This is primarily a textbook for senior and postgraduate students of Public Administration. It covers the nature, ethics, discipline, and methodology of public administration, and as such is a source book for all practitioners of public administration in the civil service.

Throughout its history, public administration has used a number of different perspectives for analyzing the discipline's theory and practice, and both mainstream and alternative lenses have produced valuable insights and prescriptions. At the same time, an individual way of looking at PA can be misleading. Alone, a solitary lens can miss critical aspects and often gives only part of the picture. Public Administration in Perspective has been specifically crafted to give new life to public administration theory and practice by helping readers view the discipline through a variety of perspectives. Designed for the capstone course in public administration programs, as well as a fresh approach for courses in PA theory and organizational theory, this unique book provides a culminating experience--bringing together what has been learned in previous MPA courses without simply rehashing old content. It offers a comprehensive guide to eleven major approaches to PA, and synthesizes them to deepen our understanding of the discipline. Each chapter in Part I describes the key features of the selected perspective--history, content, and proponents--and discusses the strengths and weaknesses related to PA theory and practice. Part II synthesizes the various perpectives, with specific implications for PA management and practice. Part III concludes with a complete overview, identifying ways in which readers can think more creatively and productively about PA, putting the perspectives themselves into perspective.

The Reflective Administrator takes the well-grounded theories of reflective thought out of the classroom setting and delivers them into the public sector workplace. The intentional practice of reflection is useful not only with regard to experiential learning in public administration education but also within the profession itself. The text dispels misconceptions about what reflective practice entails and offers the reader practical tools to implement in both the classroom and professional environments. The book begins by walking the reader through a foundational overview of reflective thought theory, cultivates understanding of reflection in practice, then closes the loop by helping the reader to conceptualize the ideas presented and offering applicable takeaways for both students and practitioners. Chapters utilize real-world case studies which detail work environment interactions, planning, and outcomes. These provide opportunities to examine and dissect individual and group dynamics using a reflective practice lens. The Reflective Administrator offers a fresh perspective on the utility of reflective thought in public service for professional growth and leadership development, and it will be a key resource for students as well as public administration practitioners.

The world of public management is changing dramatically, fueled by technological innovations such as the Internet, globalism that permits us to outsource functions anywhere in the world, new ideas from network theory, and more. Public managers no longer are unitary leaders of unitary organizations - instead, they often find themselves convening, negotiating, mediating, and collaborating across borders."Big Ideas in Collaborative Public Management" brings together a rich variety of big picture perspectives on collaborative public management. The chapters are all original and written by distinguished experts. Designed for practical application, they range from examinations of under what conditions collaborative public management occurs to what it means to be a collaborative leader.The contributors address tough issues such as legitimacy building in networks, and discuss ways to engage citizens in collaboration. They examine the design of collaborative networks and the outcomes of collaboration. Detailed introductory and concluding chapters by the editors summarize and critique the chapters, and frame them as a reflection of the state of collaborative public management today.

This ground-breaking Handbook on Gender and Public Administration brings together a rapidly growing new field of study, exploring the emerging contexts of gender and public administration. Capturing the many facets of this dynamic trend, the book explores gender equity and further examines masculinity, intersectionality and beyond binary conceptions of gender.

Hailed for its timelessness and timeliness, Public Administration in Theory and Practice examines public administration from a normative perspective, and provides students with an understanding of the practice of public administration. Combining historical, contextual and theoretical perspectives, this text give students a truly comprehensive overview of the discipline and focuses on the practical implications of public administration theory. Features Normative perspective focuses on the practice of public administration and helps students understand what public administrators do. Historical, contextual and theoretical perspectives provide comprehensive coverage of the subject matter. A thematic overview reinforces the multiple conceptual frameworks or lens through which we see public administration. Students will learn to think through to practical and realistic solutions that acknowledge an historic precedence and theory. Emphasis on performance measures and assessments

This comprehensive textbook explores the policy process from a multitude of perspectives, including rationalism, culturalism, institutionalism and from a political point of view. This allows students to discover key concepts from the policy science literature and gain a deeper understanding of how public policy is discussed academically and shaped empirically.