Purpose and Scope

Publicus – Journal of Public Administration Research is a publication by the Public Administration Association. Publicus is a journal dedicated to addressing original research questions in the field of public administration. It is a scholarly peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes Turkish and English articles online and openly accessible semi-annually, in June and December.

The word publicus in Ancient Rome referred to the legal, political, and administrative unity formed by the Roman people, or populus, who came together voluntarily and were bound by citizenship. Cicero named this self-governing community res publica. The term res publica has been used to denote both the state and the republic in Ancient Rome. The concept entered French and English as public, then forming the term public administration.

In the Turkish literature, the prominent terms kamu and âmme (the former is Turkish, the latter is Arabic) similarly refer to the whole society that has come together to pursue certain rules in the process of state formation. The root of kamu is kamug, meaning the whole community; the term âmme also derives from umum (the general).

The word publicus reminds us, etymologically and historically, that governance is an act and an organization belonging to the people, society, and the public. Publicus signifies historical connections between ancient forms of self-governance and impersonalized, and generalized form of power in contemporary democracies. Since the term administration briefly refers to the governance of the public, we cannot imagine governance without the public.

In choosing the name Publicus, our journal was inspired by the idea of understanding, explaining, and analyzing administrative phenomena within social relations.

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The organizational structure, administrative activities, and practitioners which are integral to public administration develop in conjunction with societal factors, making them inseparable. Each phenomenon, such as institutionalization, territorial organization, centralization, and personnel systems, is a product of the societies in which they are examined and should be studied as inherent formations of those societies. For instance, the content and boundaries of public ethics are the products of societal values and rules to be followed in the administrative field within the framework of professional ethics, calling public ethics scholars to adopt a holistic perspective.

Similarly, it should be recognized that public administration as well as administrative processes are in a continuous state of change. Publicus prioritizes studies that address the history of public administration and those that examine contemporary public administration from a historical perspective.

Public administration not only is embedded in social relations but also impacts the individual and collective beings. In a rapidly changing world, our societal needs are diversifying. How to approach these needs, the content and the scale of regulations and organizations that emerged in turn, and how they will lead to (un)foreseeable implementations and products are primary concerns of public administration. Publicus invites researchers to develop a collective understanding of contemporary changes, issues, and opportunities faced by public administration. The journal gives priority to publications that have examined public policies, including but not limited to, the administration of public services, and capacity building. The journal also aims to include publications focusing on lived experiences and perspectives of public practitioners.

With respective to the dramatic changes in contemporary times, how the future of public administration will look like would be led to new questions. Publicus places equal importance on two topics: studies examining the implications of technological advancements such as digitalization, artificial intelligence, and remote work in the field of public administration, and featuring research that makes visible how public administration might impact the lives of future generations from today to tomorrow. Areas of study prioritized in this context include human mobility and demographic changes, humanitarian crises, environment and global warming, child protection, aging, and food security.

Publicus is sensitive to the examination of societal inequalities in the field of public administration. While public administration may play a critical role in the emergence of these inequalities, it has a significant role in identifying problem areas and producing solutions to alleviate such inequalities. Social policy and public services as well as contextualizing gender in public administration are growing research areas, which Publicus would be interested in.

Emerging research trends in natural and social sciences recognize humans from a wholistic perspective, perceiving humans as products of its natural, ecological and physical conditions that enable them to socially reproduce. Public administration determines how social reproduction is possible, and public and private spheres are constituted. Publicus seeks papers that problematize the relationship between public administration and its environment. We seek papers focusing on public administration from ecological perspectives.

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Publicus seeks papers engaged theoretical, historical, and comparative perspectives.

The field of public administration blends theoretical knowledge with practice-based knowledge that are produced at both global and local scales. Publicus aims to deepen and expand this blended knowledge through exploring new research methods, topics, and questions.

Public administration is a time-dependent formation and subject to change. Publicus values a historical approach in examining public administration. It places special emphasis on viewing public administration within the continuum of past-present-future.

The field public administration practice and research is multi-scaled, encompassing local, regional, national, international, and global dimensions. Within this multi-scaled context, there exist both diversified and generalizable trends. Hence, Publicus encourages comparative studies and methods examining case studies, international organizations, and addressing regional and global trends. Even though Türkiye is a primary area of study, we would like to include papers focusing on other countries, and international organizations in the field of public administration.

The multidimensionality of study areas today directs researchers –either in social sciences or natural sciences –to engage methodological and theoretical knowledge. Publicus seeks interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary papers that will contribute to the emergence of new and in-depth perspectives, studies, decisions, and implementations in both the discipline and the field of practice of public administration. Publicus intendes to diversify the types of academic texts such as research and review articles, book critics, comments, interviews, reports, round tables, letters to the editor, and etc., in order to expand the formats for providing a broader discussion environment.