The Future

Rosenbloom writes that PA stands at a crossroads. The immediate problem is how to sort out and integrate the values, structural and procedural arrangements, etc. associated with the managerial, NPM, political and legal approaches to PA.

In the short term, American PA will be characterized by a high degree of complexity with politics continuing to define dominant administrative practices. The law will continue to be central to the practice of administration and a strong performance orientation will remain. PA will continue to have many components and will not be able to be defined as a single process. The civil service will become more fragmented as agencies take on more personnel functions. Traditional management functions will change as employees are empowered through education and information technology. Personal responsibility will continue to be emphasized, particularly as 3^rd party government grows. Finally a new administrative culture may emerge as administrators become more at ease with complexity, law and flexibility.