Introduction. In the scientific article, the author examines the problem of polyphony of terminology in the field of social and public administration as one of the fundamental causes of problems in the theory and practice of managing the state and government bodies. Consideration in domestic science of the phenomenon of «social management» from different points of view of political science, sociology, management, administrative law, organization theory led to the formation of ambiguity in the conceptual apparatus. This situation was aggravated with the introduction of checks of scientific works using the «Antiplagiat» system, which made «unpromising» scientific research in the field of social and public administration, which cannot serve as the basis for the scientific growth of authors in this area. Methods. The system, schemes and concepts of the theory of social systems and management, intersectoral and interscientific connections of natural, exact and technical, social and human sciences were used as a methodological basis. Results. To eliminate the causes of ambiguity in the conceptual apparatus in the field of public administration, he proposes: to restore the scientific specialty «Social and public administration»; to consider the state, state, non-state bodies and their management subsystems as objectively existing types of social systems; reconsider approaches to determining the originality of a text; form the conceptual apparatus on the basis of dialectics and the theory of social systems.