A Response to Don Kettl's Debate Article on the Future of Public Administration and Democracy

Abstract

This commentary critically engages with Kettl's analysis of the crisis of public administration (PA) scholarship and its relationship with democratic decline. It argues that both phenomena should be understood within broader global developments rather than primarily as problems specific to the United States. While acknowledging the role of governance failures in facilitating autocratization, it questions the claim that autocratization results predominantly from the failures of PA scholarship and practice. Rather, it emphasizes that broader societal phenomena, such as the erosion of societal trust and the power‐consolidating objectives of authoritarian leaders play a key role. Drawing on Hungary's experience, the commentary illustrates how authoritarian governance may perpetuate administrative instability and institutional transformation long after the (perceived) failures of democratic governance have been addressed in the early phase of illiberal transformation. However, it also argues that poor governance and declining policy performance can eventually undermine authoritarian rule, as illustrated by Hungary's 2026 political transformation. The commentary thus highlights the complex and potentially self‐undermining relationship between authoritarianism and public governance.