In his 1955 textbook, Public Administration scholar Leonard White noted how “every system of public administration is the product of many influences. Its form and content reflect its historical origin; existing patterns are a composite of practices and procedures both ancient and contemporary. No administrative system can be well understood without some knowledge of what it has been, and how it came to be what it is.” (White 1955) Taking a similar position, many scholars have over the years turned their attention to the history of public administration as a way to understand how public institutions and governance practices evolved over time and how past practices, systems and ideas shaped public administration in historical context (Rugge 2025).
A first central premise underlying this Permanent Study Group is that in order to understand both past and present political and administrative systems one needs to also understand and apply historical perspectives (e.g. Raadschelders 1994; Raadschelders et al. 2000; Tilly 2008). Historical research concerning the development of ideas about past realities of public service delivery, policy, bureaucracy, politics and the state also serves to discuss contemporary questions (e.g. Leff 1985; Neustadt and May 1986). The history of public administration provides insights into the long-term dynamics of change, continuity and diversity (Tholfsen 1967) of political-administrative practices, civil service systems and bureaucracies, and public policy, organization and management.
A second central premise of the PSG is the aim to bring together contemporary work by (Europe-focused) scholars on administrative history. While people in different departments of different universities across the world are actively working on various aspects of administrative history, much can be done to improve knowledge of each other’s work. This PSG aims to function as a platform to find out what people are working on, which questions are being asked, which themes are being addressed, what historical and/or multidisciplinary methods and sources are being developed and deployed. The PSG aims to promote interdependency and to offer a collaborative, long-term platform for developing ideas, advancing research, and building an intellectual community that connects early-career researchers and seasoned experts alike.
This PSG wishes to connect to general themes of interest in PA-scholarship, based on the notion that any number of present-day issues and questions of governance inherently benefit from and – usually also already include (see Raadschelders et al. 2000) – a historical approach. This PSG is, for example, of interest to scholars on topics such as cutback management, leadership, digitalization or EU-relations, who are looking to also present and discuss historical angles to their work. The panel aims to draw people from various disciplines since administrative history as a field of study closely borders on many other academic fields of research such as public administration, sociology, anthropology, political science, history, philosophy and economics. The panel in particular also welcomes early career scholars and PhD students with an affinity to history and historical approaches to public administration to join us in Rome and beyond.