The Minnowbrook Conference
- File photo | Credit Syracuse UniversityOpens in new window
Features of the Minnowbrook Conference
The Minnowbrook Conference is the outcome of the social disturbances of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Held every 20 years, after it was first commissioned in 1968, it has evolved to become one of the most iconic academic movements in public administrationOpens in new window in the United StatesOpens in new window.
As a broadly based critique of public administration, the Minnowbrook perspective is an enduring legend, with its own narrative and attendant mystique and mythology (Marini 1971; Waldo 1971; Frederickson 1980).
Since its inception in 1968, the Minnowbrook Conference has so far held three episodes:
- Minnowbrook I — commissioned in 1968, marked the beginning of the New Public AdministrationOpens in new window.
- Minnowbrook II — held in 1988, reflected on the impact of the New Public Administration.
- Minnowbrook III — (the latest episode) which took place in 2008, was organized in two phases on the theme “The Future of Public Administration, Public Management, and Public Service around the World.”
The conference, held in early September 1968, at the Minnowbrook Conference CenterOpens in new window of Syracuse University on Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, is now known as Minnowbrook IOpens in new window.
It was this conference which gave rise to New Public AdministrationOpens in new window. There have been two subsequent conferences, Minnowbrook IIOpens in new window (held in 1988) and Minnowbrook IIIOpens in new window (held in 2008).
