Temporal aspects of studying almost any object enrich the theoretical basis of scientific research. The temporal foundations of the public administration system, temporality in public administration are practically not studied by legal science.
The purpose of the article is the theoretical and legal substantiation of the temporal aspects of public administration. The objectives of the study are to identify approaches to positioning time in the public administration system and their theoretical and legal characteristics, as well as to identify the prospects for using temporal categories in further scientific research.
When working on the topic of the article, such special methods as comparative legal, legal analysis method, formal legal method, and institutional analysis method were used.
Four relatively independent scientific approaches to the theoretical and legal positioning of time in the public administration system are identified: time as an external environment in relation to the management system, an element of administrative procedures, a criterion for the effectiveness of public administration, a factor in taking into account previous management experience. The substantiation of the identified options for using temporal categories in public administration allowed us to conclude that it is necessary to take into account temporal parameters both when assessing the effectiveness of public administration mechanisms and when taking into account positive management experience in reforming the public administration system. The need to take into account and preserve domestic legal and management traditions that allow for ensuring national identity is proven. Based on the results of the study, a definition of temporality in public administration is given, which is positioned as an integral property of the latter, having external and internal expression, allowing for considering public administration in dynamics. Conclusions are made about the prospects for using temporal characteristics in research on public administration problems, and industry and interdisciplinary approaches to using the category of time in modern scientific research are highlighted.