Digitalisation of Public Administration and the Dehumanisation of Procedures: A Humanistic Analysis of Tensions and Boundaries

Abstract

The digitalisation of public administration is often framed as a process aimed at increasing efficiency, transparency, and accessibility of public services. However, this transformation also reshapes the relationship between citizens and the state, raising questions about the humanistic dimension of administrative procedures. This article addresses the problem of the dehumanisation of procedures in the context of digital governance and analyses the tension between system rationality and individual experience, with particular attention to how the development of digital systems transforms citizens’ experiences and their relationships with public administration. Adopting a humanistic perspective, the article argues that the growing dominance of algorithmic logic and standardised interfaces reduces citizens to data points, weakening the relational and interpretative character of administrative practices. The analysis is theoretical and interpretative, drawing on literature in public administration, management, and technology studies to identify areas where digital systems fail to capture the complexity of human experience, thereby generating new forms of exclusion and depersonalisation. The article concludes by emphasising the need to define the limits of digitalisation critically and to develop a model of public administration that is genuinely human-centred, in which technological solutions remain subordinate to human judgment and interpretative capacity.