What Drives Public Service? Rethinking Motivation and Identity

Dr. Adrian Ritz is Professor of Public Management at the University of Bern in Switzerland. 

His research examines how motivation, leadership, and organizational contexts shape the behavior of public servants, with recent work exploring why officials may carry out illiberal political demands. Drawing on his forthcoming article with Lorenza Micacchi, this talk asks whether public service motivation is better understood as a social identity rooted in how people define themselves and their responsibilities to society. It explores what an “identity turn” could contribute to PSM research and opens a discussion about its promise, limitations, and future.