EMERGING ISSUES IN PUBLIC-ADMINISTRATION

This article briefly examines five subfields of the public administration literature in the context of the major changes which have occurred in each of those fields since the 1940s. Major changes include: the alleged shift to 'globalization' affecting comparative public administration; the spread of 'economic rationalism' in policy analysis; the new wave of 'managerialism' affecting the study of the public service; the transformation of administrative technique by 'informatization'; and the rise of legal formalization in some fields redrawing the traditional boundary lines between law and administration. For each of these subfields of public administration, three types of 'emerging issues' are identified. Some of the trends discussed - particularly managerialization and juridification - seem to be in tension with one another, suggesting alternative possible futures for public administration. Moreover, since many of the intellectual and doctrinal shifts seem to reflect a reaction against the shortcomings of an earlier orthodoxy, a counter-reaction in the longer run cannot be ruled out.