Redescribing the public interest

Though it is a vague, indeterminate construct, “the public interest” continues to be used in public administration writing. It is suggested that extant substantive, aggregative, and process descriptions pay insufficient attention to the economic and political context, the ability of members of the public to determine what their interests may be, and the temporal dimension of the public interest. A critical redescription of the concept is offered that takes into account societal conditions, public knowledge, and change over time.