How are public institutions organized, managed, and governed? Those and many more questions are answered by O’Neill researchers who analyze the processes and mechanisms that underlie public decision making, as well as the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing policies and managing public resources. The goal of public management and governance research is to enhance the effectiveness and accountability of public institutions, and to promote public welfare and social justice.
Improving public services through innovative governance
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Featured research
Dashboard allows comparison of states’ COVID-related executive orders
O'Neill Assistant Professor Peter Federman tracks COVID-19 executive orders from the time when states first started closures until they began to reopen. The database serves as both a resource on state actions and a record of how state laws are changing because of COVID-19.
Read more about comparing states’ COVID-related executive orders
Assessment tool to identify government agencies’ gaps in racial equity
IU’s Racial Justice Research Fund supports O'Neill research to develop an assessment tool for local government agencies to help them take the first step to better understanding systemic racism in their initiatives.
Read more about Assessment tool to identify government agencies’ gaps in racial equityRecent Public Management & Governance research
- Six Blind Men and One Elephant: Proposing an Integrative Framework to Advance Research and Practice in Justice Philanthropy (2022) in Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs with Cullen Merritt
- What is Public? Big Questions Emerging from the Clash of Legal and Policy Paradigms (2021) in Perspectives on Public Management and Governance with Cullen Merritt
- Representation through Lived Experience: Expanding Representative Bureaucracy Theory (2020) in Human Service Organizations Management, Leadership and Governance with Cullen Merritt
- Social Equity and COVID-19: The Case of African Americans (2020) in Public Administration Review with Cullen Merritt
- The Civic Dimension of School Voucher Programs (2018) in Public Integrity with Cullen Merritt
In the news
Townships hope to prove their worth — and get more support — in new report, Indiana Capital Chronicle
Indiana Senate Bill 180 boosting “distressed” wastewater infrastructure draws mixed testimony, Indiana Economic Digest
Indiana faces growing shortage of affordable housing, WISH