I am cramming like a mad for PA and policy exams. And as I read and think about all the PA issues, some of the thoughts I can't ignore. I don't know why we keep saying that there is "Identity crisis" in PA. Are we political science or Policy studies or who are we? I personally think, given my very limited understanding of the field; we don't need to have this crisis. PA is after all an applied field. We are not Physics or Economics. We are in business of running this crazy, mad machine called the Government. We have a federalist system and how we can best navigate it, is the best question for me to think about it. Layers of government, exceedingly complex problems and always limited resources (Econ here :-)). In the midst of all these changing issues, we are trying the best we can to make sure the democracy keeps running.

It is not possible to build a grand theory of PA, I think. We need to borrow from Economics, Sociology, Political Science, Anthropology, Statistics, Psychology and everything else we need to. If we study terrorism, we need to understand religious studies also. If we study low income population, we need to understand behavioral psychology. As PA scholars and students, it's our job is to adapt and change but still remain close to democratic and constitutional values. A politician or the real decision maker, isn't concerned with "whether PA has a grand theory to explain everything". He/she needs to see how we convince him that block granting programs for poor people is not really helpful. And if we do, it's our job to make sure that people navigate through system and get what they need to get. 

Public Administration is in true sense for me, is to run the government. And yes, while running this crazy big machine called, democracy, we have to work with private sector, non-profit sector, international organizations  and countries and people. If Lincoln's definition of the democracy is still believed Government of the people, by the people, for the people,  then as PA scholars what we need to do is to understand how well we can do it. There is no best way, no grand theory, no ultimate solution to any public issue. After all, we don't need an true identity, what we need is a way to make it a little easy for the citizens to live their lives :-)