There is a strong tradition in public administration that reflects on the identity of the field, questions the rigor of the research, and suggests paths moving forward on both fronts. [This book] distinctively contributes to that reflective tradition, developing a thoughtful survey of past debates while adding new and thoughtfully developed insights. The author successfully invites a wide range of participation in the book through an inviting style of writing. [The book] delivers on the promise in the title of mapping the way for interdisciplinary study to expand the understanding of public administration. Raadschelders offers insights for researchers, teachers, and practitioners, as well as mapping a path to generate new discussions, to connect the research across disciplines and traditions, and a deep appreciation of the complexity and challenges in the study and practice of public administration. * American Review of Public Administration *
What is Public Administration?' sparked intense arguments within the field since the famed Waldo-Simon Debates sixty years ago. Professor Raadschelders' landmark treatise does a great service by addressing this fundamental intellectual conundrum in depth. He read everything related to its vast literature, synthesized its significance, and points the way forward with an astonishingly creative 'answer.' His magisterial tome is a 'must read' for serious administrative scholars everywhere. * Richard Stillman, Professor of Public Administration, University of Colorado, and Editor in Chief, Public Administration Review *
Raadschelders' book is necessary reading for guidance, control, and evaluation of our interdisciplinary field of public administration. This is ambitious since he looks at the past and our intellectual future. It is a courageous book since it does not only emphasize problems such as identity crises, disciplinary tensions, and knowledge fragmentation, but it also discusses 'solutions.' It is a generous book since it supports pluralism. Above all, it is an inspiring and useful book to (re)define our academic strategies and our position vis-a-vis practitioners. * Geert Bouckaert, Public Management Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium *
Professor Raadschelders' earlier works have provided readers with historical and comparative knowledge of the study and practice of public administration and government. This new work explores the epistemological and ontological foundations of public administration and advances an 'interdisciplinary study of government' as a way for public administration to overcome its disciplinary 'identity crisis.' I enthusiastically recommend this book especially for its historical, global, and philosophical qualities. * Yong-duck Jung, Professor of Public Administration, Seoul National University *
In this excellent and provacative book, Jos C. N. Raadschelders strives to explain what the academic study of public administration is. Raadschelders's analysis is sophisticated and complex. He avoids such simplifications as viewing the study as merely divided along lines established long ago by Herbert Simon and Dwight Waldo. He draws on American and European public administration and, in the process, demonstrates encyclopedic knowledge of the literature and study of the field. [The book] provides a major service to public administration scholars, researchers, and educators. It should be eagerly read by everyone who wants to know more about what pubic administration is and how its study may be advanced. * Public Administration Review *
