Managing Chaos

Abstract

Could public administration research gain something by analyzing issues, practices, and events in ways “beyond the usual”? Could we learn something by analyzing movies? As public administration researchers, we are curious to see what lessons can be drawn from movies based on chaos theory. In this article, three movies, Chaos Theory, The Butterfly Effect, and Mr. Nobody, are analyzed. Analyzing these movies provides two advantages. First, it illustrates the content of chaos theory in an easy-to-understand format. Second, it links the actions in the movies with those of public officials in the real world, providing ideal models of “chaos management.”