Volume I: Acquisition Research: Creating Synergy for Informed Change

Abstract

One hundred years ago, William H. Allen of the then-newly founded Bureau of Municipal Research issued a call in the Journal of Accountancy for 1,000 accountants for municipal research. Allen's call followed the Bureau's early and remarkable successes, both in exposing waste and corruption in New York City's government as well as in devising and installing managerial systems for increased efficiency and transparency. History has not recorded the extent to which Allen's call for 1,000 accountants was answered. History has recorded, however, the very clear and significant contributions of his Bureau's work particularly its research agenda to the formation of the field of American Public Administration.[3] Thus, while Allen certainly perceived the potential contributions of administrative research, it's highly doubtful he could have imagined the development and maturation over the next century of this entirely new field of study in the US. Public Administration today includes hundreds of graduate degree programs, dozens of academic journals and conferences, and thousands of scholars. The objects of its study have expanded from municipal administration to include federal, state, international, and, more recently, not-for-profit administration.