Fred W. Riggs (July 3, 1917 in China – February 9, 2008 in USA) was an American political scientist and pioneer of comparative public administration. He has been described as "a towering figure in the field",Tummala, K. K. (1995). Fred W. Riggs and Comparative Administration [Review of Politics and Administration in Changing Societies: Essays in Honour of Professor Fred W. Riggs, by R. K. Arora]. Public Administration Review, 55(6), 581–582. https://doi.org/10.2307/3110350. one of the "founders of the field",Heady, Ferrel. Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective, 6th ed. (New York: Marcel Dekker, 2001), 51. and as an "energetic pioneer" in comparative research.PENG, W.-S. (2008). A CRITIQUE OF FRED W. RIGGS' ECOLOGY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION. Public Administration Quarterly, 32(4), 528–548. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41288330 One commentator observed in 2012 that Riggs' work "is so extensive and creative that it has become an area of study by itself."Jreisat, Jamil E., Globalism and Comparative Public Administration (Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2012), 155.
Riggs was the founder and first chairperson of the Comparative Administration Group, which was later reorganized as the Section on International and Comparative Administration of the American Society for Public Administration.Heady, F. (1998). Comparative and International Public Administration: Building Intellectual Bridges. Public Administration Review, 58(1), 32–39. https://doi.org/10.2307/976887 Riggs "managed the group . . . [and] provided intellectual leadership."Jreisat, Jamil E., Globalism and Comparative Public Administration (Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2012), 44. The Comparative Administration Group undertook a large number of studies around the world in the 1960s and early 1970s that were funded by the Ford Foundation.FARAZMAND, A. (1996). DEVELOPMENT AND COMPARATIVE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. Public Administration Quarterly, 20(3), 343–364. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40861684 One assessment says that the Group did "monumental work" under Riggs leadership, although not without attracting criticism.Sapru, R. (1979). COMPARATIVE ADMINISTRATION : RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT. The Indian Journal of Political Science, 40(3), 466–477. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41854974
As a theorist, Riggs was most famous for his "prismatic theory of public administration."CHAPMAN, R.A. (1966), Prismatic Theory in Public Administration: A Review of the Theories of Fred W. Riggs. Public Administration, 44: 415-434. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1966.tb01598.x His most influential book on this topic was Administration in Developing Countries: The Theory of Prismatic Society (1964).
A 2019 study found that Riggs was the most frequently mentioned scholar in examination questions relating to public administration posed by India's Union Public Service Commission over the preceding twenty years.Roberts, Alasdair S. and Manoharan, Aroon, UPSC Examination Papers on Public Administration in India (October 20, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3472631 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3472631
The Riggs Award for Lifetime Achievement in International and Comparative Public Administration is named in his honor. A one-day Riggs Symposium is also held as part of the annual conference of the American Society for Public Administration.
Riggs ended his career as professor emeritus at Political Science Department of University of Hawaii.
Awards Awards: Dwight Waldo award for lifetime achievements in Public Administration, American Society for Public Administration, April 1991. Order of White Elephant, conferred by King of Thailand, in Bangkok, 1986. First non-Asian to be honored by Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration, EROPA Conference, Seoul, Korea, 1983. Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, 1966–67. Senior Specialist, East-West Center, University of Hawaii, 1962–1963. Fellow, Committee on Comparative Politics of the Social Science Research Institute, for field research in Thailand, 1957–58.
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