Comment: Public Management Research. The Interdependence of Problems and Theory

As a college student, I read an article with a title that thoroughly captured my fancy, Topic X [this part of it does not matter]: Whence and Whither? I determined that some day I must write something with that mellifluous and capacious subtitle. I came, in time, to see the chutzpa required to say something intelligent about the whence and whither of anything, and never found the heart to follow through. But reading Laurence E. Lynn's insightful account of the evolution of public management research, my favorite subtitle sprang to mind. He offers a provocative account of how the field has developed, and poses exciting but serious challenges to researchers about the future. Inspired by his analysis, I build on a few of his comments about where the field is going and why. First I consider how coherent our field can and should be. Second, I review some cautions about examining cases of best managerial practice as a research approach. Third, I suggest some ways to improve the stock of theory we use to understand public management problems and opportunities.