Democracy, governance and participation: Epistemic colonialism in public administration and governance courses

A major challenge in Public Administration and Management courses is the persistent neo-colonial approach to teaching about the concepts of democracy, “effective” public participation and “good” governance from the normative basis of Western liberal democratic theory. The chapter develops its argument for an increasingly decolonial approach to teaching by shedding light on the plurality of governance settings that exist in the world, and the place and contribution of democracy and public participation within these contexts. Following that, the chapter briefly considers the formation of “legitimate” knowledge in Public Administration and Management courses, and highlights the adverse impacts that the epistemic exclusion of non-Western knowledge continues to have. The chapter concludes by outlining the imperative of decolonising education through deconstructing and reconstructing concepts, such as democratic governance and “effective” public participation, and delineating first steps for an increasingly pluralistic approach to teaching and learning that recognises the “situationality” of all students.