Trends in the Study of Public Administration: Empirical and Qualitative Observations from Public Administration Review, 2000–2009

• Author: Jos C. N. Raadschelders,Kwang‐Hoon Lee
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02303.x
• Date: 01 January 2011
• Published date: 01 January 2011

Recent Trends

in Public

Administration

Research

Jos C. N. Raadschelders is a professor

of public administration and Henry Bellmon

Chair of Public Service at the University of

Oklahoma. His interests include administra-

tive history, comparative government, and

the nature and development of the study of

public administration.

E-mail: raadschelders@ou.edu

Kwang-Hoon Lee is a doctoral

student at the University of Oklahoma.

Currently, he is f‌i nishing his dissertation on

the intellectual history of the study of public

administration in the United states.

E-mail: kwlst7@ou.edu

Trends in the Study of Public Administration 19

Jos C. N. Raadschelders

Kwang-Hoon Lee

University of Oklahoma

election, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 that prompted

ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and corporate

scandals involving companies such as Enron and

WorldCom.  e decade also witnessed major natural

disasters such as the Katrina and Rita hurricanes,

and ended with the election of a president of African

American descent and an unprecedented economic,

 nancial, and regulatory crisis. ( e massive oil spill

in the Gulf of Mexico is just beyond the period we

consider.) As a consequence, the role and posi-

tion of American government in society increased

signi cantly with, among other things, the creation

of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.

( e passage of the health care bill is just beyond

our period.) Few decades

demanded more from govern-

ment, and practitioners and

academicians were challenged

to respond.

How has Public Administra-

tion Review (PAR), the journal

dedicated to fostering academi-

cian–practitioner exchange,

responded to this rapidly

changing environment? What

are the quantitative and qualita-

tive trends in its publications?

How e ectively do its contents

respond to the turbulent times

and the needs of policy makers, the public, and

nonpro t organizations? While PAR’s content should

re ect current concerns and needs in society, do its

pages recognize that the journal and the study not

only should be motivated by what is in the news,

but also address longer-term trends in government

and public administration, as well the foundations

of their knowledge? Hence, what is missing in PAR?

What topics, issues, and ideas ought to receive much

more attention? Do PAR articles adequately explore

longer-term trends and the conceptual foundations of

the study?

Trends in the Study of Public Administration: Empirical and

Qualitative Observations from Public Administration Review,

2000–2009

What are the apparent research and methodological

trends in PAR’s content over the past decade? From

the perspective of the journal’s 70-year history, with its

aim to “mesh” practitioner and academic knowledge

creation, topical coverage since 2000 re ects striking

continuity, emphasizing many of the “bread and butter”

administrative issues such as planning, human resources,

budgeting, and public management. A marked increase

in coverage is apparent in the application of more

sophisticated quantitative statistical methodology, as well

as in the number of female authors, while the number

of practitioner authors declined sharply.  roughout

the  rst turbulent decade of the twenty- rst century,

three intellectual themes stood out: evaluations of New

Public Management, connections

between practitioners and

academicians, and responsiveness

to immediate social, economic,

and political challenges. Given

the constant demand for usable

knowledge, scholars seem to

have marginalized attention

to the historical context and

epistemological foundations of

the study.  e central challenge

in the years ahead will be to

e ectively use research methods

in response to the big questions of

government and society that defy

measurement.

Since many [empiricists], especially the younger, do

not know very much about epistemology, they tend

to be quite dogmatic about the one set of canons

that dominate them.

—C. Wright Mills, 1959

The past decade undoubtedly ranks among the

most tumultuous in American history.  e

year 2000 opened with worldwide anxiety

about the Y2K problem, a contested presidential

Few decades [apart from

the most recent] demanded

more from government, and

practitioners and academicians

were challenged to respond.

How has Public Administration

Review . . . the journal dedicated

to fostering academician–

practitioner exchange,

responded to this rapidly

changing environment?