Linking public values and public value
Value has become a central theme in public policy and management, a sometimes-elusive pursuit for practitioners. There are two major interpretations of value:
public values: the principles and expectations that shape policymaking and governance.
public value: the real-world benefits or harms people experience from government action.
An article in Public Administration Review argues these two ideas should be understood together. It introduces a framework called “value as praxis,” which looks at how public values are translated into practice and ultimately experienced by communities. The framework shows how values move through different stages - from being identified and to being built into policies and service design, and finally into peoples lived experiences of benefit or harm.
Defining value
There are two contemporary perspectives on value in public policy: institutional and generative. The institutional interpretation perceives value as belief structures in which society's aggregate views of rights, obligations, and the principles of governance, policymaking, and administration are housed. These can be thought of as public values.
The generative interpretation conceives value as the tangible and intangible benefits created for, delivered to, and experienced by members of society, primarily through the design and delivery of public goods and services commonly. This is commonly labelled public value. Here, value is experienced in different forms such as in:
citizens' satisfaction with services.
benefits reflected in political, social, and economic outcomes.
improvements in socially valued areas such as public health, security and the environment.
Understanding public values
Public values are socially constructed. Their meanings and role can vary over time and across contexts and are subject to varying degrees of consensus and contestation. This variation can reflect socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, income level and ideological preferences, as well as professional norms.
Given the nature of public values as guiding principles, they often shape approaches to governance and policymaking by setting priorities, structuring collaboration and influencing the design and implementation of governance arrangements. For example, in a collaborative governance planning process, competing public values shape participation. In turn, this can facilitate or impede collaboration.
Public values also shape policymaking choices in relation to both process and objectives. They anchor policymaking in society's perceptions of the roles and obligations of the state and link public interest to policy goals.
Understanding public value
Public value can be understood as the tangible and intangible benefits created for society through the provision of public goods and services. These benefits are delivered through public programs and services in areas such as healthcare, education and social welfare.
There are two types of benefits:
experiential through citizens' encounters as recipients of public products and services, manifesting in benefits such as accessibility, convenience, and satisfaction.
outcome-oriented with a focus on cost effectiveness of services or social impact reflected in social, economic, cultural, or environmental outcomes.
Value as praxis
The article develops a praxis-oriented perspective to understand how the expectations and beliefs regarding governance and policymaking (public values) translate into programs, services, and experiences (public value). In other words, the idea of ‘value as praxis’ links public values with public value.
Figure 1: Linking public values to public value (Zaki, 2026)
This relationship is depicted as a process with institutional, regulatory, sociotechnical, design, and learning elements. It is shown in Figure 1.
In the above figure:
Institutional processes refer to the procedures and structures, and that anchor decision-making and implementation within public organisations, including how authority is distributed.
Regulatory processes include the mechanisms and procedures through which public authorities establish, enforce and ensure compliance with regulations that govern how public organisations function.
Socio-technical processes contribute to transformations in the interaction between society (social systems) and technology (technical systems).
Design processes are cross-cutting. They are the approaches through which institutional, regulatory, and sociotechnical arrangements are shaped and implemented.
Learning processes involves continuous reflection and adjustment of knowledge and processes to changing conditions.
The bottom line
For public managers, the value-as-praxis framework offers a practical way to assess whether an initiative is delivering on its stated values. It encourages public managers to ask:
Are your values clear and reflected in priorities and decisions?
Do budgets and performance measures support those values in practice?
Do systems and processes promote inclusion and transparency, or create barriers?
Who benefits from the current approach, and who may be left out?
Are stakeholders genuinely involved in shaping decisions, or is participation largely symbolic?
By asking these questions, the framework helps move beyond compliance to examine whether an initiative genuinely reflects its stated values, highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement.
Want to read more?
Toward a theory of value as praxis: Linking public values and public value - Bishoy L. Zaki, Public Administration Review, March 2026