The Future of Public Administration

The Future of Public Administration


Abstract
This paper examines several trends likely to affect the field of public
administration over the coming two decades. Implications of these trends for the internal
management of public organizations and for the relationship between public officials and
citizens are considered. It becomes apparent that new skills and abilities will be required
for public servants of the future.

In this article, I would like to explore some of the conditions under
which public managers will operate in the future, some of the areas of
knowledge, skills, and attitudes that they will be required to possess, and
some of the pathways public managers might explore in order to move
toward that future. I will begin by suggesting five challenges that will
likely face the top public managers of the next century, challenges that will
affect all sectors of society, but that will be of particular importance to those
in the public service. I will then examine two important directions that
public administration will likely take in the future.
First, let us examine some of the trends that will affect the field of
public administration over the coming decades. In each case, I will state the
trend rather broadly, but I will restrict my comments to the implications for
the public service. I would suggest the following: 1) An extraordinary
explosion of new knowledge and technological innovations, especially in
the areas of information sciences, genetics, materials, instrumentation,
automation, and space. This point is so obvious that initially it may appear
trite. But I want to suggest two aspects of this problem or this opportunity
that make it important for public managers. First, there is no question that
we live in an age of extraordinary technological change. Twenty five years
ago, the computing power that now sits on your desk or even in your lap
required several air conditioned rooms. If we merely extrapolate that same...