Mar 31
I was a speaker in the discussion series on the future of democratic governance, at the School of Public Affairs and Administration, University of Kansas, on February 15, 2024. News story here. Title of my talk: The challenge to democracy: Is American public administration ready? The talk can viewed on YouTube here:
I’ll give a talk on human rights and public administration at Buffalo State University on March 1. Details here.
The US Council on Higher Education Accreditation will consider NASPAA’s application for reaccreditation at a public meeting in Washington on March 11, 2024. My submission regarding NASPAA’s application is here. My view: “NASPAA should not be re-accredited unless it: stops representing itself as a global organization and standard-setter, or establishes a system for representation in decision-making appropriate for a global organization; and expresses its commitment to academic freedom and human rights, and shows how it will apply these core values consistently in accreditation and other activities.”
The following commentary is from a roundtable about the relationship between public administration and human rights published in Perspectives in Public Management and Governance in November 2023. Access the roundtable here.
Three Frontiers, Three Barriers
Alasdair Roberts
What is the point of public administration? What larger good are we trying to accomplish, as scholars and practitioners in this field? We do not talk about these questions as much as we should. In the United States especially, the field of public administration has shifted its focus away from macro-level questions about the role of the state. One result is that we lack a shared vocabulary—an inventory of concepts—that allows us to talk about these larger goals.
Read moreOn March 21, I will participate in a presidential panel at the annual conference of the American Society for Public Administration: “Promoting Human Rights and Academic Freedom Internationally: What Should ASPA Do?” Details here. Powerpoint for our presentation here.
Human Rights Day is December 10, 2022. It marks the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This year, thirty-four scholarly organizations and sections in the field of public administration have endorsed a statement about Human Rights Day.
The statement says: “As scholars and practitioners working in the field of public administration, we mark this day by reaffirming our commitment to human rights and fundamental democratic freedoms. We believe in the inherent dignity of all people and that all people have equal, inalienable rights. These beliefs guide our research, teaching, and engagement in public affairs.”
Download the statement with list of endorsing organizations.
List of endorsing organizations and scholars
Read more
The American Society for Public Administration has established a Presidential Committee on International Scholarly Engagement (PCISE). Its aim is to consider how we can think more deliberately about aims and forms of engagement in a world where a shared commitment to democracy, human rights and academic freedom cannot be taken for granted.
Read ASPA’s March 8 announcement about the committee.
Here are the terms of reference for the committee.
PCISE Co-Chairs are Alasdair Roberts of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Mary-Lee Rhodes of Trinity College Dublin. Other committee members are:
Mohamad Alkadry, University of Connecticut
Maria Aristigueta, Biden School of Public Policy, University of Delaware
Nisha Botchwey, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
Michael Brintnall, Montgomery College
György Hajnal, Corvinus University and ELKH Centre for Social Sciences
Leslie Pal, College of Public Policy, Hamad Bin Khalifa University
Meghna Sabharwal, University of Texas Dallas
Here are the full biographical notes for the committee members.
The work of the committee will be discussed in a Presidential Panel session at the ASPA conference in Jacksonville FL on March 19. Details about the panel here. Here are some scenarios that we’ll discuss at the session. Here are the Powerpoint slides for the March 19 session.
With Professor Bill Resh, I’m c-editing a special issue of Perspectives on Public Management and Governance on the connections between public administration, human rights and democracy. See the call for paper abstracts. Deadline for submissions is January 7, 2022.
Alasdair S. Roberts 
