U.S. Public Administration and the Minnowbrook Tradition

1. U.S. Public Administration and the Minnowbrook Tradition Susan T. Gooden, PhD Professor, Public Administration Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs Virginia Commonwealth University United States stgooden@vcu.edu

2. What is Minnowbrook? • Conferences held every 20 years beginning in 1968 • Designed to assess where the field of public administration is going and where it needs to go • Has an intentional impact on the intellectual development of public administration • A generational narrative within public administration

3. The Founding of Minnowbrook • Led by Dwight Waldo, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, USA • Lens by which the learning and exchange of new knowledge may be evaluated (Kim, et.al 2010) • Non-scripted; ad hoc discussion groups form as conference unfolds • Held over 2-3 days in the remote Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York • Group of 35-40 “best and brightest” “rising stars”

4. Minnowbrook I (1968) • Set within an important U.S. social context (Vietnam War, The Great Society, civil rights, protests); Era of big government • Group of 34 young public administration male scholars who were trained as political scientists • Quest for relevancy

5. New Public Administration • Rejects the idea of public administrators as value neutral • Identifies core values of public administration • Wrestles with conflicting views of the field Major intellectual contribution Five normative core values

6. Minnowbrook II (1988) • Mixture of original “Minnows” and younger scholars • 50% female • Overall less controversial and less influential than Minnowbrook I • Public administration as independent discipline

7. Themes from Minnowbrook II • Challenges to the legitimacy of government • “Scientific” tools vs. art of administration • More risk-adverse group of academics General focus Specific themes

8. Minnowbrook III (2008) • Controversial election of President Bush • Post 9-11 attacks • Natural disasters • Eve of election of first African-American nominee for President, Barack Obama • Two parts (original for younger scholars); conference for mixture • Included 30 veterans of Minnowbrook I or II

9. Themes from Minnowbrook III • Global context • Future search of public administration • Governmental capacity gaps in addressing public problems General focus Specific themes

10. Commonalities Across • Quest for relevance • Academic publications following Minnowbrook (books and academic journals) • Important misses (inclusion of economics; reinventing government) • The Minnowbrook experience

11. Minnowbrook around the world? • Is this a useful approach for public administration scholars in other countries to consider? • Will it foster a greater understanding of the complexity of public administration globally? • Might it provide an important comparative 20 year generational assessment from young scholars in public administration? • Is the Minnowbrook concept of interest to public administrator academics in Korea?