Alasdair Roberts
@AlasdairRoberts
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Professor of Public Policy, University of Massachusetts Amherst. He/Him. 🇨🇦.
Amherst, MA
Joined October 2008
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My book "The Adaptable Country: How Canada Can Survive The Twenty-First Century"
@McGillQueensUP
is up for pre-order on Amazon ($24.95). The book is based on the Bourgon Lecture that I delivered at the Canada School of Public Service
@School_GC
in 2023.
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Great moments in PA history: at the APSA meeting in Chicago in 1914, Sudhindra Bose, a 30-yr-old newly-minted PhD from Bengal (now Bangladesh), tells Frank Goodnow what he thinks about Goodnow's theory that Asians are not ready for self-government.
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With sadness, I've declined an invitation to join the editorial board of
@PAReview
. I explain why in this letter. Issues are representation of the Global South and need for a clear policy on global engagement. Heads up: it's 11 pages, w/ footnotes.
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% of articles in Public Administration Review 2017-22 from ten biggest Global South countries, excl China:
India: 0.1%
Indonesia 0.2%
Pakistan 0.3%
Nigeria 0%
Brazil 0.4%
Bangladesh 0%
Mexico 0.6%
Ethiopia 0%
Philippines 0%
Egypt 0%
TOTAL 1.6%
From Denmark: 3.4%
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Interesting new study:
Theories and theorizing in public administration: A systematic review - Hattke - 2023 - Public Administration Review - Wiley Online Library
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Very pleased that my paper "Bridging levels of public administration: How macro shapes meso and micro" is now forthcoming in Administration & Society
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Very pleased that my book "Strategies for Governing: A Macro-Level Approach to Public Administration" is now forthcoming from Cornell University Press, aiming for 2019.
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Thanks to
@CIDE_MX
for this just-released translation of my book "Logic of Discipline"! And thanks also to
@maudussauge
for writing an introductory note!
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Open access: Public administration in authoritarian regimes: propositions for comparative research
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I've just posted a new working paper about the origins of US public administration. Comments & suggestions welcomed. Anyone who wants to claim folks like Goodnow, Willoughby & Cleveland as "pioneers of PA" might want to read this first.
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Coding every article in JSTOR from six PA journals that reference "the administrative state." Which is just about as fun as it sounds.
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Our roundtable on human rights and public administration is now published in
@PPMG2018
. Access the article here:
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At Johns Hopkins archives today, going through the Frank Goodnow papers, including this unpublished MS, probably from about 1903, on "principles of colonial administration"
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One important reason why journal impact factors are going up in public administration: we are citing more sources in our articles. Here is the average number of citations per article in public administration, based on SSCI data, from 2003 to 2017
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A brief summary of my academic career in public administration might be that I watched governments sell stuff off and then I watched them buy it back.
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My article "Shaking Hands with Hitler: The Politics-Administration Dichotomy and Engagement with Fascism" is now published
@PAReview
EarlyView
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Remember all those special issues we did about the pandemic? When do we start doing special issues on the climate emergency?
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The redness of roses
Is not here defined
Our expansive appendix
Is provided online.
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Any ideas on what to do with surplus lanyards? Also, can we start a movement to stop generating this kind of waste at conferences?
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Public policy counted as one of the 15 most valuable majors
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Looking forward to visiting
@KUSPAA
in February for this talk on American public administration and the challenge to democracy.
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What better way to start the year than with a manifesto?
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The 50th anniversary of the influential Minnowbrook conference in public administration (September 1968) is coming up. Here's a short working piece to mark the anniversary. Comments welcomed.
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the PPT slides for my
#PMRC2019
presentation (and also the paper), on "bridging levels of analysis in PA", are here
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Bureaucracy rocks.
Of course Iceland has a Monument to the Unknown Bureaucrat.
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Very pleased that my paper "Bearing the White Man's Burden: American Empire and the Origin of Public Administration" is now forthcoming in Perspectives on Public Management and Governance 1/2
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This morning I found this machine in my office, sucking all the air out the room. After thirty years, my job has been automated.
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Interesting chart on hiring networks of the 46 NRC ranked policy schools, from new article by Zhiya Zuo, Haifeng Qian & Kang Zhao
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Excited that my next book, "The Adaptable Country: How Canada Can Survive the Twenty-First Century" has been accepted for publication by McGill-Queen's University Press
@McGillQueensUP
, as part of the Canadian Essentials series edited by
@danielbeland
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Looking forward to visiting
@KUSPAA
this Thursday to consider whether the field of US public administration is ready to face the challenge to democracy
Online registration here
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This is a thread about how AI will change our standards for a good journal article. Bear with me, there's advice at the end . . .
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I've posted a PDF with chapter abstracts for my book "Strategies for Governing," forthcoming from Cornell University Press. And an abstract for the book overall.
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"Strategies for Governing" is on its way, heading for publication from
@CornellPress
at the end of the year
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Kind of a depressing street name for a university campus
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Just refinished a battered old typewriter stand from the 1940s. To boost productivity, I painted the bottom British Racing Green.
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"PA needs to provide pragmatic and concrete answers as to how administrative systems can be made resilient against threats of illiberal state transformation."
Or
@naspaa
scholars can go on accrediting CCP-run programs in China. You know, whatever.
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New from
@FukuyamaFrancis
@APJournalPA
:
"I want to defend the continuing need for an administrative state that is allowed to exercise a wide degree of judgement in its implementation of the people’s will."
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I've revised my paper, "Bridging Levels of Public Administration: How Macro Shapes Meso and Micro." Look forward to talking about it
@pmrc2019
@adeslatte
@GGVanRyzin
@mkfeeneyWYO
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Here's an idea: journals that represent as "global" should have a quota or reservation for content coming from institutions located in each major region.
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Polybius complains about outsourcing and the hollow state, c. 150 BC
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Volcker: “When you go to a school of public policy, you’re not learning how to run the goddamn government."
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From the Rockefeller Foundation archives: In 1939, Herbert A. Simon gets hired by Berkeley to direct their project on measuring government functions. Salary: $2800/yr
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Administrative Theory & Praxis—Call for Papers Contesting the Norms in Public Administration
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Just mapped out for the argument for my next book, I think it flows quite smoothly.
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Excited to get the book cover design by David Drummond for "The Adaptable Country," coming from
@McGillQueensUP
later this year. The book is based on my
@School_GC
Bourgon Lecture last June.
#bookdesign
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"Logica de la disciplina" is now available in Kindle format on Amazon, from
@CIDE_MX
with introduction by
@maudussauge
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Not just economics
“Important topics in economics are being ignored if they aren’t amenable to the set of methods that can be published in the major journals” Janet
#Yellen
at
#PathWays2GenderEquality
conference at
@AU_Economics
@IWPResearch
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My wife will be excited to learn that the bathroom renovation came in way under budget
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I've finished the working draft of my paper on US public administration and its engagement with Nazi Germany in 1933-1936
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Some of the mail I've received over the past several weeks, since voting for the US News ranking started. This is not effective or environmentally friendly. I know that environmental considerations are important because many of the brochures in this pile say so.
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I'm looking forward to talking at
@patheory
's conference in Denver next month. The paper that accompanies my talk has just been published by Administrative Theory & Praxis
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I've written a Policy Brief on adaptable government for the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at American University Cairo
@GAPP_AUC
. This is based on my current project with
@McGillQueensUP
, "The Adaptable Country."
Download the brief here:
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The five people most frequently referenced in India's UPSC examinations in public administration over the last ten years, in descending order:
Fred Riggs
Chester Barnard
Max Weber
Herbert Simon
Frederick Taylor
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The one "policy correction" not mentioned in this piece is the need for a more realistic view of Canada's place in the world order.
===
U.S. charges further show India's lack of respect for Canada
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If you're interested: contributions to Public Administration Review by region, 2017-2022. The really startling gaps are Africa (of 54 nations, only S. Africa rep'd), South and southeastern Asia, central and south America, and Eastern Europe.
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In Spring 2024, I'll teach a new graduate course on human rights and public administration for
@UMassPolicy
. The draft overview is here. If you are doing something similar, send me a note so we can swap ideas.
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There are several national or regional PA literatures out there that operate at some distance from what we call "mainstream PA." (Canadian PA is probably one of them.) We should find ways to connect without insisting on assimilation.
This is a very interesting symposium. Happy to see it. It may help to strengthen development of global public administration.
@naspaa
@ASPANational
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My paper "Shaking Hands with Hitler: The Politics-Administration Dichotomy and Engagement with Fascism" is now forthcoming in
@PAReview
. Thanks to editors & reviewers for great advice! Draft of paper here
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As Vivek Ramaswamy last night promised "war on the federal administrative state," I thought it might be timely to re-up this 2020 piece, "Should we defend the administrative state?" (Short answer: no.)
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Now published in PAR 79.2: Shaking Hands with Hitler: The Politics‐Administration Dichotomy and Engagement with Fascism - Public Administration Review - Wiley Online Library
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As I note in my paper () Bose taught the course in colonial administration at the University of Iowa in 1913, the year he completed his PhD. Here's a line from his thesis, in which he takes on another "founder of PA," W.F. Willoughby, too.
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I look at events of the last two weeks -- in US & abroad -- & then at CFPs for many conferences in public admin and public policy in 2018-2019. How bad does it have to get before we talk directly about the crisis of liberal democracy & stand for liberal democratic principles?
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This isn't just an India story -- should be of concern to anyone with an interest in the health of think tanks/CSOs focused on public policy and development.
@CPR_India
does outstanding work on state capacity and accountability.
A statement from CPR, following the revocation of its charitable organization status.
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A highlight of my week is going to the Amherst MA transfer station on Saturday morning, because they have a book exchange shed. One of today's finds: a first edition Hemingway
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relevant to PA too . . .
What do we want from a Sociology of the Future?:
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Thanks to
@TomFStevenson
for his thoughtful review of "Superstates: Empires of the Twenty-First Century," in the May 4 issue of
@LRB
.
@politybooks
@LKnightPolity
‘If empire size increases in great bursts, does it follow that the world will eventually be consolidated into just a few states, and finally a world state? According to Alasdair Roberts, it is happening before our eyes.’
@TomFStevenson
on superstates:
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Roses are red
But not to R2
His earlier work
Says roses are blue
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I'll be talking about the relationship between macro, meso and micro-PA as part of my talk at NECoPA next Saturday
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Doing research for a short paper. According to the Fragile States Index, 15% of the world's population live in very stable states, while 55% live in fragile states. But journal content in PA comes almost exclusively from very stable states. No fragile state makes the list.
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Which Countries Have More Open Governments? Assessing Structural Determinants of Openness - Sabina Schnell, Suyeon Jo, 2019
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Looking forward to moderating this conversation, "Can Open Govenrment Promote Good Governance?" at
@RutgersSPAA
on September 28, International Right to Know Day
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Excited to get the proofs for "The Adaptable Country," forthcoming from
@McGillQueensUP
later this year
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Oddly, this is also a good map of which countries get represented in "top ranked journals."
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My June lecture for the Canada School of Public Service on adaptability in government is now available on YouTube. Come for the flags, stay for my horrible French.
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I've revised my paper, "Bridging Levels of Public Administration: How Macro Shapes Meso and Micro" :
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There is something wrong with the quality of policy conversation in Canada when the "front bench" that is convened to discuss a topic like Alberta's Sovereignty Act consists of registered lobbyists from various government relations firms, and one journalist.
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Looking forward to participating in the panel discussion on "traditions in public administration research" at ICPP in Montreal on June 27
@ChrisEichbaum
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Political Transactions, the Social Contract, and Administrative Power
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New from
@sbhuiyan1968
and Jim Perry:
Building global public administration knowledge: Leveraging the power of collaboration - Bhuiyan - Public Administration Review - Wiley Online Library
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Download a PDF with all background notes for Oct 11
@naspaa
panel discussion on "preparing leaders for a turbulent world" | Panelists =
@jmurtazashvili
@nabatchi
@JBrinkerhoffGWU
& Lan Xue
@GSPIA
@MaxwellSU
@ElliottSchoolGW
@Tsinghua_Uni
@UMassPolicy
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How profitable is journal publishing? In today's financials, Wiley reports profit of $84MM on revenue of $258MM. In other words, $1 of expense yields 48 cents of profit. Bear that in mind next time you sign a copyright transfer agreement.
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Resending the link for this working paper, apparently the previous link was unreliable: "Bearing the White Man's Burden: American Empire and the Origin of Public Administration"
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Delays in scholarly publishing: Karl Popper explains the 38 year history of his 1957 book, "The Poverty of Historicism."
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From
@rahulsagar
: "When we share values, we become aware of each other’s deviations from these values. What makes these deviations especially painful is hypocrisy."
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Another day, another "policy" panel stacked with three representatives from lobbying/communications firms, (with no disclaimers) and one journalist. There's a paper in here about how Canadian political discourse/culture is mutating, and not in a good way.
There is something wrong with the quality of policy conversation in Canada when the "front bench" that is convened to discuss a topic like Alberta's Sovereignty Act consists of registered lobbyists from various government relations firms, and one journalist.
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On the Frontline of Global Inequalities: A Decolonial Approach to the Study of Street-Level Bureaucracies
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Representatives of the four
@UMass
graduate public affairs programs --
@UMassPolicy
@UMBGCPA
@UMassD
@UMassLowell
-- met in Boston today and had a great conversation about opportunities for collaboration!
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.
@MaxwellSU
: "Special series: Pondering the big questions of public administration"
#grandchallenges
@napawash
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E.N. Gladden wrote an 800-page history of public administration (1972) but he could have done a better job of motivating the reader . . .
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Very interesting new article on evolving traditions of Islamic public administration from Adrian Kay
@cardiffmet
, just out in
@APJournalPA
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