The Public Administration Genome Project is a new, long term endeavor with three major objectives:

(1) To develop a grand analogy with the Human Genome such that our understanding of public administration can be expanded.

(2) To “map” the P. A. Genome, just like the Human Genome has been mapped, to understand more fully the breadth and variety of public administration topics and behaviors.

(3) To improve public administration performance.

The analogy process starts with chromosomes. Each cell in the human body contains 23 pairs (male/female) of these chromosomes. In the case of the P. A. Genome, we have taken 23 aspects of the public/private interface. An example would be the “chromosome” for “health and nutrition“, which would include, illustratively, government financial support for medical care in private nursing facilities.

The human genome has been mapped, and it is estimated there may exist about 30,000 genes in each of the 100 trillion cells in the human body. These genes are spread across the 23 pairs of chromosomes. Matt Ridley, in his Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters (1999), suggests that the human genome be seen as a set of encyclopedias with the genes as entries.

The P. A. Genome equivalents to human genes, in our analogy, are various topics addressed by administrators as part of plans/policies/programs/projects undertaken by offices (the “cells”) of various departments or ministries (the “bodies”). A list of such topics might include:

A human gene can undertake certain unique behaviors, like activating another one. So, too, can action on one topic (e.g., <Accounting> on a project) activate action on other topics (e.g., <Allocation> of <Funds> to that project). Note that the latter action involves a cluster of topics (that is, a “term” or “variable”) addressed in concert.

About 250 human gene behaviors have been identified to date, mainly from Ridley’s popular book. Public administration analogies have been created for these 250, with the search also continuing for many other behaviors.

Further processes for mapping the P. A. Genome have involved several approaches, which may be classified generally as “bottom up” and “top down”. In the former, topics, variables, and relationships are extracted from individual pieces of literature or case studies while in the latter the topics come from a comprehensive set of dictionaries.
The total number of “official” genes recognized from these approaches now stands at 4900. These have been extracted from 10,400 terms or variables found in a total of 45 sources. The 4900 topics obviously are far short of the approximately 30,000 genes in the human genome, but still represent a sizable beginning.

The ultimate aim is to complete the mapping – of topics, variables, and relationships -- and make this knowledge generally available through an interactive information and guidance system.

Click on any of the links above to explore this project and learn more about it.