Future Public Administration: Utopias and Dystopias - Einzelansicht

The goal of this seminar is to allow thinking about public administration beyond existing boundaries and to meet future challenges. Discussing public administration in historical context – from Wilson and Weber to New Public Management – or in theoretical debates, may cloud our vision into the future and the role of government in future societies.

In the first part, we try to approach the ideas and underlying understanding of public administration as such, continuing with the debate on utopias and dystopias of public administration. What could be an ideal future public administration, and which would be the horrifying version of it? The first part concludes with an excursion to the world of Science Fiction and its view on public administration. In the second part, we introduce the method of thought experiments with the intention to prepare in small groups strategies for public administration to cope with future scenarios.

Bouckaert, G. (2020). From Public Administration in Utopia to Utopia in Public Administration. In G. Bouckaert & W. Jann (Eds.), European Perspectives for Public Administration: The Way Forward; (pp. 71–84). Leuven University Press. https://lirias.kuleuven.be/retrieve/566698

Box, R. C. (2003). Contradiction, Utopia, and Public Administration. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 25(2), 243–260. https://doi.org/10.1080/10841806.2003.11029400

Joyce, P. (2020). Governing for the Future: Means, Ends and Disconnects. In G. Bouckaert & W. Jann (Eds.), European Perspectives for Public Administration: The Way Forward; (pp. 85–101). Leuven University Press.

McCurdy, H. E. (1995). Fiction and Imagination: How They Affect Public Administration. Public Administration Review, 55(6), 499–506. https://doi.org/10.2307/3110340