Introduction

In this collective work, we try to account for the development of the field of administration and public policy in Argentina. We follow the general criteria that the collection of the Bristol University Press has been doing since 2015. The characteristics of this space articulate mainly scientific-academic issues as well as the political process itself of last instance decision-making, one of the elements that give it a certain complexity and constitute a distinctive feature. We can subscribe to much of the present work within the tradition of the socalled “disciplinary studies” in the social sciences (Ravecca, 2019; Bulcourf, 2021). These were strongly developed in Latin America during the last 20 years, providing new theoretical and methodological aspects to account for the history and development of disciplines such as political science and sociology.

In the specific case of this book, all its authors are specialists in the area and largely were its builders since the 1970s. This gives the text a strong reflexive character, becoming in many cases a kind of autoethnography (Giddens, 1993). The selection of topics also expresses the complex web of social relations and institutions that make nodes in the space of administration and public policies (Latour, 2005). This goes beyond the university sphere and state organizations and civil society. The temporal dimension is a central element that gives meaning to our analysis. For this reason, it is necessary to approach these studies with a basic historiographic criterion, which is to some extent the aim of our introductory work.

Argentina is a country with a vast territory and a federal regime. Despite this, there are enormous asymmetries in the distribution of its population, activities, and resources. The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, the capital of the republic, and its suburbs concentrate almost 15 million people (the country's population being 46 million), therefore, it is the most important center of decision-making, but also a concentration of universities, research centers, and civil society organizations. Despite this, over time, other important centers for our study have developed around the cities of Rosario, Cordoba, and Mendoza. We can recognize this in the selection of authors and their institutional affiliations. This is a central feature of Policy Analysis in Argentina. Another aspect is the diversity of theoretical orientations and methodological strategies that they have expressed throughout their intellectual trajectory, demonstrated in each of the chapters.