A fresh edition of the book Reflective Public Administration: Views from the South was necessitated by changes in the context and further developments in the discourse of Public Administration. Since the first edition was published in the early years of South Africa's democratic dispensation, history has moved forward more than a decade. For example, the racial and sexual profiles of the South African public service have moved forward considerably. At the same time, certain basic concepts in the subject Public Administration, such as governance, have become problematic. The editors became aware of gaps in the first edition that needed to be filled. A discussion of Public Administration on the African continent and a more intensive treatment of qualitative methods in Public Administration became necessary. The editors have also decided to publish the part on ethics as a separate volume with the title Reflective Public Administration: Ethics.

What has not changed and what has been proven by the reception of the first edition, is the need for reflection in Public Administration and even reflection on reflection. Consequently, this fresh edition of the book continues to stimulate reflection, contemplation, thinking, philosophising — call it what you will — in the minds of public administrators at universities and elsewhere. When thinking is pollinated in diverse forums, the outcome is debate. The thread that runs through the new edition is still the potential of a topic to elicit, if not demand, reflection. Readers must not expect a systematic overview of Public Administration. They must not expect simple answers. What they should expect is a discussion of important philosophical themes over a wide scope of the subject that may break open new insights and hone their thinking skills. We are confident that all topics in this book are of philosophical importance for Public Administration. At least three of the Reflections (chapters), namely 1, 3 and 13, deal specifically with philosophy. (The reader must be on the look-out for possible differences – therefore a potential debate – on the nature of philosophy between these reflections.)

The debate we hope to stimulate centres on a special instrument created to contribute to good government — the academic subject called Public Administration.