Professor Janine O’Flynn’s co-edited book wins Best Book Award

Pathways to Positive Public Administration: An International Perspective, edited by Patrick Lucas, Tina Nabatchi, Janine O’Flynn and Paul ‘t Hart, has won the Best Book Award (Edited Volume) for 2026 from the Section on Public Administration Research (SPAR) of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA).  

Over 50 authors from around the world were involved in the book, which developed from an original manifesto calling for greater attention to what government does well at a time of increasing hostility and attacks on democratic institutions. 

The judges commented that among several high-quality edited volumes submitted this year, the committee recognised this text for its exceptional theoretical and empirical contributions to the field. Pathways to Positive Public Administration advances a theory of positive public administration, supported by a diverse array of rigorous research chapters exploring how this framework manifests across international contexts. The volume makes a compelling case for positive public administration as a distinct and generative theoretical space.

Professor O’Flynn said, “Thank you to the American Society for Public Administration for recognising our big audacious project, which honours the work of governments and public servants at a time when, in many parts of the world, this is subject to increasing hostility.” 

You can read the open access (free!) book here.

And the original manifesto that sparked this work can be read here.