PUBLIC LEADERSHIP RESEARCH IN GLOBAL AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW WITH BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

Public leadership has become increasingly important in addressing complex governance challenges at both global and local levels. However, despite the rapid growth of the literature, a comprehensive understanding of its intellectual development and emerging research directions remains limited. This study examines publication trends, intellectual structure, collaboration patterns, and future research directions in public leadership research. A Systematic Literature Review combined with Bibliometric Analysis was conducted using 233 publications indexed in the Scopus database between 2016 and 2026. Descriptive bibliometric analysis was performed using the Scopus Analyze Search Results feature, while VOSviewer (version 1.6.20) was employed to analyze keyword co-occurrence, co-authorship, and bibliographic coupling networks. The findings reveal a substantial increase in research output over the past decade, with the Social Sciences representing the dominant subject area and the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada emerging as the leading contributors. Bibliometric mapping indicates that collaborative governance, public value, digital transformation, sustainability, and climate governance constitute the core intellectual foundations of the field. Emerging topics, including artificial intelligence, smart governance, and ethical leadership, demonstrate the growing interdisciplinary nature of public leadership research, whereas empirical evidence from developing countries and comparative studies remains limited. This study contributes by providing a comprehensive synthesis of the evolution of public leadership research and offers a reference for future governance scholarship and evidence-informed public leadership practice.