Offers counterbalance to the standard assessment-measurement-accountability prescriptions that have made showing you did your job more important than actually doing it. This title articulates a postmodern theory of public administration that challenges the field to redirect its attention toward democratic openness and ethics.

This widely acclaimed work provides a lively counterbalance to the standard assessment-measurement-accountability prescriptions that have made showing you did your job more important than actually doing it. Now extensively revised, it articulates a postmodern theory of public administration that challenges the field to redirect its attention away from narrow, technique-oriented scientism, and toward democratic openness and ethics. The authors incorporate insights from thinkers like Rorty, Giddens, Derrida, and Foucault to recast public administration as an arena of decentered practices. In their framework, ideographic collisions and everyday impasses bring about political events that challenge the status quo, creating possibilities for social change. "Postmodern Public Administration" is an outstanding intellectual achievement that has rewritten the political theory of public administration. This new edition will encourage everyone who reads it to think quite differently about democratic governance.

In this book Fox and Miller define public administration theory and public management doctrine as an orthodoxy that is intellectually bankrupt and democratically unacceptable. Constitutionalism and communitarianism get similar treatment. Next, the authors construct a new theoretical position defined as constructivism and based on critical theory, phenomenology and structuration theory.

Postmodern Public Policy introduces new ways of investigating the urgent difficulties confronting the public sector. The second half of the twentieth century saw approaches to public administration, public policy, and public management dominated by technical-instrumental thought that aspired to neutrality, objectivity, and managerialism. This form of social science has contributed to a public sector where policy debates have been reduced to "bumper-sticker" slogans, a citizenry largely alienated and distant from government, and analysis that ignores history and context and eschews the lived experiences of actual people. Hugh T. Miller brings together the latest thinking from epistemology, evolutionary theory, and discourse theory in an accessible and useful manner to emphasize how a postmodern approach offers the possibility of well-considered, pragmatic solutions grounded in political pluralism and social interaction between public service professionals and community members.

Public Administration: Unraveling the Dynamics of Governance Unlock the intricacies of governmental management with "Public Administration," a crucial volume in the Political Science series that delves into public sector governance. This guide explores policy execution, bureaucracy, and contemporary challenges in public administration. Why Explore Public Administration? Understanding public administration is key to grasping how governments function and implement policies. This book equips readers with essential insights into the workings of public administration, examining its theories, practices, and evolving trends. What Will You Discover? 1. Foundational Insights: Core principles, historical development, and theoretical frameworks of public administration. 2. Practical Applications: Real-world implications through case studies and practical examples. 3. Current Trends and Innovations: Contemporary issues like New Public Management and global changes in public governance. Highlights: 1. Public Administration: Overview of the field's scope, objectives, and significance. 2. Political Science: Contextualizes public administration within political science. 3. Outline of Academic Disciplines: Relationship between public administration and other disciplines. 4. Governance: Models and theories of governance and their impact on public administration. 5. New Public Management: Reform movement aimed at improving public service efficiency. 6. Public Administration Theory: Key theories and frameworks shaping the field. 7. Bureaucracy: Role and evolution in public administration. 8. New Public Administration: Shift towards participatory and responsive public administration. 9. Index of Politics Articles: Comprehensive index for key topics and concepts. 10. University of Maryland School of Public Policy: Leading institution in public administration education. 11. Wolfgang Drechsler: Contributions of this influential scholar. 12. Dwight Waldo: Impact on public administration theory and practice. 13. Public Policy School: Insights into public policy education and research institutions. 14. Anthony Cheung: Work and influence of this public administration expert. 15. Aseem Prakash: Contributions to global public administration issues. 16. Patricia M. Shields: Work on public administration and theoretical implications. 17. Balsillie School of International Affairs: Approach to public administration in an international context. 18. Willy Brandt School of Public Policy: Unique contributions to public policy and administration. 19. Alfred Diamant: Contributions to the field. 20. Walter Kickert: Impact on public administration research and practice. 21. Michael W. Bauer: Insights into modern public administration. This book is an invaluable resource for students, professionals, and anyone keen to understand the complexities of public administration. With its in-depth analysis and practical insights, "Public Administration" is more than just a book—it's an essential tool for navigating the dynamic world of governance.

While many introductory public administration textbooks contain a dedicated chapter on ethics, The Public Administration Profession is the first to utilize ethics as a lens for understanding the discipline. Analyses of the ASPA Code of Ethics are deftly woven into each chapter alongside complete coverage of the institutions, processes, concepts, persons, history, and typologies a student needs to gain a thorough grasp of public service as a field of study and practice. Features include: A significant focus on "public interests," nonprofit management, hybrid-private organizations, contracting out and collaborations, and public service at state and local levels. A careful examination of the role that religion may play in public servants’ decision making, as well as the unignorable and growing role that faith-based organizations play in public administration and nonprofit management at large. End-of-chapter ethics case studies, key concepts and persons, and dedicated "local community action steps" in each chapter. Appendices dedicated to future public administration and nonprofit career management, writing successful papers throughout a student’s career, and professional codes of ethics. A comprehensive suite of online supplements, including: lecture slides; quizzes and sample examinations for undergraduate and graduate courses containing multiple choice, true-false, identifications, and essay questions; chapter outlines with suggestions for classroom discussion; and suggestions for use of appendices, e.g., how to successfully write a short term paper, a brief policy memo, resume, or a book review. Providing students with a comprehensive introduction to the subject while offering instructors an elegant new way to bring ethics prominently into the curriculum, The Public Administration Profession is an ideal introductory text for public administration and public affairs courses at the undergraduate or graduate level.

The public sector continues to play a strategic role across the world and in the last thirty years there have been major shifts in approaches to its management. This text identifies the trends in public management and the effects these have had, as well as providing a broad overview to each topic.

Citizenship and Management in Public Administration is an exciting journey into the nexus between two separate but close worlds: citizenship orientations and citizenship behavior as reflected in political science theory on one hand, and organizational sciences, work studies, management, and public administration on the other. The authors have combined theoretical thinking with empirical findings to support their theories, and the data presented has been collected over almost a decade of field studies and surveys of public organizations. Dealing with the nature and meaning of citizenship, this book looks at behavior and involvement in modern public worksites. The interdisciplinary studies are all concerned with achieving better integration of the theories and ideas on citizenship and bureaucracies, which are more frequently treated as independent domains in the social sciences. However, the authors suggest that they are closely related and should be analyzed in relation to one another. This unique book will appeal to academics of management and organizational behavior, public administration and those involved in researching the not-for-profit, or third, sector.

Building on the success of the previous two editions, this book provides students with an exemplary overview of the theory and practice of public policy implementation and how it relates to contemporary public management. In doing so, this new edition makes use of more illustrative examples, delves further into researching implementation and explores issues about the relationship between policy formulation and implementation in greater depth. Written for an international audience, this is essential reading for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students studying or conducting research in public policy, social policy, public management, public administration and governance.