Transcript U.S. Public Administration and the Minnowbrook Tradition

Susan T. Gooden, PhD
Professor, Public Administration
Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
Virginia Commonwealth University
United States
[email protected]
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Conferences held every 20 years beginning in
1968
Designed to assess where the field of public
administration is going and where it needs to
go
Has an intentional impact on the intellectual
development of public administration
A generational narrative within public
administration
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Led by Dwight Waldo, Maxwell School,
Syracuse University, USA
Lens by which the learning and exchange of
new knowledge may be evaluated (Kim, et.al
2010)
Non-scripted; ad hoc discussion groups form
as conference unfolds
Held over 2-3 days in the remote Adirondack
Mountains in Upstate New York
Group of 35-40 “best and brightest” “rising
stars”
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Set within an important U.S. social context
(Vietnam War, The Great Society, civil rights,
protests); Era of big government
Group of 34 young public administration
male scholars who were trained as political
scientists
Quest for relevancy
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Rejects the idea of
public administrators
as value neutral
Identifies core values
of public
administration
Wrestles with
conflicting views of the
field
Major intellectual
contribution
Responsiveness
Participative
Decision Making
Citizen
Choice
Social
Equity
Administrative
Responsibility
Five normative core
values
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Mixture of original “Minnows” and younger
scholars
50% female
Overall less controversial and less influential
than Minnowbrook I
Public administration as independent
discipline
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Challenges to the
legitimacy of
government
“Scientific” tools vs. art
of administration
More risk-adverse
group of academics
General focus
Individualist
Performance
Measurement
Social
Equity
Mainstream
social science
Technicist
Specific themes
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Controversial election of President Bush
Post 9-11 attacks
Natural disasters
Eve of election of first African-American
nominee for President, Barack Obama
Two parts (original for younger scholars);
conference for mixture
Included 30 veterans of Minnowbrook I or II
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Global context
1968, 1988, 2008 PA
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Future search of public
administration
Governmental capacity
gaps in addressing
public problems
General focus
Core theoretical base?
Network governance
Role of globalization
Specific themes
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Quest for relevance
Academic publications following
Minnowbrook (books and academic journals)
Important misses (inclusion of economics;
reinventing government)
The Minnowbrook experience
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Is this a useful approach for public
administration scholars in other countries to
consider?
Will it foster a greater understanding of the
complexity of public administration globally?
Might it provide an important comparative 20
year generational assessment from young
scholars in public administration?
Is the Minnowbrook concept of interest to public
administrator academics in Korea?