and that there would be a return to unethical and possibly illegal activities by the CIA.

Citation

Damask, N.A. (1998), "Postmodernism and public administration: Implications for the cia in an age of uncertainty", International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 203-222. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOTB-01-02-1998-B004