Comparative Public Administration in a Globalized World: Moving Beyond Standard Assumptions Toward Increased Understanding. (7th April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: van der Wal, Zeger; van den Berg, Caspar; Haque, M. Shamsul
• Is Part Of: Public administration review. Volume 81:Number 2(2021)
• Page Start: 295
• Page End: 298
• Publication Date: 2021-04-07
• Subjects: United States -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; Public administration -- Periodicals; 350
• DOI: 10.1111/puar.13373
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0033-3352

Abstract

Abstract: Today's globalized world calls for a deeper understanding of how and why administrative practices differ across regions and what that means for theory and practice. However, empirical comparative studies in public administration incorporating local and regional particularities in their design, constructs, and interpretation of results are scarce, with the exception of studies on specific constructs such as public service motivation, professional values, and emerging approaches to non‐Western public administration. Consistently, scholars engaged in comparative studies highlight theoretical, methodological, and empirical difficulties in comparing public agencies, employees, and practices as the research instruments and assumptions used often originate from Western countries. Thus, there is a serious need today for adopting more context‐sensitive and balanced approaches to advance our scholarly understanding of systems and practices in different regions. This symposium aims to advance comparative public administration by bringing together novel empirical comparative contributions from scholars from different parts of the world .