Utopian/Dystopian Thought Experiments and the Potential For a New Strateb')' of Inquiry in Public Administration

The purpose behind this dissertation is the creation, development, and
illustration of a new strategy of inquiry in public administration. This new strategy
of inquiry is a utopian/dystopian thought experiment. A utopian/dystopian thought
experiment should provide its user with a way to develop a new/different viewpoint
with which to examine an administrative activity. A researcher begins with an
original viewpoint and should then develop a new/different viewpoint, a
utopian/dystopian viewpoint, by engaging in a utopian/dystopian thought
experiment. A utopian/dystopian thought experiment is developed in this
dissertation by bringing together elements from utopian literature and scientific
thought experiment literature using a public administration point of view. The
research approach used in this dissertation is a three-phase process that involves reviewing and connecting pertinent literatures, using imagination and the process of
writing to create a utopian/dystopian thought experiment, and illustrating and
examining a utopian/dystopian thought experiment in public administration. In this
dissertation, I seek to create a utopian/dystopian thought experiment as a new
strategy of inquiry that is developed specifically for public administration. A
utopian/dystopian thought experiment should provide an additional tool to the
researcher who is seeking to expand the viewpoints through which the researcher
can examine administrative activities.