Public Administration and the Crisis of American Democracy

ABSTRACT The field of public administration stands amid genuine crisis. Americans don't trust government or its administrators. Elected officials have attacked the career service as agents of the “deep state” and, though it might be hard to admit, many of public administration's critics have a point. Government's performance too often falls short of what people expect, practitioners too often seem too unresponsive to elected officials, and researchers too often seem to have only fuzzy guidance for practitioners. However, public administration undoubtedly is more important now than ever in translating public goals into effective action, and in bringing to life the democratic aspirations Madison and his colleagues wished for the country at its founding. The field urgently needs new strategies and tactics for solving the new generation of puzzles the country faces. In coming together, practitioners and researchers build on these puzzles to chart an exciting road forward.