Revisiting “big questions” of public administration after COVID-19: a systematic review

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed changes on governments across the world. Scholars responded to this crisis with a wide range of comparative studies and theoretical alternatives that addressed “big questions” of public administration. To summarise what we now know about governments, citizens, and civil society as a result of this pandemic, we conduct a systematic review of 188 articles using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. While the range of topics addressed was broad, we began our review by narrowing our focus ex-ante to studies that addressed three “big questions” of public administration: (1) What are the instruments of collective action?; (2) How shall tensions between national and subnational governments be resolved?; and (3) How can processes of societal learning be improved? Two additional “big questions” later emerged from the review process itself: (4) How can public trust in governments be fostered? and (5) Do public services enhance social equity? Answers to each of these questions are reviewed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.