The Creation of a Public Administration Body of Knowledge Conforming to Sustainable Development

Abstract

This paper is derived from a qualitative research study of a Public Administration body of knowledge created by the Graduate School of Public Administration, National Institute of Development Administration (Thailand) which funded research over the budget years, 2002-2014. The study has three objectives. The first is to uncover which elements of the Public Administration body of knowledge are created through research at a higher education level. In addition, case study research is included here as it is also a component in the creation of a body of knowledge. The second objective is to discern if such a body of knowledge complies with the national development needs, identified as the thirteen research focuses of the Thai Eighth National Research Policy and Strategy (2012-2016) which aims for sustainable development. The last objective is to provide policy suggestions for the creation of a Public Administration body of knowledge at a higher education level.

The study finds that there are one hundred and eleven bodies of research and seven case studies creating nine aspects of a Public Administration body of knowledge. Conformity to the national development needs for sustainable development is high since one hundred research studies (84.75 percent) can be categorized into the research focuses of the Thai Eighth National Research Policy and Strategy; only eighteen focuses cannot (15.25 percent). The study suggests: 1) research should conform to the national development needs; 2) Public Administration authorities urgently need to create a body of knowledge which applies sufficiency economy philosophy; 3) the School of Public Administration in each institution should choose to emphasize just one or only a few aspects of the body of knowledge that are lacking by providing continuous special support; and, finally, 4) support should be provided for case study research.