The Crisis of Identity in the Study of Public Administration: Woodrow Wilson

Abstract

The "identity crisis" of the field of public administration leads Kent Kirwan to go back to the beginnings and re-examine Woodrow Wilson's "The Study of Administration." His endeavor to explain the rejection of Wilson's theory by recent students and their lack of success in developing a more usable science leads him to a new appreciation of Wilsonian thought and the conclusion that a return to Wilson's priorities is called for.