IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/pubmgr/v10y2008i3p299-317.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Complexity Theory and Public Administration: What's New?

Author

Listed:
  • Erik-Hans Klijn

Abstract

Increasing attention is being paid to the application of complex systems theories in the social sciences. Although this trend is less prominent in the field of public administration, some examples of the use of complexity theory in research in this domain can be found. This article discusses three central ideas in complex systems theory that are relevant for public administration research: dynamics, self-organization and co-evolution. After briefly introducing each idea, the article traces similar concepts in public administration research. It then contrasts them with each other, and discusses how they can improve our understanding of phenomena in public administration. Finally, the article explores how the manager's role is perceived in public administration and what insights complexity theory can add to that view.

Suggested Citation

  • Erik-Hans Klijn, 2008. "Complexity Theory and Public Administration: What's New?," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 299-317, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:pubmgr:v:10:y:2008:i:3:p:299-317
    DOI: 10.1080/14719030802002675
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14719030802002675
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/14719030802002675?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pečarič Mirko, 2020. "Regulatory Cybernetics: Adaptability and Probability in the Public Administration’s Regulations," NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy, Sciendo, vol. 13(1), pages 133-156, June.
    2. Giliberto Capano & Jun Jie Woo, 2017. "Resilience and robustness in policy design: a critical appraisal," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 50(3), pages 399-426, September.
    3. Evert Waeterloos, 2021. "Introducing Collaborative Governance in Decentralized Land Administration and Management in South Africa: District Land Reform Committees Viewed through a ‘System of Innovation’ Lens," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-20, May.
    4. Tony Kinder & Jari Stenvall & Antti Talonen, 2023. "Logics and Agency in Public Management Research," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 159-180, March.
    5. Yi Yang, 2021. "Critical realism and complexity theory: Building a nonconstructivist systems research framework for effective governance analysis," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 177-183, January.
    6. G. Biesbroek & Catrien Termeer & Judith Klostermann & Pavel Kabat, 2014. "Analytical lenses on barriers in the governance of climate change adaptation," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 19(7), pages 1011-1032, October.
    7. Cairney, Paul & McHarg, Aileen & McEwen, Nicola & Turner, Karen, 2019. "How to conceptualise energy law and policy for an interdisciplinary audience: The case of post-Brexit UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 459-466.
    8. Jeroen van der Heijden, 2022. "The Value of Systems Thinking for and in Regulatory Governance: An Evidence Synthesis," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    9. Chris Skelcher, 2010. "Governing Partnerships," Chapters, in: Graeme A. Hodge & Carsten Greve & Anthony E. Boardman (ed.), International Handbook on Public–Private Partnerships, chapter 13, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Jon Nyhlén & Gustav Lidén, 2014. "Methods for analyzing decision-making: a framework approach," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2523-2535, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:pubmgr:v:10:y:2008:i:3:p:299-317. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RPXM20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.