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The Future of Public Administration

Going forward, seven key concerns stand at the forefront of possible progress in public administration theory and practice. That progress is important to the robust health of government, and therefore to society, but only if it is salient to the public and its media and political surrogates. Government at all levels, increasingly challenged in the United States and many other countries, must address at least seven core concerns if the civil society is not to become hopelessly contentious and fragmented. The first, and the basic underlying concern, is a public trust. In an era of declining public trust, the public sector faces the challenge of re-establishing its legitimacy in the minds of perhaps half of our citizens. Although the recent pandemicand economic-related crises have reaffirmed the importance of government in existential terms, the long-term trend has been one of declining trust for at least five decades. Yet trust is the “glue” or cement for governing societies, conferring upon government its basic source of power. In contrast, dissatisfaction, disenchantment, and distrust can undermine that legitimacy. A trust deficiency, therefore, undermines the ability of governments to perform, to deliver services as promised in their founding documents, their legislation, their agency mission statements, and their oaths of office. Trust is the “glue” or cement for governing societies, conferring upon government its basic source of power. In contrast, dissatisfaction, disenchantment, and distrust can undermine that legitimacy. A lack of trust, therefore, is the prerequisite to undermining the ability of governments to perform. The role of government has been trending toward becoming a “conductor” and “mediator” between the nongovernmental actors and citizens. Although governments have worked to explore ways to enhance their legitimacy, some approaches may actually decrease it, as is often the case when the increased use of nongovernmental actors (both the private sector and