Change and Continuity in State Administration: Administrative Leadership across Four Decades

State administration has often been referred to as the hidden branch of American state governments. This below-the-horizon component of state government has been subjected to intensified sets of fiscal pressures, federal mandates, selective devolution, and implementation issues. More attention needs...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public administration review 1998-09, Vol.58 (5), p.429-444
Main Authors: Bowling, Cynthia J., Wright, Deil S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
21st century
2500
9130
9190
9550
Administrative agencies
Administrative Organization
Attention
Court decisions
Educational administration
Experimental/theoretical treatment
Federal Aid
Federalism
Government
Government agencies
Government mandates
Governors
Health care policy
Human resources
Innovations
Leaders
Leadership
Leadership Qualities
Legislators
Management
Organizational behavior
Personality
Political leadership
Political revolutions
Politics
Professional government workers
Program Implementation
Public Administration
Public employees
Public management
Public policy
Public sector organizations
Skills
State Agencies
State Government
State Policy
Studies
Trend Analysis
Trends
U.S.A
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Summary:State administration has often been referred to as the hidden branch of American state governments. This below-the-horizon component of state government has been subjected to intensified sets of fiscal pressures, federal mandates, selective devolution, and implementation issues. More attention needs to be focused on the administrative and managerial leaders of state government because they influence most, if not all, aspects of state policies and programs. This essay examines long-term trends in the qualities of state administrative leadership from the 1960s to the 1990s. Most state agencies are headed by accomplished professionals who are better educated and more diverse in demographic characteristics and professional experiences than ever before. These administrators are embedded in combinations of horizontal and vertical relationships that have evolved across several decades. These evolving features and relationships constitute, in cumulative terms, a micro-level revolution in state administrative leadership. The larger implications of our findings are that the states are well positioned, administratively, to confront the challenges of the twenty-first century.
ISSN:0033-3352
1540-6210
DOI:10.2307/977552