Complexity and the Reconstruction of Public Administration

Complexity is an important problem facing modern public administration. The complexity theory reconstructs the analytical concepts and research topics of the existing public administration theories so as to better explain the governance logic of complex public affairs. The study of complex public administration contributes both to a new understanding of the complex administrative environment and to a better understanding of organizational change or policy processes. The study of complex public administration is the inheritance and transcendence of governance theory. It expands the understanding of the characteristics of multi-agent initiative, the form of relationship network, the “micro-macro” mechanism, and finds the meaningful framework for the occurrence of governance behavior. Complexity theory is consistent with postmodern public administration in many aspects. It is of great value to construct an analytical paradigm of complexity public administration to enrich and develop public administration theory.