Skip to Main Content

Theories & Theorists for Public Policy & Administration: Public Policy & Administration Theorists

How to use specific theorists

On this page, you will find a list of theorists whose work pertains to public policy & administration research. You can use these names to search for more information about each theorist by following the instructions in the following Quick Answer:

Please keep in mind that this list is by no means exhaustive. There are many more potentially relevant theorists that you can discover by browsing in databases and reviewing the scholarly literature in your field. You can also explore the web resources at the bottom of the page to find other theorists.

Public Policy & Administration Theorists

  • Alice Walker
  • Amatai Etzioni
  • Andrew H. Van De Ven & Marshall Scott Poole
  • Anne Schneider & Helen Ingram
  • Baruch Spinoza
  • Charles Lindblom
  • Chester Barnard
  • Chuck Fox
  • Duncan Black
  • Dwight Waldo
  • Elinor Ostrom & Vincent Ostrom
  • Frederick Winslow Taylor
  • Fremont Kast & James Rosenzweig
  • Gaetano Mosca
  • Gary S. Becker
  • Harold Lasswell
  • Herbert A. Simon
  • Hugh Miller
  • James March 
  • Johan Olsen
  • Johannes Siegrest
  • John Bryson & William Roering
  • Luther Gulick
  • Mary Parker Follett
  • Max Weber
  • Michael Cohen
  • Paul A. Sabatier & Christopher M. Weible
  • Philip Selznick
  • Robert D. Caplan
  • Robert Dahl
  • William Richard Scott
  • Pfeffer and Salancik

  • Von Bertalanffy Ludwig