Public Administration Scholarship: Revisiting the Applied Function

• Author: Charles T. Goodsell
• Published date: 01 September 2021
• Date: 01 September 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/02750740211016005
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/02750740211016005

American Review of Public Administration

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DOI: 10.1177/02750740211016005

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Article

After 60 years of writing books on public administration, I

have thoughts looking back that I would like to share with

others doing public administration scholarship. I hope these

comments may stimulate thinking among veteran research-

ers and newcomers, too.

Public administration, like architecture, journalism, and

social work, is an applied field of study. This means its pur-

pose is not just the accumulation and transfer of knowledge

in its own secured realm. It is also an educator, cultivator,

and promoter of its linked profession. This distinguishes it

from traditional academic disciplines like mathematics, eco-

nomics, and political science, whose prime audiences are

other specialists in these fields.

Confusion on this point stems from the fact that in the

American academy, public administration was first con-

ceived as a subdivision of political science. When political

scientists recognized the teaching and research opportunities

that governmental actions present, public administration’s

separate subdivision status began to vanish. A consequence

was loss of a conscious responsibility for its applied respon-

sibilities. Hence, I propose a general re-establishment of our

applied role. This would be accomplished most easily via

public administration’s teaching and consulting functions.

Yet, I urge that our scholarship role be used as well. In this

Trumpian era of hatred of government, the public service

needs all the support, legitimation, and fresh ideas it can get.

I submit that public administration scholars should think

of themselves as being allies and partners of the millions of

men and women who do the work of the people under the

cloak of law and the public interest. To that end, they might

do this naturally or, alternatively, deliberately frame argu-

ments in favorable ways.

Critics in the professorship could well take umbrage at this

proposal. The idea could be seen as naive, anti-intellectual, and

limiting to the tone of one’s scholarship. As a researcher who

himself prizes his independence and freedom, I can fully

understand this attitude. In response, I make three points. First,

finding fault—the precursor to identifying a problem—is itself

a license to criticize and offer an answer. Second, if the change

saves taxpayer money, we are automatically on the side of the

angels at all points on the political spectrum. Third, keep in

mind that U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is

handing out infrastructure innovation contracts.

The Author’s Personal Research

Experience

I must confess that up to the composition of this essay, I have

not paid attention to the applied aspect of my own public

administration scholarship. This is so, despite the fact that

out of my 11 sole-authored volumes, 10 pertain in some way

to governmental administration. In the past several months, I

have been pondering what these works might possess in

terms of supporting administrative practice. On the follow-

ing pages, I first summarize these works and then analyze

them for possible applied conclusions.

Administration of a Revolution

The idea behind my first book, Administration of a Revolution

(Goodsell, 1965), was the consequence of a chance encoun-

ter at the University of Puerto Rico where I had obtained my

first teaching job. One day, I was searching in the Puerto

Rican Collection of the university library with the thought

1Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, USA

Corresponding Author:

Charles T. Goodsell, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,

Blacksburg, VA, USA.

Email: goodsell@vt.edu

Public Administration Scholarship:

Revisiting the Applied Function

Charles T. Goodsell1

Abstract

Public Administration is reaffirmed as an applied field of practice rather than a traditional academic discipline. Hence, scholarly

research in it should not merely expand an extant body of knowledge, but also support, encourage, and refine its linked

professional practice out in the nation and world. The author tests this idea on his own books, with mixed results.

Keywords

public administration scholarship, applied administrative research, academic support for practitioners

2021, Vol. 51(7) 487–491