IDENTIFYING FACETS OF DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATION - THE EMPIRICAL REFERENTS OF DISCOURSE

This article takes on the difficult task of frying to ascertain the pr acticality of discourse as a means toward establishing a more democrat ic public administration. Of concern are the methods currently used to evaluate the authenticity of such endeavors, particularly Fox and Mil ler's warrants for discourse, which have something of a reliability pr oblem. This particular work suggests the use of more systematic ways t o examine discursive behavior; either in lieu of or in conjunction wit h the warrants. These are called empirical referents, and are inclusio n, self-regulation, and policy outputs. Use of these empirical referen ts is intended to help provide us with a clearer focus for our discour se about the process of policy implementation and the attainment of te nable results.