Background
Classic questions, new insights
Numerous public tasks are not, or no longer, performed exclusively by national government institutions. Rather, these tasks are being taken over increasingly by a series of private, semi-private or privatized organizations. Political decision-making does not only take place in the national political arenas, but also at European level and in numerous international arenas, in horizontal networks of social partners and at the headquarters of large companies and social institutions. So, if you want to study the public domain and classic questions concerning the organization of strong societies you can no longer confine yourself to the study of government institutions. Indeed, you must focus on public organizations in the broadest sense of the word.
Late modern or post-modern society not only involves a great diversity of actors and networks in the public domain, but there is also a large degree of socio-cultural pluralism. Organizations construct the meaning of social developments, the public interest, and their own role in it. The study of governance issues therefore does not only require a multi-level and multi-actor perspective, but also pays attention to issues and processes of sense-making in and between organizations.
The Research Master in Public Administration and Organizational Science takes these developments seriously and expressly focuses on the interaction between social changes and the performance of public organizations in tackling social issues. These may be government institutions, but also independent governing bodies, corporations, public enterprises, educational and care institutions, civil society associations and private companies. Therefore, this Research Master's Program combines the classic questions of Public Administration with new insights from Organizational Science.
Two tracks: policy research-oriented and theory-oriented
The Master's Program has both a policy research-oriented and theory-oriented track. You start with deepening your theoretical knowledge of central themes in Public Administration and Organizational Science and become acquainted with various research-methods and -techniques. You then choose whether you wish to follow the policy research-oriented or the theory-oriented track. As a policy research-oriented researcher, you go through all the phases of contract research, ranging from acquisition, through consultation with the customer up to the final report. As a theory-oriented researcher, your efforts will result in an academic article and a detailed research proposal. The article is sent to a recognized academic journal. The research proposal will form the basis for a PhD project, which means that you will also have completed the first general year of a PhD programme. Please note that this does not also automatically entitle you to obtaining a PhD position.
The Master's Program offers subjects from the domain of Public Administration and Organizational Science ranging from public administration and policy, public management, organizational culture, and public personnel policies. Research Master's students prepare for further practice of Public Administration and Organizational Science research either in the form of an advanced PhD program and PhD research, or in the form of policy research-oriented research.
The Research Master's degree in Public Administration and Organizational Science was developed by the Utrecht School of Governance (USG), in co-operation with the Tilburg School of Politics and Public Administration (TSPPA) and the Department of Public Administration of Erasmus University in Rotterdam. These institutions belong to the best Public Administration and Organizational Science research groups in the Netherlands. They guarantee that they cover the state-of-the-art knowledge of central issues in modern Public Administration and Organizational Science, and introduce students directly and thoroughly to the most prominent researchers in these areas.
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