Вестник РУДН, серия Государственное и муниципальное управление, 2014, № 1 THE IDEA OF THE “STATE” IN CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION THEORY D. Schultz Department of Political Science Hamline University Hawitt Ave., 1536, St. Paul, Minnesota, United States of America, 55104 Traditional theories of the “state” in public administration theory focus on the governmental apparatus. <...> However, over the last 40 years several forces, such as the rise of neo-liberalism, the dismantling of communist regimes, and the global economic crisis of 2008 have forced a redefinition of the state and challenge contemporary public administration theory. <...> First, it describes and examines how the rise of neo-liberalism and the fall of communism have produced a crisis in public administration theory through a redefinition of the boundaries between traditional governmental and non-governmental activities. <...> The conclusion will be that contemporary public administration theory is in need of a new theory of the state to reflect the changing political economic order that emerged after the economic crisis of 2008. <...> In the Second Worlds of the Soviet Union and communism, political ideology created strong state bureaucracies as governments took ownership of the means of production and distribution of basic goods and services, in addition to performing traditional state functions such as national and domestic security. <...> First, in response to the economic pressures of the 1970s, Thatcherism in England and then Reaganism in the United States led to the emergence of Neoliberalism and the hollowing out or dismantling of many state functions. <...> Second, globalism, and then the 2008 global recession also challenged theories about the state. <...> Third, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the USSR dictated 90 Schultz D. The idea of the “state” in contemporary public administration theory a crisis in theories of the state in that it forced a rethinking of the relationship between the economy and the governmental apparatus. <...> The global recession of 2008 along with other changes in the economy have challenged more than a generation of beliefs about free markets and global trade, thereby necessitating a rethinking about the role of governments in promoting policies such as deregulation and privatization. <...> This article examines six forces affecting current conceptions of the state and how they have challenged theories of public administration. <...> Except in the case of face-to-face barter economies, free market and government distribution of goods and services provide rival ways to coordinate their production <...>