The Renovation and Reassertion of the Refounding

• Author: Sara Mattingly-Jordan,Daniel Boden,Chad B. Newswander
• Published date: 01 May 2018
• DOI: 10.1177/0095399718769066
• Date: 01 May 2018
• Subject Matter: Introduction to the Special Issue

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399718769066

Administration & Society

2018, Vol. 50(5) 629 –632

© The Author(s) 2018

DOI: 10.1177/0095399718769066

journals.sagepub.com/home/aas

Introduction to the Special Issue

The Renovation and

Reassertion of the

Refounding

Chad B. Newswander1, Sara Mattingly-Jordan2,

and Daniel Boden3

Abstract

It has been almost 20 years since the Refounding’s last unified publication.

Although the name “Blacksburg” continues to hold a place in the field, it has

increasingly been withdrawn from serious consideration. The purpose of

this special issue is to renovate and reassert refounding insights back into

the theory and practice of public administration.

Keywords

Blacksburg Manifesto, Refounding Democratic Public Administration, public

administration theory

Responding to the political headwinds directed toward the field of public

administration during the 1980s and 1990s, the authors of the Blacksburg

Manifesto sought to identify solutions to the hazards they saw threatening to

capsize the ship of American public administration. Rather than retreat from

the ominous winds and unpredictable waves that could tip the institution of

public administration, the refounders steered directly into the storm. The

1Brigham Young University–Idaho, Rexburg, ID, USA

2Virginia Tech, Alexandria, VA, USA

3Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, USA

Corresponding Author:

Chad B. Newswander, Professor, Department of Political Science, Brigham Young University–

Idaho, 525 S. Center St. Stop 2160, Ricks Building 262T, Rexburg, ID 83460, USA.

Email: newswanderc@byui.edu

769066AASXXX10.1177/0095399718769066Administration & SocietyNewswander et al.

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