On the margins of public administration?

Abstract

Examines the theoretical influence of Peter Drucker’s writings on the discipline of public administration. A quasi‐empirical study using content analysis illustrates the frequency with which Drucker is cited as a source in those public administration texts and journals found in Books in Print and the Social Sciences Citation Index. Overall, citations number relatively few when measured against leading scholars in the field. Specific conceptual patterns emerge among the ideas credited to Drucker: leadership and motivation, organizing, and social ecology. Public administration scholars may de‐emphasize Drucker’s contributions, based on his criticism of government action, over‐simplification of obstacles to effective public management, and the interdisciplinary scope of his subject‐matter. However, Drucker’s contributions to the discipline through such innovative concepts as management‐by‐objectives and privatization cannot be overlooked, nor can public administrators afford to summarily dismiss Drucker’s judgements of government.