Articles | Alasdair S. Roberts

Nov 27

Policy brief on centralization

I’ve written a policy brief for the Centre on Governance and Markets, Why Centralization Goes Wrong. You can download it here.

Aug 21

Presentations at EGPA

I participated in two sessions at the annual conference of the IIAS European Group for Public Administration in Glasgow on August 27-29. On August 27, I gave a presentation based on my open-access article, “The Crisis of Design in American Government.” On August 28, I participated in a plenary session on “EU Relations in Turbulent Times.”

Jul 15

Article on “false globalism” now open access in AT&P

My paper “False globalism: Public administration in the United States in the Twenty-First Century” is now open access in Administrative Theory & Praxis. It was originally published in January 2025. Read the article here | Read the manuscript version here.

I’ve also posted a statement about the investigation into this article completed by the publisher, Taylor & Francis, in response to a complaint that requested retraction of the article.

Jun 30

“Crisis of Design” published in APJPA

My article “The Crisis of Design in American Government” has just been published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration. Read it here. This paper is based on my May 2025 Levine Lecture at American University. You can watch a short explainer video about the article here.

Feb 1

Reorganization study published, thirty years later

In 1993, Prime Minister Kim Campbell (right) launched a reorganization exercise that was promoted as “the most significant downsizing and restructuring of government ever undertaken in Canada.” A federal agency, the Canadian Centre for Management Development, contracted with ten academics to conduct a study of the restructuring. (I was one of them.) The overall study was completed, prepared for publication — and then shelved. Nine of the studies have now been posted online. (The tenth study is still unavailable: “There was difficulty in securing the necessary approvals for its release under the current publication guidelines of the Government of Canada.”) The author of the lead chapter, Peter Aucoin of Dalhousie University, passed away in 2011. The Canadian Centre for Management Development is now the Canadian School for Public Service.

Dec 20

“Rudderless in the storm” in CPA

I’ve written a short paper, a precis of my book The Adaptable Country, for Canadian Public Administration. Read it here.

Citation: Roberts, Alasdair. 2024. “ Rudderless in the Storm? The Crisis of Adaptability in Canadian Governance.” Canadian Public Administration 67.4: 439–448. https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12592.

Dec 9

Research note on strategic state in AJPA

I’ve written a research note with Ian Elliott: “The concept of the strategic state: An assessment after thirty years.” It has just been published, open-access, in the Australian Journal of Public Administration. Read the note here.

Jan 23

Editorial on adaptable government in APJPA

The Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Administration has published a short commentary, “Improving adaptability in democratic systems,” that is drawn from my forthcoming book, The Adaptable Country. The commentary can be read here. | More information about the book here.

Sep 11

AUC Policy Brief on adaptable government

I’ve written a Policy Brief on adaptable government for the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at American University Cairo. Download the policy brief here. This is based on my current book project, The Adaptable Country.

May 22