Bringing political science back into public administration research

Abstract

The paper critically reviews the consequences of a bifurcation of Political Science and Public Administration. This divorce of two closely related academic fields has removed political explanations to key developments in the public service from Public Administration research and thus it tends to provide a partial view of the reality that it seeks to capture. There are several developments underway in the public sector, which underscore the political nature of public administration. These developments include the rise of administration politics; a growing emphasis on strategic management; governance-driven democratization and administrative micro-politics; the increasing significance of interactive and collaborative forms of governance; the rise of multilevel governance; and the development toward a more active citizenship. We find that in all of these areas, public administration research would benefit from incorporating a political science understanding of power, democracy, governance and citizenship.