Building global public administration knowledge: Leveraging the power of collaboration

Abstract

AbstractPublic administration has been seeking to develop a global knowledge base, dating back to the early days of the field. Despite expressed interest in building such a knowledge base, scholars continue to criticize overly narrowly public administration knowledge, which tends to favor developed countries and the Global North. This article applies principles from collaboration theory, which was developed for solving complex problems, to set a course for intentionally broadening the geographic scope and perceived validity of public administration theory. Five interconnected variables from collaboration theory are used to assess how members of the public administration epistemic community can build and facilitate collaboration to develop global public administration knowledge. Specific action steps are discussed to increase collaboration and, in turn, the inclusiveness of the global public administration knowledge base.