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ASPA Conference Launch Registration Rate Expires Thursday!
ASPA is excited to welcome everyone next April to Minneapolis, Minnesota. This five-day event will include all of the conference features you have come to know and enjoy: 150 concurrent sessions; more than a dozen plenaries and presidential panels; special breakfasts, lunches and receptions; symposia; business meetings; and more.
Members ready to register can do so now at a special launch price valid on our website through tomorrow, October 12: $419 for the entire five-day event.* If you know you'll be in Minneapolis and have the funds, register now. This rate will not return.
Beginning October 13, early-bird registration rates apply and will be in effect through December 21: $439 for members, $539 for nonmembers. Student and new professional rates also are available. View a full schedule of rates and our registration guide online here.
ASPA's conference website has launched. Review the information posted there for more details and follow our guide to register for the 2024 conference by October 12 to receive the lowest rates available. We look forward to seeing you in Minneapolis!
*ASPA registration rates do not include any extra fees that apply for special events. Individual registrants may pay increased rates to add on programing to their basic registration.
E-Learning at Your Fingertips
ASPA staff work tirelessly to keep your skills up to date and the information flowing all year long through our e-learning program. Visit our website to see more details about upcoming KeepingCurrent, BookTalk and Student and New Professional series programming.
BookTalk: Democracy Erodes from the Top
October 12 | 1 p.m. EDT
Presenter:
Larry Bartels, Author
Larry Bartels dismantles the pervasive myth of a populist wave sweeping contemporary European public opinion. Using survey data from 23 countries, he shows that Europeans’ attitudes toward immigrants, the EU, politicians and democracy have hardly budged in the 21st century. Where right-wing populist parties have flourished, their success reflects entrepreneurial leadership, the failures of mainstream parties and media hype, not shifting public opinion. Where democratic institutions and norms have eroded—in Hungary and Poland—backsliding has occurred not because voters clamored for authoritarianism but because conventional conservative parties, once elected, seized opportunities to entrench themselves in power. By demonstrating the inadequacy of conventional bottom-up interpretations of Europe’s political crisis, Bartels turns our understanding of democratic politics upside down.
BookTalk: Complex Governance Networks: Foundational Concepts and Practical Implications
October 17 | 1 p.m. EDT
Presenter:
Göktuğ Morçöl, Professor of Public Policy and Administration, Penn State University
What are the roles of governments and other actors in solving, or alleviating, collective action problems in today’s world? The traditional conceptual frameworks of public administration and public policy studies have become less relevant in answering this question. Morçöl's book critically assesses traditional conceptual frameworks and proposes an alternative: A complex governance networks (CGN) framework. Advocating that complexity theory should be systematically integrated with foundational concepts of public administration and public policy, Morçöl begins by clarifying the component concepts of CGN and addresses the implications of CGN for key issues in public administration and policy studies: effectiveness, accountability and democracy. He illustrates the applicability of the CGN concepts with examples from the COVID-19 pandemic and metropolitan governance, particularly the roles of business improvement districts in governance processes. He concludes with discussing the implications of CGN for the convergence of public administration and public policy education and offering suggestions for future studies using the CGN conceptualization. Complex Governance Networks is essential reading for both scholars and advanced students of public policy, public administration, public affairs and related areas. Join us for this BookTalk to learn more from Morçöl about his work.
From the Archives
KeepingCurrent: The Evidence Act and Performance
The Foundations for Evidence-based Policy Making Act of 2018 was an unprecedented law with bipartisan support that drew heavily upon the recommendations of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking to require federal agencies to build capacity for both generating and using evidence to inform decisionmaking. Speakers Nick Hart and Kathryn Newcomer joined us for this webinar earlier this year, sponsored by the Center for Accountability and Performance, to discuss current challenges to evidence-building efforts in federal agencies. (Members Only)
Final Week to Apply for ASPA's Founders' Fellows Program!
ASPA's Founders' Fellows program is accepting applications for its 2024 class through Friday, October 13! Get your application package in now!
Who: This program is for young public administrators, doctoral students and new researchers who are looking for a career jump start! (You must be an ASPA member to be considered. If you are not a member, join now to ensure our committee will review your application.)
What: The Founders' Fellows program is ASPA's most competitive fellowship program of the year and provides those accepted with results that could last throughout your career. Think: Stellar exposure to public administration legends, highly promoted research at the 2024 Annual Conference and in PA TIMES Online, specially planned web-based professional development and more!
There are only 20 spots available so finish your application packet and submit it by the deadline.
When: All applications are due by this Friday, October 13, at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Click here to access the application form.
More Details: The Founders' Fellows program recognizes the exceptional accomplishments and future potential of the next generation of public servants—in the academic and/or practitioner communities. The 2024 class will demonstrate exceptional academic achievement and professional promise.
Fellows receive the following benefits:
- Guaranteed acceptance to present their work as part of ASPA's 2024 Annual Conference, April 12-16 in Minneapolis, including complimentary registration and hotel room
- A year-long mentorship with a senior mentor in the discipline, matched with each Fellow based on academic and professional interests
- Tailored professional improvement webinars that address their specific educational and professional needs
Even More Details: Candidates must be ASPA members in good standing and submit a letter of recommendation from an ASPA member in good standing to qualify for the program. (Those accepted into the program are required to maintain ASPA membership for the entirety of the Fellowship year.)
A completed application will include:
- Contact information and relevant biographical details
- An outline of career and research interests
- A resume or curriculum vitae
- A personal statement
- An analytical essay (details are provided within the application form)
- A letter of recommendation from your nominator
Have questions? Visit our website for more details, click here to access the application or contact ASPA's Jordan Thomas.
Remember: All applications are due this Friday, October 13, at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
ASPA Slate of Nominees Announced
ASPA is pleased to announce that the 2023 Nominating Committee has nominated the following members to stand for election to the ASPA National Council:
District 1
District 2
- Phillip Carlisle
- Alan Kennedy
- Matthew S. Mingus
- Eloisa Thring
District 3
- Shaoming Cheng
- Paige Moore
District 4
- Aline Alves da Costa
- Alexander Trembley
District 5
- Kiersten Farmer
- Edgar Ramirez de la Cruz
- Alejandro Rodriguez
Student Representative
- Collin D. Cox
- Jamie Bristow Lavoie
- Kathleen Ann Vincent
Voting will begin the first week of November. If you have questions about ASPA’s elections process, please consult ASPA’s website for more information. Members wishing to petition to have their names added to this year's ballot may contact Jordan Thomas, ASPA's governance and program associate, for details on the process and requirements. The petition period will remain open through Thursday, November 2.
ASPA Annual Awards Program Accepting Nominations
ASPA’s annual awards program is your annual opportunity to nominate someone to be recognized as one of public administration's most dedicated public servants.
Do you: know a current or former city official who has dedicated themselves to the public good; know an unsung scholar who produces excellent research; know a public official who has stood up for equity and integrity in government; or know someone who has bridged the academic/practitioner divide and encouraged best practices as a result?
Of course you do!
Review our awards categories and nominate them to be recognized for their efforts this April during ASPA’s 2024 Annual Conference! Each award we present is a tremendous honor bestowed on those exhibiting excellence in public service. And remember: While some awards require the honoree to be an ASPA member, not all of them do. City managers, local government service providers, public health advocates, nonprofit executives, organizations and more are eligible and our committees look forward to considering a wide range of nominees.
Every year more than 30 public servants and scholars are recognized by ASPA across 20 awards categories as exemplifying the best of public administration, but only those who are nominated can be considered! Review ASPA's awards program details and get to work on your nomination/submission now.
All award submissions are due October 27, 2023. Contact ASPA Program Associate Jordan Thomas with any questions or for more information.
Public Administration Review Call for Practitioners
Beginning January 2, 2024, Public Administration Review (PAR) will feature a new section entitled “Practically Speaking” (PS) that seeks to strengthen ties between scholarly research—a traditional focus of PAR—and its more practical implications for those in public service. Ron Sanders, a long-time practitioner as well as an academic, is serving as associate editor of PS and is looking for reviewers to help him out.
If you are currently a PAR academic reviewer with any experience as a practitioner and are willing to serve as a PS reviewer, please log in to the PAR system and, under the Areas of Interest or Expertise category, annotate your personal profile with the key word "practitioner." That way, PAR editorial team members can search for you and reach out to see if you are willing to help us review a particular PS submission.
If you are not currently a PAR reviewer but (a) have experience as a public administration practitioner and (b) are willing to serve as a reviewer for PS submissions, please use the same website, add your name and profile to the PAR reviewer roster and annotate it with the same key word (“practitioner”).
Note that whether you are a current PAR reviewer or wish to be, the workload will be minimal. You might see one PS manuscript a year for review, with most of the work to be done by the manuscript authors and our editorial team.
Public Integrity Call for Proposals
In 1990, the federal government passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prevents discrimination against individuals with disabilities in public spaces; it would not be until well into the 2010s before many changes could be seen to take effect. Public administration as a field has been slow to write about and research disabilities through the years since the act's passage, a fact easily observed by reviewing many of the leading journals in public administration and professional conference offerings in recent years. This omission could be viewed as an ethical issue by virtue of not attending to a significant marginalized community. This Public Integrity symposium takes up the topic of disabilities by inviting authors to submit a proposal for consideration looking at issue areas including mental health awareness/physical disabilities and invisible disabilities. This symposium particularly is interested in authors who can speak to the ethics of intersectionality focusing on identities linked with a person’s disability(ies) such as race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, social class and more. Interested persons should email their 500-word proposal to Richard Greggory Johnson, III by November 1, 2023. All papers will be vetted via Public Integrity’s peer review process.
October's PMM Is Free to View
Taylor and Francis is proud to announce that the October edition of Public Money and Management is free to view for three months—through the end of the year. This is the third of the PMM/CIGAR collaborations and can be found online here. Including topics such as AI, the commodification of the public good, social media and more, this is a packed edition. Download your copy today.
And, follow their LinkedIn page for future updates like this!
New for College Syllabi: The JSEPA Repository
Recently, the Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration (JSEPA) released a repository containing sample syllabi for college-level courses covering the topic of social equity in public administration. Each syllabus contains the contact and credit information for the educator who created it. Currently the site features 10 syllabi.
Click here to view this helpful resource.
Public Administration Today Highlight
Public Administration Today features white papers, research and blogs from across the profession. This edition's highlight looks at local entrepreneurialism. If you're interested in more—especially your own curated news feed in your inbox every week—visit the website, create an account and check off your interest areas so you can stay up to date about the latest research being released!
How Smart Cities Can Leverage the Power of Digital Twins
Via State Tech Magazine: Municipalities generate vast volumes of data, and digitally enabled smart cities go even further. They leverage the Internet of Things to gather information about traffic flows, population trends, water, sanitation and a range of other indicators. What if you could pull all that together to make a virtual model of the whole city, with its many interconnected parts and pieces? Known as a digital twin, this approach is gaining traction as computer and storage capabilities increase. A recent report from market advisory firm ABI Research says cities could save more than $280 billion annually by 2030 through the use of digital twins for urban planning.
Tips, Resources and the Fun Stuff
Your Guide to Pay and Benefits During a Shutdown
Congress is on a collision course with yet another lapse of appropriations, as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy struggles to corral the Republican caucus.
(OK, this one is slightly dated, but could still be true in another 30 days...)
USPS Will Not Institute a Surcharge This Holiday Season after Slashing Its Need for Temporary Workers
Postal Service predicts "competitive advantage" over private shippers who will charge customers more during the holidays.
Introverted Leadership: How to Thrive As a Leader Even If You're an Introvert
When you hear "leader,” what kind of person do you envision? An outgoing, charismatic leader standing in front of a crowd? If so, you're not alone.
In the News
Today's headlines contain plenty of news coverage of some of our nation's most pressing public administration challenges. ASPA has curated some of the most important stories from recent weeks. If you have not seen these yet, make sure you read them now!
Infrastructure
Public Finance
Public Service
Social Equity
Members in the News
What to Know About National Suicide Prevention Month
By Miriam Singer
Deconstructing the Administrative State: At What Cost?
By James Perry and Gordon Abner
Regulations Aimed at Derailing a Schedule F Revival Proposed By OPM
With commentary from Don Kettl
The Biden Administration Is Making It Easier to Get Government Benefits
With quotes from Pamela Herd and Don Moynihan
"Neutral Competence," Partisanship and Efforts to Overhaul the Civil Service
and
GOP Prez Wannabes’ Plans for Government: Dangerous—and Really Dumb
By Don Kettl
Are Tax Incentives Boons or Boondoggles?
and
Understanding Gen Z in the Public Sector
By Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene
Tell Me Something Good...
Need some good news in your world? Check this out:
What I Learned Covering Government for 34 Years
In the fall of 1989, having somehow managed to talk my way into an assistant editor’s job at a monthly magazine called Government Executive, I journeyed to the National Press Club in Washington for a meeting of the Classification and Compensation Society. (Remember that organization?) As its members grappled with issues like how to wedge modern jobs into the archaic federal job classification system, my head spun. And my stomach growled. On ethical principle, I refused to eat the free lunch they offered. Still, there I was: a bona fide Washington reporter.
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Around Public Administration
Here are the most recent updates from across the profession. Did we miss you? Send us your news and we'll include it in the next round!
Upcoming Events:
Calls for proposals and other updates:
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SICA: Special Issue of Occasional Paper Series
ASPA's Section on International and Comparative Administration (SICA) invites you to submit your research to the Special Issue of the SICA Occasional Paper Series on "COVID-19 Policy Assessment and Post-Pandemic Policy Priorities in Asia." This special issue aims to examine and analyze the diverse policy measures implemented in Asian countries to address the challenges posed by the ongoing global pandemic. The editors welcome empirical, theoretical and comparative studies that contribute to a deeper understanding of policy responses and their effectiveness in managing the crisis in the Asian context via policy briefs, practitioner perspectives, research ideas and reflections. A maximum 250-word proposal can be sent to the Series editors, Pooja Paswan, Ljubinka Andonoska and [email protected] by October 15, 2023.
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JPNA Call for Editor
The Midwest Public Affairs Conference (MPAC) Board of Trustees has opened nominations for the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs for the years 2024-2026. JPNA is a peer-reviewed, open source journal that is sponsored by the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and published by MPAC. The journal is focused on providing a connection between the practice and research of public affairs. This is accomplished with scholarly research, practical applications of the research and no fees for publishing or journal access. JPNA publishes research from diverse theoretical, methodological and disciplinary backgrounds that addresses topics related to the affairs and management of public and nonprofit organizations. The content of the journal spans the spectrum from public finance and organizational behavior to health administration and veterans’ affairs. Applicants should submit a vita and a letter of application describing relevant experience as a researcher of public administration or a related field, editorial work and managerial aspects of running a journal. Applications should be submitted to interim MPAC president Michael Ford at [email protected] ASAP. Applicants should be prepared to work with the current editor-in-chief Deborah A. Carroll on the final 2023 issue to be published December 1, 2023.
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Public Administration Quarterly Call for Editors
The Southern Public Administration Education Foundation (SPAEF) requests proposals from individuals and institutions interested in assuming the position of editor-in-chief for Public Administration Quarterly (PAQ). PAQ is a quarterly journal affiliated with ASPA's Section on Professional and Organizational Development (SPOD) and the Southeast Conference on Public Administration (SECoPA). In January 2024, PAQ officially will become a SAGE journal. PAQ is a generalist journal that publishes articles on a wide variety of topics from across public administration and related academic fields. Ideally, the editor-in-chief will have robust institutional support to perform the roles and responsibilities of the position. These roles and responsibilities include processing of manuscript submissions (approximately 100 annually); identification of reviewers and management of the review process; oversight of production for four issues per year; and an annual report to the PAQ editorial board and SPAEF. Send any questions to Alex Henderson; all applications are due October 20.
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SAPA Call for Paper Proposals
Aligned with ASPA's 2024 Annual Conference theme, “Building Resilient Communities,” the Section on African Public Administration (SAPA) invites members in the United States, the African continent and globally to submit their paper proposals on the concept and task of resilience building in the African context. As recognized by the ASPA community in the conference theme, the definition of resilience is driven by local stakeholders as they take charge of the identification of local needs and the formulation of local solutions. The concept of resilience has attracted policymakers, public administrators, practitioners and academics since the 1960s with roots in Paulo Freire's work on the effects of colonial oppression and the ensuring loss of land and community traditional practices. Robert Chambers 1980s action research on rural development further expanded the concept of resilient livelihoods in the face of external shocks and crises and ways to build resiliency in the face of chronic vulnerability and unexpected external shocks and crises, both internal and external. Edward Carr further conceptualizes resilience as “not the mere response to specific impacts as much as the ability to respond over time, recover and return to normality after confronting abnormal, alarming, and often unexpected threats.” In attempting “to address the questions of resilience of what and resilience to what.” Raymond Tutu and Janice Busingye point out the need to further investigate the resilience attributes like “stressors driving change,” “anticipatory learning,” and “social capital.” This call for papers invites scholars and practitioners to debate, within the African continent context, effective and innovative strategies to enhance communities’ ability to prepare for, cope with, rebound from and adapt as needed to unexpected events and threats facing their local systems and livelihoods. SAPA's academic affairs committee welcomes the submission of proposals for individual papers and fully formed panels in alignment with the symposium theme. Please submit your proposal to Shin Kue Ryu, SAPA academic affairs committee chair by November 30, 2023. Click here for more information.
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Public Budgeting & Finance Call for Papers
Since 1981 scholars and practitioners of applied government finance have turned to Public Budgeting & Finance to find understandable, reliable, thoughtful and critical analyses of the issues and practices important to the field. In this spirit, Public Budgeting & Finance invites contributions to a special issue focused on property tax administration and policy. Editors are seeking two types of contributions in the special issue: (1) full manuscripts containing original research; (2) proposals providing commentary on policy and/or practice. Completed manuscripts containing original research will be peer-reviewed on an expedited basis. Full manuscripts should be sent no later than December 31, 2023. Editors are especially interested in high-quality empirical manuscripts that explore and provide evidence relevant to policy and/or practice. The papers can intersect with property tax administration in any way. Editors are interested in all aspects of property tax administration, as well as topics that focus on the intersection of the property tax and public policy issues of enduring societal importance. Major considerations will be high-credibility research and topics of broad importance with the potential to influence subsequent policy and research. Manuscripts should be submitted via the PB&F submission website as a new submission toward a special issue. Editors also invite commentary proposals that will undergo editorial review (not peer review). These submissions can be commentaries on current policies or the state of research. Editors also would welcome teams proposing “point and counterpoint” essays that respond to one another. Proposals should include a working title and an abstract or thesis statement not to exceed 250 words. Editors will invite authors of selected proposals to submit full essays not to exceed 5,000 words. Send proposals to [email protected] no later than December 31, 2023. For questions, please reach out to co-editors Craig Johnson and Justin Ross. Click here for more information.
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Public Money and Management Call for Manuscripts
Public Money and Management will publish a theme issue in 2024 that comparatively explores the recruitment, training and retention of senior public officials. There have been many changes in approach to the recruitment, training and retention of senior public officials in different regions across the globe, including a general trend away from purely merit-based recruitment toward the focus on and acquisition of definable skills. This has occurred alongside a more nuanced recognition of the need to reflect greater diversity in the background of public officials in many countries. In the drive to gain more efficient and effective delivery of public services, and to overcome the wicked problems often grappled within the public sector, the move to skills-based recruitment and training alongside attention to equality and diversity concerns frequently coincide in modernization drives. This theme seeks to solicit articles from an international range of sources to address the question: How should we recruit and retain a public service fit for purpose and what will it look like? All research articles are due November 20; debate and ND articles are due January 31, 2024. Click here for more information.
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2024 COMPA Conference Call for Proposals
The COMPA 2024 conference will take place February 25-28 in New Orleans. The theme is "Reshaping Public Administration: A Search for Self-Determined, Participatory and Sustainable Governments." The conference serves as a call to all public servants—scholars, public and nonprofit practitioners, and community advocates and stakeholders—who seek to rethink the future of local communities by revisiting past and present experiences as the foundation for engaging debate on reshaping self-determined, participatory and sustainable local community initiatives. COMPA 2024 challenges public administrators, researchers, scholars, policy wonks, think tanks, nonprofits, faculty, students and both scholars and practitioners across multiple fields and professions to rethink the future of local communities by revisiting past and present experiences as the foundation for engaging debate and reshaping self-determined, participatory and sustainable local community initiatives. We will examine the future of local government and tackle those issues that most directly impact each of us. We welcome research and praxis from different backgrounds and methodological orientations, current updates to traditional models and frameworks, and other emergent perspectives on all issues of public service related to the theme. All proposals are due December 15. Click here for more information.
PA TIMES Online
Here's a selection of current pieces on PA TIMES Online, covering a range of issues within the profession. We accept individual articles on a rolling basis; if you have a piece you think would fit our publication, submit it to [email protected] for consideration. (Please review our submission guidelines in advance!)
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