Departments of Public Administration and Colleges of Business Administration: Allies or Aliens?

Abstract

With many universities facing pressures to economize, proposals for the restructuring and consolidation of academic units have become common. Departments of public administration are particularly susceptible to such maneuvers, given the interdisciplinary nature of the field and the absence of consensus over the best structural configuration for the departments. One configuration that has attracted the attention of university administrators is the co-location of departments of public administration and those related to business administration. Yet, little research is available on the implications of this structural arrangement for public administration programs. This paper reviews the experiences of public administration programs that are currently located in business schools as well as those that have left business schools. The authors identify multiple advantages and disadvantages of this arrangement as well as the impediments to a successful partnership. They also present two models that illustrate commonly found configurations.

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