This book provides a descriptive analysis of how public administrators manage municipal government. Using examples from the United States, it explores six dimensions of public administration: legal aspects of public management; human resources management; budgeting and public finance; the political dimension; intergovernmental relations and ethical considerations. As well as theory, the authors address such practical issues as economic development, housing, culture and recreation, public safety, transportation and waste disposal.
Most public administration texts overly compartmentalize the subject and don't interconnect the various specializations within government, which leaves a serious gap in preparing students for public service. Government: A Public Administration Perspective is designed to fill that void. It provides a comprehensive, multidisciplinary view of government that includes perspectives from political science, political theory, international relations, organizational sociology, economics, and history. The text draws on classic and modern literature from all these areas to analyze government at four different levels - ideational, societal, organizational, and individual layers. It links public administration's various subfields - human resource management, budgeting, policy making, organizational theory, etc. - into a holistic framework for the study of government. It also includes an extensive bibliography drawing from American and European literature in support of the book's global, historical, and comparative approach.
In addition to traditional management tools, government administrators require a fundamental understanding of the tools available to address the ever-changing context of government communications. Examining the ins and outs of the regulations influencing public information, The Practice of Government Public Relations unveils novel ways to integrate cutting-edge technologies—including Web 2.0 and rapidly emerging social media—to craft and maintain a positive public image. Expert practitioners with extensive government communications experience address key topics of interest and provide an up-to-date overview of best practices. They examine the specifics of government public relations and detail a hands-on approach for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the wide-ranging aspects of government public relations—including how to respond during a crisis.In addition to the tools provided on the accompanying downloadable resources, most chapters include a Best Practice Checklist to help you successfully utilize the communication strategies outlined in the book. Focusing on the roles of government managers enacting policies adopted by elected officials and politicians, this book is ideal for program managers seeking innovative and inexpensive ways to accomplish their programs’ missions. While no manager can be an expert in all aspects of public administration, this book helps you understand the external communications tools available to advance the mission and results of your agency.
The book examines the history and development of public administration, the study of the internal structure and functioning of government and its interaction with society and its citizens. It surveys different approaches to the field and the methodological and epistemological issues surrounding an interdisciplinary, applied social science.
Sound machinery of government is at the core of a well-functioning state. Written by an author with wide experience in public administration globally, this book addresses both the commonalities and the diversity of administrative practice around the world. Exploring developed countries as well as developing and transitional economies, it combines a strong conceptual foundation with thorough coverage of the main topics in public administration, supported by current data and a wealth of concrete illustrations from a variety of countries. The book is organized around three important themes: the interaction of governance, politics and administration, the role of institutions in determining administrative outcomes, and the importance of country context. A concluding chapter summarizes the lessons of international experience and offers guidance to improve the management of the public sector in sustainable ways. Running the Government will serve as a core text for courses in public administration and as a supplement for undergraduate and graduate courses in political science, public economics, and international affairs. It may also serve as an accessible and complete reference for civil service training courses around the globe.
Public administration – the practice of producing and executing government policy by bureaucrats, politicians, managers and other officials – affects almost everything we encounter in our day-to-day lives. Public administrators are – at least partially – responsible for the amount of hours we work, the quality of the air we breathe, the ease with which we can visit the doctor and the state of the roads we walk and drive down. Despite the widespread relevance of public administration however, the relative amount of government influence on society differs across the world. This major new introduction examines public administration structures, processes and achievements, and the behavior and motivations of the administrators themselves. Internationally relevant and analyzing states at a range of different developmental stages, it examines the key themes and issues that dominate the field. Chapters are framed around a series of questions that determine the typical and the unusual features of governments. For example, focus is given to what makes for a stable government, the different definitions of management, possible solutions to corruption, the relationship between central and local governments as well as the formal strategies for policy development. The book draws extensively on core theory in the field, and makes critical links between public administration and economics, law, sociology and the wider subject of political science. As accessible for students as it is useful for practitioners looking for a comprehensive reference guide, this is an essential text for those who wish to understand the complexities of government and public administration from the inside out.
This theoretically and experientially grounded reference provides a complete overview of the principles and applications of government administration and management practices in the local public sector. Written by over 25 distinguished academics and professionals with substantial experience as practitioners and consultants of administrative operations to local governments, the book covers the effects of environmental conditions on local administrators and management techniques to administration in different types of local government. It helps readers reduce research time by presenting advanced materials on local government administration and management in a single source.
In most liberal democracies for example, the central bank is as independent as the supreme court, yet deals with a wide range of economic, social, and political issues. How do these public servants make these policy decisions? What normative principles inform their judgments? In The Machinery of Government, Joseph Heath attempts to answer these questions. He looks to the actual practice of public administration to see how normative questions areaddressed. More broadly, he attempts to provide the outlines of a "philosophy of the executive" by taking seriously the claim to political authority of the most neglected of the three branches of the state.
A thorough update to this well-regarded political history of American public administration. In this new edition of his provocative book Bureaucracy and Self-Government, Brian J. Cook reconsiders his thesis regarding the inescapable tension between the ideal of self-government and the reality of administratively centered governance. Revisiting his historical exploration of competing conceptions of politics, government, and public administration, Cook offers a novel way of thinking constitutionally about public administration that transcends debates about “big government.” Cook enriches his historical analysis with new scholarship and extends that analysis to the present, taking account of significant developments since the mid-1990s. Each chapter has been updated, and two new chapters sharpen Cook’s argument for recognizing a constitutive dimension in normative theorizing about public administration. The second edition also includes reviews of Jeffersonian impacts on administrative theory and practice and Jacksonian developments in national administrative structures and functions, a look at the administrative theorizing that presaged progressive reforms in civil service, and insight into the confounding complexities that characterize public thinking about administration in a postmodern political order.
With over 20 million people on its payroll, the government continues to be the largest employer in the country. Managing people who do the nation’s work is of critical importance to politicians and government leaders as well as citizens. The great recession of 2008 put enormous strains on governments, highlighting the key role personnel play in managing under times of austerity as well as prosperity. A thorough examination of political and historical aspects, Personnel Management in Government: Politics and Process, Seventh Edition provides students with a comprehensive understanding of human resource management within its historical and political context in the public sector. It discusses the development of public sector human resource management, the present status of best practices, and important insights from current scholarship on all three levels of government: federal, state, and local. See What’s New in the Seventh Edition: Personnel reforms under the Obama administration Pension developments at state and local levels of government Labor relations reforms at state and local levels, e.g. recent experiences in Michigan, Ohio, and other states making big changes to labor laws and policies Changes to diversity and affirmative action initiatives across the nation Developments in performance outcome initiatives at all levels of government During the 36 years since the publication of the first edition, the authors have addressed issues that were not yet considered mainstream, yet have become so over time. The seventh edition is no different. It examines progress that public personnel professionals are making to address changes in the political, legal, and managerial environment of the current decade. Exploring developments and innovations in the management of people who carry out the government's work, the book introduces students to public sector personnel management.
