THE ROLE OF PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVATION RESEARCH IN OVERCOMING THE IDENTITY CRISIS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: POTENTIAL AND PROGRESS

It has been argued for a long time by leading academics in the field that the discipline of Public Administration is in an identity crisis. The fact that it took so long demonstrates that the discipline is in a multidimensional crisis that goes beyond an identity crisis. The crux of the crisis that manifests itself in disciplinary status, axiology, methodology and theoretical ground, is the subject matter problem. Contemporary Public Administration is divided between management oriented Public Administration paradigm, which investigates organizational problems, and publicness oriented Public Administration paradigm, which deals with extra-organizational problems. Public service motivation research, which bears traces of both paradigms, has the potential to overcome the crisis the discipline is in. However, a systematic literature review of empirical studies published in four of the leading journals in the field shows that this potential has not been adequately reached. Public service motivation research will contribute more to overcoming the identity crisis of the discipline if it pays due attention to the extra-organizational antecedents and consequences.