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Both the field and the practice of public administration have been extraordinarily dynamic. While essential public services are not likely to disappear any time soon, the manner in which their administrative functions are carried out and evaluated is likely to change considerably. In a globalized world characterized by increasing uncertainty and growing expectations of demanding citizenry, the politics of budgetary austerity is pressing on public administrators at every level of government. They must think in radically different ways about what it means to govern in the 21st century. ‘The future of public administration’ predicts a future with new sets of challenges for the nation-state and its public administration systems. ...Less

Essentially, ‘public administration’ refers to the wide array of leadership and management functions and mandates carried out by civil officials involved with public sector ‘governance’, which, by its very nature, is intertwined with politics. ‘A contemporary overview’ shows that a defining characteristic of contemporary public administration involves the perpetually vexing question of where the politics of decision-making should end and the politically neutral business of management and administration should take over. There is an ongoing conflict between the democratic values of ‘equity’ and ‘equality’, and the market values of ‘performance’ and ‘efficiency’. Today’s public administrator needs to adopt flexible strategies and practices to cope with ever-changing political and economic landscapes. ...Less