The Public Governance and Administrative Reform (PGAR) Research Cluster at the Faculty of Administrative Sciences, Universitas Indonesia (FIA UI), held the second session of its Brown Bag Discussion (BBD) series. The discussion centered on the critical role of the humanities in the development of governance and public administration. This session featured Professor Edoardo Ongaro, an international expert in governance and public administration.

The second BBD session brought attention to the issue that public administration has long been dominated by positivist and technocratic frameworks, which often overlook values, meaning, and the human dimension in decision-making and public policy implementation.

“This has created a serious gap between the technical aspects of policy science and a more reflective understanding of public life and its inherent values,” explained Professor Ongaro.

He stressed the importance of building a more holistic conceptual framework that explores and integrates the humanities into public administration studies and practices—not as a mere supplement to the social sciences, but as a vital foundation.

According to Professor Ongaro, the humanities are essential to public administration because they offer deep understanding that cannot be derived from data or technical methods alone. They shape our thinking to be more reflective, critical, and ethical.

In other words, the humanities illuminate, critique, complement technical shortcomings, integrate diverse perspectives, and address ethical concerns—all of which are crucial to creating more humane administrative practices.

Professor Ongaro also emphasized that the humanities are vital in addressing the complex challenges of the modern world. Today’s interconnected crises cannot be solved in isolation, and decision-makers need a deeper, more ethical, and context-sensitive mode of thinking—something the humanities offer.

He also noted that with rapid advancements in technology, including artificial intelligence, there is a pressing need for philosophical insight and foundational values to guide its application. Furthermore, the diversity of governance systems worldwide requires approaches that can bridge value and cultural differences—an effort that can only be achieved through humanistic perspectives. In short, the humanities are not only relevant to the past but also key to solving today’s and tomorrow’s public administration challenges.

“The humanities are not meant to replace the social sciences, but to complement them by expanding and deepening our understanding of public administration through ways of thinking distinct from the natural and social sciences. This contribution can be seen in four dimensions of public administration: as an interdisciplinary science, as a profession, as an art, and as a form of practical humanism,” he stated.

Professor Ongaro concluded his presentation with a call to reintegrate the humanities into public administration. This, he argued, is essential both for historical reasons and in response to current global challenges.

He proposed joint research between the humanities and social sciences to develop educational and training programs for civil servants that are more insightful, ethical, and reflective. As a core principle, Professor Ongaro advocated for Public Administration as Practical Humanism—an approach that views public administration as an endeavor grounded in universal human values.