Diversity and Convergence: A Quantitative Analysis of European Public Administration Education Programs

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of a study exploring the disciplinary character of university-level public administration programs in 23 European countries. For the purpose of the study, a database was created to characterize 191 university program on the basis of 7,355 courses. Analyses performed on this data set identified three distinct clusters of countries that correspond to the three classical European approaches to the study of public administration: a number of Continental European countries are characterized by a broad and significant political science component; the Nordic countries put a stronger emphasis on business administration; and most Southern European countries and a number of post-communist countries are distinguished by the predominance of law in program curricula. Although, in most European countries, the dynamics of the field point toward a definite move away from the legalism traditionally present in the field—either toward the direction of the managerialist or political sdence approach—it is still expected that, alongside the convergent trends, national differences will continue to exist in educational curricula. Therefore, a key task in developing public administration curricula of the future is to identify—and possibly influence—which aspects are likely to diverge and which are likely to converge.