Putting the international in Public Administration: An International Quarterly. A historical review of 1992–2022

Abstract

Over the last 30 years significant efforts have been made to ensure that Public Administration: An International Quarterly lives up to its international title. In this review article, we highlight some of the key research articles that have been published by the journal which illustrate an international approach to the study of public administration. We show how the journal's historical inclusion of a diverse spectrum of philosophies, methodologies, theories and contexts has contributed to this internationalization. In doing so the journal has contributed to our understanding of equity, social justice and inclusion; ethics, public value and corruption; networks, governance and participation; and environmental governance and crisis management. This historical review also reveals how global challenges, particularly as a consequence of the climate emergency, drive the transnationalization of public administration, which in turn requires further international scholarship.

A century of Public Administration: Traveling through time and topics

“…In particular, the internationalization has accelerated since the 1990s, when Comparative and International Administration (Rhodes, 1992) and the European Forum (Bogason et al, 1999) were introduced as new sections in the journal. This development has also been reflected in an increasingly global composition of the editorial teams since then (Aoki et al, 2022, in this issue). In addition to editorial policies, the internationalization is likely to be driven by the alignment of academic practices and career systems across the world, which place an increased emphasis on publications in international journals (Lodge, 2022, in this issue).…”

Editing Public Administration

“…This internationalization naturally encouraged an interest in comparative approaches, as well as an increased interest in dynamics such as Europeanization and transnational governance. Public Administration reflected and contributed to these changes, as noted by Rhodes (2022) and Aoiki et al (2022). The value of a British public administration therefore might be seen, in the early decades of the 21st century, by its international and comparative outlook (see also Page, 1995;Pollitt, 2011).…”

“…This process continued during the period 2017-2020 when the editorial team included Lodge, Sharon Gilad, Salvador Parrado, Samuel Workman and Lan Xue. As noted by Aoiki et al (2022), the ambition throughout the 2010s was to allow for a "big tent" approach toward the study of public administration, offering a home to papers of international significance, regardless of theoretical, conceptual and methodological tradition or geographical location (Boin et al, 2011).…”

“…This process continued during the period 2017-2020 when the editorial team included Lodge, Sharon Gilad, Salvador Parrado, Samuel Workman and Lan Xue. As noted by Aoiki et al (2022), the ambition throughout the 2010s was to allow for a "big tent" approach toward the study of public administration, offering a home to papers of international significance, regardless of theoretical, conceptual and methodological tradition or geographical location (Boin et al, 2011).Public Administration has also been seen as a traditionally "British" journal, reflecting its origins in the 1920s. The reputation for being British (or, to put it less politely, insular) lay behind the inclusion of "international" in the subtitle and the existence of a dedicated "European forum" section (edited by Walter Kickert).…”

Celebrating the centennial anniversary of Public Administration

“…By pulling and studying each article that the journal has published throughout its history, they show the development and progression of the journal and the field of public administration. This piece is followed by Aoki et al (2022), who provide a closer reflection of the journal as they consider what are the most important contributions to the field that have been published in the last 30 years. In addition to their article being published here, it is included alongside these important contributions in a special virtual issue of the journal published on our website.…”