This  article  provides  a critical analysis  of the evolving role of the concept of ‘development administration’ in the discipline of public administration.  Since its  inception in the 1950s, development administration has  helped scholars  in public administration to advance  theoretical and empirical  understanding of their discipline in industrialized, transitional  and developing countries.  Research on development administration weakened during the 1980s in many  OECD countries, consequently  causing  it to lose its  momentum in the  field but since the turn of the century it has shown signs of revival in the administrative science discourse largely in response to emerging challenges and opportunities created by globalization. The concept is gaining increasing utility in emerging research areas such as  social capital, economic globalization, governance and administrative decentralization, development NGOs, ICT and e­governance.