afastar grandes dúvidas

Each and every word in the lexicon of any language has a precise, definite meaning. There are no two words with exactly the same meaning, as the process of natural selection would have made one of them useless. Synonymous are equivalents, not identities. It is from this premise that rational thought and discussion can proceed and a science can be built.

As Orwell has shown, a necessary condition for an arbitrary society to thrive, a society where discretionary power prevails, is to give the same words different meanings. Thought then becomes blurred and rational discussion impossible. The conflicts arising from human interaction in this society will then be settled by power, not by rational argument.

Thus a science of arbitrary power must start by giving the same words different meanings and that is what Professor Freitas do Amaral does in his Curso de Direito Administrativo. In the very first chapter of his book he deals with the concept of administração pública which seems to be the main subject of his science. He then distinguishes between administração pública in an organic, subjective sense, as synonymous with administrative organization, from administração pública in a material, objective sense, as synonymous with administrative activity.

In order to avoid any sort of confusion he is careful to alert the reader:

"(...) a fim de afastar grandes dúvidas, passaremos a escrever Administração Pública com iniciais maiúsculas quando nos estivermos a referir ao sentido orgânico ou subjectivo, e administração pública com iniciais minúsculas quando nos reportarmos ao sentido material ou objectivo".

(op. cit., p. 33).

From now on - and we are just at the Introduction of the Textbook - what seems to be the very essential topic of the science of administrative law has two different meanings, one written in upper-case letters, the other written in lower-case letters. From this ambiguous begining, rational argument and discussion start to look uncertain and so does the development of a true science.

Both become literally impossible, though, when Professor Amaral in the following paragraph adds a third meaning to the expression administração pública which, for lack of a better term, I shall call the middle-case letter meaning:

"De um ponto de vista técnico-jurídico, ainda é possível descobrir um terceiro sentido - administração pública em sentido formal - que tem a ver com o modo próprio de agir que caracteriza a administração pública (...)"

(op. cit., p. 33)

At this point - and, may I say it again, we are just at the Introduction of the Textbook -, any rational discussion, which is the first condition for science, has become unviable. For, if you argue that a public administration reform is needed in the country, you might expect the administrative law scientist to question you: "What kind of public administration are you referring to, public administration with upper-case letters, public administration with lower-case letters or public administration with middle-case letters?" The discussion will end up as it started - a discussion about the meaning of words.

As for your argument that a reform of public administration is needed in the country, no counter-argument is warranted and the process of rational discussion is paralyzed from the outset. The reason, as Professor Amaral later acknowledges in his book, is that nobody knows exactly what you mean:

.

"(...) cabe perguntar o que é, ao certo, a reforma administrativa.

Não é fácil determinar com rigor o que é a reforma administrativa. Dizia um conhecido político francês - André Tardieu - que se um Primeiro-Ministro quisesse fazer-se aplaudir em todas as bancadas do Parlamento, bastar-lhe-ia anunciar a reforma administrativa. E depois acrescentava: porque ninguém sabe o que isso quer dizer...

Efectivamente, o conceito de reforma administrativa é difícil de definir, até porque varia muito conforme as épocas, os países, as circunstâncias - e os ângulos de visão".

(op. cit., p. 185).

By giving the expression public administration three different meanings it becomes nearly impossible to ask precise questions and to provide exact answers. Actually, the answers will be mostly arbitrary. Thus, the science of administrative law turns into a very peculiar science, indeed. A sort of voodoo. This is a science where many different people talk about many different things - including what appears to be its main subject, public administration - but where nobody knows exactly what they are talking about - including its own scientists.