Minnowbrook III (2008)
awareness that institutional and
 Minnowbrook III was held
September 3-7, 2008.
 It was coordinated by
Rosemary O'Leary,
Distinguished Professor at
Syracuse University
 The theme for the third
gathering was: The Future of
Public Administration, Public
Management, and Public
Service Around the World.
 It consisted of two phases.
Focal Areas of Minnowbrook III
 Academic-practitioner
relations;
 Democratic performance
management;
 Financial management;
 Globalization/comparative
perspectives;
 Information technology &
management;
 Law, politics & public
administration management;
 Leadership;
 Methods/interdisciplinary;
networks; performance
measurement;
 Public administration values &
theory;
 Social equity & justice;
 And Transparency & The conference offered a
accountability.
Outcomes of Minnowbrook III
 Increased emphasis on
Comparative Studies
The conference encouraged a
renaissance of comparative
studies as the world has
become increasingly
interdependent. The essence
of the comparative approach is
context-sensitivity, that is,
cultural context matters and
should be incorporated into
research. Contributions of this
approach are practical for
meeting curricular needs, and
theoretical in making research
more rigorous, revealing
underlying, often US-oriented
assumptions and exploring
alternative contexts.
 Emphasis on action research
and methodological pluralism
The conference discussed
research methods and proposed
a statement of commitment
document, informally referred
to as a pledge or a manifesto,
asking new scholars to serve
as change agents regarding
the use and teaching of
research methods and the
responsiveness of the peer-
review process. One element
of this was more attention to
the method of action research
to increase engagement with
the issues and practice of
public administration;
another was a commitment to
methodological pluralism.
 A New Definition for Public
Administration
reformulation of public
administration, defining public
administration as: "a
socially-embedded process of
collective relationships,
dialogue, and action to
promote human flourishing
for all