COMPARATIVE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN BRITAIN

• Published in: Public administration (London) Vol. 73; no. 1; pp. 123 - 141
• Main Author: PAGE, EDWARD C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.1995
• Subjects: Comparative analysis; Comparative Study; Comparison; Political science; Public Administration; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 0033-3298; 1467-9299
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9299.1995.tb00820.x

According to a strict definition, comparative public administration in Britain is relatively undeveloped. However, once the definition is relaxed it is possible to see that scholars in the British Isles make a substantial contribution to the field. This contribution can be examined under four headings; single country studies, juxtapositions, thematic comparisons and causal explanations. While causal explanation must remain as one major objective of comparative study, such explanations are problematic, and not only in Britain. At best they can only deal in establishing the strength of the evidence supporting plausible hypotheses rather than offer more direct tests of causality associated with statistical techniques. The way forward in comparative research is not to be found in a search for an overall theory, or the institutionalization of administrative data gathering. Intellectually interesting questions are more likely to provoke data collection than the other way around. A stronger dialogue between contemporary and past studies as well as a broadening range of countries covered might help generate the projects which provide the systematic comparative data that many commentators believe we lack.