(Re)approaching the pragmatisms of public policy analysis. experimentation and public inquiry in a scenario of democratic crises

Abstract

This theoretical essay explores the contributions of the pragmatist lens to the analysis of public policy governance in a scenario of crisis in democracies. Therefore, it begins by exploring the recent debate in the field of public administration on governance and the analysis of public policies, showing that this leads to a double dichotomy: Between ways of governing and reforming the State and ways of analyzing public policies and its effects. From the gaps evidenced in this debate, we entered the discussion on the notions of democratic experimentalism and public inquiry arguing how such notions can be inspiring to look at everyday “policy making” in a different way, especially considering the challenges imposed to the public action faced with public problems increasingly complex in a reality of crisis and democratic setback in several countries and, above all, in Brazil.