Researcher urges emphasis on democratic accountability standards in public administration education

LAWRENCE — To say the field of public administration has changed rapidly in recent months would be an understatement. And as headlines about President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s efforts to downsize the federal workforce reflect, the role of the public servant is changing. While that example is fresh, changes in democracy in the last decade-plus have made it evident the time has come for public administration officials to reexamine how they ensure future public administrators view democratic accountability, a University of Kansas researcher argues in a new piece published in the Journal of Public Affairs Education.

Chris Koliba, Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs and Administration at KU, reviews a history of public administration accreditation standards in the work and asks educators, deans, directors and researchers in the field if they need to redouble their efforts to ensure that democratic standards shape the accountability of the profession.

“This call to action is offered up during a time of crisis for the public administration of democracies,” Koliba said, “a time when democratic principles around rights and tolerance, checks on the concentration of power, adherence to the rule of law, are under threat in democracies on every continent.”

Koliba cites research indicating increases of democratic backsliding around the world, including in countries long considered strong, stable democracies. While those types of concerns were not front of mind when the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration drafted its first accreditation standards in the early 1970s, the United States’ place in the world and being a global leader were top of mind in the last decade-plus. The field of public administration education followed in looking toward globalization and preparing administrators in democratic and nondemocratic countries. 

“I argue that our accreditation standards are not explicit enough in their dedication to democratic values. They are vague and leave things open to interpretation,” Koliba said. “Our field by nature is nonpartisan, and that sentiment remains.  But what is a field and profession to do when that politics comes to us?  We need to protect the profession from patronage and illiberal reforms.”

While the current political moment makes the debate timely and necessary, Koliba said it is not meant to advocate for party or ideology.  It is a defense and protection of a profession, a profession with a strong commitment to democratic principles.

“Many of the executive orders coming out of Washington since the inauguration are squarely aimed at public servants, people who make a career of serving citizens,” Koliba said. “Much has been written about the state of democracy in the United States and around the world. We’re seeing certain leaders pressing the margins and exploiting loopholes in our democratic system. The United States is celebrating 250 years as a nation next year. While we have failed at times to uphold democratic principles, as a country we have rallied around certain legal and political accountabilities regardless of political party. These matters should not be relegated to some partisan beef between conservatives vs. liberals, but how we peacefully coexist as a democratic society.”

KU has long been a leader in public affairs and administration education and research. Former Stene Professors George Frederickson and Rosemary O’Leary have addressed some of the most pressing questions facing the field that have helped shape public affairs scholarship and education.

“Asking the big questions of the day comes with job,” Koliba said.

Koliba is director of KU’s Center for Democratic Governance, a multidisciplinary center dedicated to advancing democratic governance studies. The center is comprised of a growing number of affiliates from disciplines from across the university.