DPP Erasmus Mundus student Ikhtiarul Arefeen has co-authored a chapter in The Palgrave Handbook of Comparative Public Administration
The chapter tracks back the roots of public administration from ancient times to contemporary practices all over the world. It focuses on public administration both as a practice and an academic field and shows that the existence of the practice of comparative public administration is not new. Subsequent civilizations in the history of humankind have learned the dynamics of public administration and their best practices from each other. Comparative Public Administration (CPA) evolved as a distinct field of study in the 1960s as a post-World War-II phenomenon. It emphasized empirical studies in which the samples were dominantly from the Western countries, especially the United States and the United Kingdom. It helped the Western countries to spread their administrative values and practices among the newly independent, problem-stricken developing countries through various comparative studies. Under the leadership of Fred W. Riggs, CPA became a movement with the establishment of various organizations like Comparative Public Administration Group (CAG). Moreover, International Public Administration and Development Administration coincided with CPA both in terms of appraisals and criticisms. One of the big criticisms is that, in the name of advising and helping underdeveloped countries, developed nations build and promote power elites of their interest and help grow dictatorial regimes. However, the study of CPA has tremendously helped scholars steer traditional public administration to modern, and even post-modern public administration through substantive paradigm shifts. Therefore, the future of comparative public administration is a vivid agenda for both scholars and practitioners. The chapter sheds light on some of the important aspects of the future prospects which should be taken into consideration while bringing new reforms and developing new paradigms.
The author clarifies how his studies at DPP have contributed to his publication:
As I had many courses which focused on empirical studies and comparison, my studies helped me re-develop the draft of the chapter thoroughly. When I came across new aspects of public policy or an inevitable part of Public Administration, they also helped me sort out certain focal points and helped me make changes to the edition of the chapter.