The Future of Public Administration in the U.S.: Coping with Political Dysfunction in Scholarship and Practice

This essay contends that the current crisis in US public administration is the continuation of long term trends that have permanently altered the practice of public administration. Three trends are identified: (1) the breakdown of the symbiotic relationship between politics and administration with the resulting politicization of the administrative process, (2) the disruption of the budget cycle, and (3) the eroding of bureaucratic capacity to implement effective programs. The result is the creation of permanent crises affecting large areas of public service delivery at federal, state, and local levels. The essay then outlines a set of topics that academic public administration needs to address and links these topics to changes in public administration curriculum in three areas: politics and administration (or democratic governance), adapting to the new budgeting uncertainty, and management of low capacity organizations in continual crises.