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A Typology of Conceptions of the Public Interest

School of Public Administration, Ohio State University

A typology of conceptions of the public interest is presented, and the occurrence of public interest rhetoric is discussed. Classifying dimensions of the typology include (1) number of sets of preferences and agreement among them, (2) the existence and level of the actor holding the preferences, (3) whether determination of the public interest requires participation of units of the polity in certain acts, or is merely passive or investigatory in nature, and (4) whether determination of the public interest is or is not rule-determined. Reasons suggested for the occurrence of public interest rhetoric include the avoidance of protest, the constraints of general value consensus, and the behavior of fiduciaries. It is argued that development of a general theory relating public interest conceptions to behavior may be aided by construction of typologies like the present one.

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