Leadership Development in the Public Sector: From Competencies to Contradictions

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Introduction

This special issue challenges the prevailing public sector leadership development literature by investigating its frameworks, prescriptions, and best practices. Along with identifying notable gaps, contributors will revisit core assumptions and other present developmental paradigms, revealing how on the one hand, the literature often neglects new theory and empirical findings from other sectors and from disciplines outside political science; and, on the other hand, when it draws unreservedly, can obscure the usual tensions between individual development and systemic constraints, neglect the political dimensions of public leadership, and understate institutional contradictions. By surfacing what has been missed or taken for granted, this issue advances a richer theoretical and empirical base of leadership development in the public service.

Leadership development in the public sector has become a widespread practice, yet much of it lacks a strong theoretical and empirical foundation that is tailored to its unique context. Despite extensive investments in leadership programs, there is still limited theory and evidence on what actually works, for whom, and under what conditions in public service settings.

This special issue will position IJPL at the forefront of addressing this gap by inviting theoretical advancements and rigorous, evidence-based research that interrogates prevailing assumptions and advances a more robust, theoretically informed understanding of leadership development in the public sector. It will provide both scholars and practitioners with insights necessary to design leadership development approaches that are scientifically grounded and contextually relevant.

List of Topic Areas

1.  Evidence and Effectiveness Gaps
2. Training Program Assumptions and Implications
3. Theoretical Underdevelopment
4. Empirical and/or Contextual Blind Spots
5. Measurement and Evaluation Limitations
6. Neglect of Practice-Embedded Learning
7. The Science-to-Practice Gap
8. Post-Training Development
9. Ethical Considerations in Development Design
10. Future Directions for Evidence-Based Public Sector Leadership Development.

Guest Editor

Richard T. Marcy, University of Victoria, Canada, rtmarcy@uvic.ca

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Author guidelines must be strictly followed.

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Author Guidelines

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key Deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 1st March 2026

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 1st September 2026