The future of public administration research: An editor's perspective
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Author | Bruce D. McDonald,Jeremy L. Hall,Janine O'Flynn,Sandra Thiel |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12829 |
SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE
The future of public administration research: An
editor's perspective
Bruce D. McDonald III
1
| Jeremy L. Hall
2
|
Janine O'Flynn
3
| Sandra van Thiel
4
1
Department of Public Administration, NC
State University, Raleigh,
North Carolina, USA
2
School of Public Administration, University
of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA
3
Melbourne School of Government,
University of Melbourne, Parkville,
Victoria, Australia
4
School of Social and Behavioural Sciences,
Erasmus University Rotterdam,
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Correspondence
Bruce D. McDonald III, Department of Public
Administration, NC State University, Campus
Box 8102, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Email: bmcdona@ncsu.edu
Abstract
Research in the field of public administration has changed
and advanced significantly in recent years. These advance-
ments concern bothhow we engage in research—such as the
methods we apply, the interdisciplinary nature of the theo-
ries we use, and the research questions we ask. Increasingly,
we are witnessing a shift in public-sector values away from
efficiency and effectiveness and toward a paradigm that
highlights equity. In this article, we reflect on these changes
from our position as editors-in-chief of some of the leading
journals in the field. In addition to describing the progress of
this discipline, we explore emerging windows of opportunity
for new research. One such window is research on ways to
incorporate interdisciplinary perspectives and methods. We
also see the need for work in such areas as social equity,
comparative administration, artificial intelligence, and climate
change. Finally, we argue for a more proactive approach in
disseminating research to those involved in the day-to-day
decision-makingprocesses of public organizations.
1|INTRODUCTION
The role of public administration emerged with the development of the first formal governments. In ancient Egypt,
pharaohs deployed servants to do their bidding and tax collectors to find and manage the flow of resources
(El Baradei, 2021; Ferlie et al., 2005). The first concerted effort to improve public management practices occurred in
Received: 9 January 2022 Accepted: 13 January 2022
DOI: 10.1111/padm.12829
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2022 The Authors. Public Administration published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Public Admin. 2022;100:59–71. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padm 59
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