Interdisciplinary Discourse: Conceptualization and Applications in Public Administration

Abstract

In academia, the importance of interdisciplinary discourse (IDD) as an instrument of change and evolution for disciplines and subfields has expanded considerably in modern times. The concept of discourse continues to develop as a means of sharing and transmitting communication, dialogue, and ideas across disciplinary boundaries. While basic levels of discourse are simple, they can progress into more advanced stages where distinctive challenges arise. Under such circumstances, the transmission process has a significant impact on the substantive scholarship and value structures of the recipient discipline, causing it to recast itself in order to effectively absorb transmissions. For some disciplines, transmissions over the long run are beneficial and lead to progressive change and development. For others which did not form their owndistinct identities early in the developmental stages, the IDD process results incomplications since appropriate interfaces do not exist to absorb the transmissions received. This has the potential to trigger an identity crisis, as has been the case with public administration. This article examines three distinct periods of recasting in public administration: 1) early development and the influence of business models (1887-1940); 2) the development of a science of administration (1940-1968); and 3) postmodernism and public administration (1969—present). While public administration has evolved considerably across these periods of recasting, it has not escaped the immanent progression toward an identity crisis.