Patricia M. Shields (born 1951) is a Regents' Professor in the Political Science Department at Texas State University.

[15] As a scholar, Shields promoted the classical pragmatism of C. S. Peirce, William James, and John Dewey as an "organizing principle" for the discipline of public administration.

[17] Shields is also notable in the public administration community for utilizing pragmatism to advance research methodology in the field.

[18] For example, Shields is responsible in part for popularizing Dewey's notion of the working hypothesis as a method of preliminary, qualitative, exploratory research, in addition to the concept of the practical ideal type for program evaluation.

[19][20][21][22] She received recognition by the American Society for Public Administration, the Section for Women in Public Administration with the Rita Mae Kelly Award for her contribution to gender studies in public administration,[23] National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration with the Leslie A. Whittington Award for excellence in teaching research methods,[24] the Inter-University Seminar for Armed and Society with the Morris Janowitz Career Achievement Award[25] and the journal Public Administration Review with the Laverne Burchfield Award.