An audit paradigm in the framework of postmodern public administration understanding: ombudsman

Ombudsman is briefly a government agency or officer that receives, views and concludes the complaints of citizens whose rights and powers were infringed by the state and public administration bodies. The concept of ombudsman first appeared in Sweden in the 18th century. Therefore, the concept of ombudsman is based on community, politics and public administration understanding of the modern period. However, historically, the offices of ombudsman were established in a widespread manner in many countries throughout the world in the 20th century and especially after World War-II. This is because of the fact that the states had serious problems in this period and the ombudsman was regarded as a remedy to get rid of them. Therefore, the actual development of the ombudsman corresponds to the post-1945 period as well as the end of modern era. In this period, postmodernism began to gain importance and to be discussed and there is a significant connection between postmodernism and ombudsman. Indeed, the main thesis of this article is to suggest that ombudsman is an audit paradigm specific to the postmodern public administration. Thus, the present article argues that the ombudsman found its identity in the postmodern public administration era.