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Edited by Rosemary O'Leary and David Van Slyke

The Maxwell School of Syracuse University

We invite articles for a special issue of Public Administration Review on "The Future of Public Administration in 2020."  Specifically, we seek articles in two areas:

Based on submitted abstracts, ten authors – a mix of academics and practitioners with different areas of expertise (e.g., management, bureaucratic politics, law, public finance, and public participation) - will be chosen to write original essays envisioning public administration in 2020.  Authors will come from the public (local, state/provincial, and federal/central government), nonprofit, and academic worlds. The examples may come from developed, transitioning, and developing nations. The problems and/or opportunities may be those common to a range of countries or ones that are affecting a small but growing number of governments. Recognizing that context varies, contributions may be national, international, and comparative in focus. Your instructions:  You are not inhibited by cost or difficulty.  Imagine and describe the field of public administration in the year 2020.  What you envision must be desirable, and motivating (you want to make it happen).  What do you see?   What is needed to make this happen?  What are the barriers to making this happen? Examples of questions may include:

·       How can the best and brightest in the public service be recruited and retained at all levels of government?

·       What does it mean to be a citizen of the 21^st century?  What are citizen's rights and responsibilities in the modern administrative state? How might these rights and responsibilities evolve and vary?

·       As reliance on third-parties, non-governmental actors, and policy instruments, such as contracting and public-private partnerships, continues to grow in many governments, how can 3^rd party government be held to public standards of accountability?

·       How can government obtain and use better science, information technology, and policy information in the years ahead?

·       How can defense policy be managed and held accountable to civil control?

·       What is the most appropriate route to create, upgrade, repair and maintain infrastructure? What public management implications can be learned from the experiences of others?

·       Can fiscal/monetary policy making be strengthened and integrated more effectively with governance systems?

·       How can regulatory management keep up with innovations in the market place?

·       Under what conditions does collaborative public management work best?  

·       How can public administration and management research be more helpful and relevant to practitioners?

·       Others?

Based on submitted abstracts, ten additional articles will be selected for a second   independent section which will feature original research with serious well reasoned analysis on the utility and further potential of strategic planning/strategic management approaches in government around the world.   Articles will move beyond visions for the future and talk about the strengths, limitations, and future potential of strategic planning/management systems in strengthening and improving governance. Again, articles may concern approaches common to a range of countries or ones that are affecting a small but growing number of governments.

For example, in a number of nations there has been an evolution in strategic planning/management systems at the central government level. Many more government agencies at all levels are developing strategic plans and linking them to performance measurement, management, and monitoring systems. There is further development and implementation of strategic planning and performance systems being integrated and linked to resource allocation, budgeting, and institutional accountability systems in many different countries. There is a proliferation of frameworks and models from conventional planning processes to those serving as complements, not substitutes, to traditional processes. There are other manifestations of these integrated systems and processes including the incorporation of quality management systems and citizen involvement processes.   These are being used both as part of the SWOT analysis of strategic planning and in the development of performance measurement and monitoring systems. One can look at agencies and municipalities that use extensive performance information systems to make government more transparent and accountable.

While governments around the world have set about replicating some best practices from for-profit and commercial firms, such approaches are not a one-size-fits-all. As a result, governments have engaged in substantial activities to customize their systems.

It is not just government pushing this agenda of planning and measuring performance. Increasingly, non-governmental donors, banks, and others are pushing for a results oriented management approach to governance. However, such an approach requires that systems, processes, leadership, and people develop the necessary capacity to design, implement, and evaluate such systems. With such systems come benefits and limitations. Both need to be explored and understood.

For government and nonprofit organizations, strategic planning/ management systems are opportunities to think and act strategically, educate, and build ownership for the purpose of improving performance, better serving the public, and planning for the future.  There has been a lack of systematic thinking however, analyzing the degree to which government and governance have changed, or might change in the future, as a result of these institutionalized systems, processes, and tools. 

Are these tools the right tools for government to integrate and use in the work of governance? What modifications need to be made to these tools, the organizations in which they are used, or education and training that public personnel and network actors receive in order to achieve the myriad goals of government programs?  Are there new tools that facilitate strategic thinking and action but which government and/or other sectors have yet to adopt? Are these systems and tools generalizable?   Why or why not?

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Please email a two page abstract of your article idea for either Part One or Part Two to Rosemary O'Leary (roleary@maxwell.syr.ed) AND David Van Slyke (vanslyke@maxwell.syr.edu) at by March 30, 2009 (new date).

From the abstracts, authors will be invited to submit full length articles due by October 5, 2009.   All articles will be blind peer reviewed by three referees.  The peer review process will determine needed article revisions as well as the final selection of articles for the special issue.

This special issue of PAR is funded by Maxwell alumnus Howard Phanstiel through the Phanstiel Chair in Strategic Management and Leadership.  Questions?  Please contact Rosemary or David.