Rethinking the identity of public administration: Interdisciplinary reflections and thoughts on managerial reconstruction

Public administration is in a state of identity distress. Whereas for many years the questions of politics and policy were those which unconditionally ruled the discipline, at present public administration as a science, art, and profession is undergoing far-reaching transformations. Two major forces of rectification have increasingly augmented the conservative ones to create a more interdisciplinary orientation of the field. These are cultural and social inputs and organizational, managerial, and economical influences. This merger began many years ago, but only recently has it attained sufficient critical mass to direct the public sector through various necessary changes. This paper accordingly suggests a revision of the evolution of public administration in the modern era, and argues that interdisciplinary reflections may be beneficial for the healthy development of the field in the years to come. Based on relevant literature the paper explains how a multi-level, multi-method, and multi-system approach may revitalize our understanding of a scholarly domain that is currently in a state of some perplexity and in search of the way forward.