2024/09/25 by Ian Elliott, José A. Puppim de Oliveira, Alfred M. Wu · 1 voice · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Public Policy and Administration Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/pad.2073
openalex publication_date 2024/09/25 · openalex created_date 2024/09/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
Public Administration and Development has a unique position in the public administration discipline covering the intersections between the fields of public administration and development studies. As the leading journal on public administration in developing countries with an international perspective, and the second oldest British public administration journal (after Public Administration 1), the history of the journal can tell us something about the nature of our discipline and more generally the nature of academic publishing. This 75th anniversary special issue offers an opportunity to reflect on changes to the journal over those 75 years and to look to the future. It also sits alongside the first issue in 1949, the 25th anniversary special issue in 1974 (see Johnston, 1974), and the 50th anniversary special issue in 1999 (see Murray, 1999). It will be another 25 years before we have the opportunity to indulge in such introspection again. We can only speculate as to what the nature of academic publishing will be then, and how those involved with the journal will judge our tenure as editors-in-chief. For now, we are charged with the responsibility of curating the journal in a way that will ensure it continues to flourish. PAD is the second oldest British public administration journal. It was first published by the UK government Colonial Office as primarily a practitioner journal to support the sharing of knowledge and experiences of public administration in the British colonies, as well as a platform for building a network of scholars and practitioners interested in building public administration in non-Western context (Cartland, 1974). Its origins were as a ‘wholly unauthorised broadsheet for ‘local government’ as opposed to indirect rule’ (Robinson, 1974, p. 255). The explicit purpose, as set out by Robinson (1974), was to support decolonization and the development of independent democratic governments. This process took place throughout the post-war period and the journal provides a rich archive of indigenous approaches to public administration, including Islamic public administration, and state-building activities as part of the wider decolonization process (see Cartland, 1949). In this sense, the journal also sheds light on the nature and history of British public administration. In part, it demonstrates the character of British public administration as an inherently international and applied discipline. This is an important point, as whilst PAD is Western in its origins it has always been non-Western in its scope. The distinctiveness of British public administration (and by extension PAD), in contrast with other Western schools of public administration, was summed up by R.A.W. Rhodes when he noted that, ‘the overwhelming proportion of content in American political science and public administration journals is by Americans for Americans on America’ (Rhodes, 2011, p. 560). Others have traced the origins of British public administration to the Indian Civil Service (Chapman, 1970) and more recently the influence of the Chinese imperial examination system on the development of the UK civil service exams has been acknowledged (Kim & Massey, 2024). These historical examples, alongside the archives of PAD, also illustrate how British public administration has had close links with the practice of public administration across the world, particularly through the now-defunct Royal Institute for Public Administration (RIPA). Many of these features continued to influence public administration broadly and PAD specifically. For example, the international reputation of PAD has been well documented in relation to the number of articles published on Asian countries (Ko, 2013) and on ‘Third World’ administration (Gulrajani & Moloney, 2012) compared to other public administration journals. There are concerted efforts to internationalise the journal and to ensure that the editorial board is representative of the wider academic community (Elliott & Wu, 2023). We do so from a position of strength as a journal has always been international in nature whilst for many other journals this is a more recent trend (Aoki et al., 2022). Conversely, the links with practice have not been maintained to the same degree over time. This is reflected in the PAD editorial board and particularly in the nature of authors publishing in the journal. This is an issue that goes beyond PAD and has led some to call for a reorientation of public administration towards its historic practitioner academic engagement (Cairney et al., 2024; Flinders et al., 2024). Linked to the changing relationship between academics and practitioners is the changing nature of academic publishing. PAD was published by the UK government from 1949 until it was privatised under the Thatcher administration in 1989. Here we see the beginning of a shift in the focus of the journal towards becoming much more academic and less practice oriented. Yet even then the practitioner links were maintained through the activities of the RIPA. With the collapse of the RIPA in 1992 the journal became a fully commercial journal published by Blackwell Wiley (as did Public Administration) (see Rhodes, 2022 for a fuller account of changes in academic publishing at this time). Nevertheless, PAD has maintained the spirit of analysing the changing nature of public administration in developing countries. What is more, the journal has dramatically grown in scale and scope over the last 30 years and, more recently, the development of Open Access agreements has enabled a wider audience to access published articles. Last year we received 357 submissions of which 30 were published and 11 of those were Open Access. To support growth in the journal we have an expanded editorial board which currently has representation from 21 different countries. Journals, like other human institutions, only survive as long as they meet a real need and a real demand. That the Journal has survived and remained effective is an enormous tribute to all my successors as editors who have skilfully adapted their policies to keep in tune with changing demand (Cartland, 1974: 269). The journal will continue to develop and grow in line with changing demands over the next 75 years. Part of this change is visible in the changing nature of the editorial board including with those who have been editor-in-chief. As Table 1 shows, the early years of PAD were led by practitioners starting with Sir George Cartland. All editors-in-chief were British until as recent as 2010 when Jose A. Puppim de Oliveira, Fundação Getulio Vargas – FGV, took over from Paul D Collins, RIPA International Ltd. The support of Wiley has facilitated an expansion in the administrative, editorial, and promotional infrastructure of the journal. We continue to develop the editorial board with cognizance of the need for representation from a wide range of theoretical and methodological perspectives and backgrounds that reflect the international scope of the journal. Yet PAD is something of an outlier in public administration journals in having never had a female editor-in-chief, a disconcerting position that must surely be remedied soon. P R Forsyth Thompson, administrative Officer, Swaziland A J A Douglas Ian C Elliott, University of Glasgow Alfred M Wu, National University of Singaporef This special issue consists of 9 articles by 21 academics from across six continents. They both map the history of the journal and point to some important avenues of research for the future. Knox and Orazgaliyev (2024) highlight some of the challenges faced by autocracies across Central Asia in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In doing so they reflect the central role that PAD has played in promoting sustainable development within public administration scholarship and contribute to our understanding of how regime type affects the achievement of the SDG's. Xu et al. (2024) focus on gender equality as a central feature of the SDG's and note the importance of empowering women and tackling gender inequality to the achievement of economic and social development for all. They provide a comprehensive review of research on gender equality published in PAD and offer a vision for future research to advance gender equality through research and policy advocacy. Also exploring issues related to gender equality, Mosamim and Villeneuve (2024) explore the changing state of gender equality and representation across different regimes in Afghanistan. They highlight barriers and facilitators of women's representation in public administration and show how these have been present across different periods and regimes in Afghanistan. Rajan and Sen (2024) explore the changing discourse of public administration by analysing research articles from nine different public administration journals. They find that, whilst public administration is broadly Euro-North American centric in the geographic coverage of published research, PAD has a much broader geographic representation particularly in developing countries such as India, China, South Africa, and across South-East Asia. Our own contribution to the special issue maps how the different eras of development studies correspond with the evolution of PAD and the types of research articles that have been published within the journal (Elliott et al., 2024). We demonstrate how research on issues related to public administration and development studies has changed over the last 75 years of PAD and use this to suggest future avenues for research. One of the common themes of research that has been published in PAD over the last 75 years is around the training and development of public servants in non-Western contexts. Warner and Brown (2024) explore this theme in depth by conducting a narrative review of published research relating to teaching and learning within the journal. Through this they explore the challenges and evolution of approaches to decolonization. Dadze-Arthur and Mangai (2024) highlight the significance of decolonizing knowledge by using a Foucauldian discourse analysis to explore epistemic inclusivity in academic works. They acknowledge the crucial role of PAD as a journal that counters the prevalent Western-centric approaches that traditionally prioritize Anglo-American perspectives in public administration. To sustain progress in developing and applying inclusive approaches they stress the need for systematic support and consistent nurturing of diverse global perspectives. Young et al. (2024) turn the focus of analysis to the career opportunities of academic mothers and how biases and discrimination contribute to underrepresentation. As is often remarked, academic working conditions are student learning conditions. Thus, if we are to advocate for greater gender equality in practice, we must also advocate for greater gender equality in academia. In this article, Young et al. (2024) present a stark analysis of the position of mothers in academia. This has particular significance for PAD given how development processes impact on women and the central role of equality and inclusivity in the achievement of the SDG's. Consequently, Young et al. (2024) provide recommendations to transform academia into a more inclusive space for mothers. Finally, Dai and Azhar (2024) show how the United States continues to dominate published research on disaster management, despite the topic having such significant (and often grave) significance to non-Western countries and regions. They conduct a comprehensive analysis of the literature across 11 leading public administration and policy journals over the last 25 years. Through this analysis they illustrate the key themes and regions that have dominated published public administration research over this time and at the same time those themes and regions that remain marginalized. As we celebrate 75 years of Public Administration and Development (PAD), we recognize the journal's pivotal role in bridging public administration and development studies, particularly in non-Western contexts. Over the decades, PAD has evolved from its practitioner origins into a leading academic journal, maintaining its international focus while adapting to the ever-changing landscape of academic publishing. This special anniversary issue highlights significant contributions from around the world, addressing contemporary issues and paving the way for future research. As we look towards the 100th anniversary, the continued success of PAD will depend on its ability to adapt to new challenges, embrace diverse perspectives, and remain at the forefront of discussions on public administration and development. The legacy of PAD is one of resilience and ongoing relevance, underscoring the critical role of public administration in fostering sustainable development worldwide. Future generations of scholars and practitioners will build on this strong foundation, ensuring that PAD remains a vital and dynamic resource for the global academic and practitioner communities. The journal welcomes submissions with a discerning focus on their alignment with public administration and development. Manuscripts will be assessed based on the relevance of their topics, their engagement with existing literature, especially within PAD, the rigour and appropriateness of their methodologies, and their contributions to both theoretical and practical discourse. Crucially, the research published in PAD must demonstrate clear and explicit practical relevance, ensuring that the journal remains an indispensable resource for both scholars and practitioners.