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Bureaucracies have been criticized from various perspectives and blamed for a variety of failings. Critics have claimed that bureaucracies are too focused on conforming to rules rather than achieving an organization's core mission. Bureaucracies are said to oppress human freedom because of their orientation toward hierarchical control. Bureaucratic organizations are also said to be unable to deal effectively with public problems that span multiple administrative jurisdictions; they do not reach beyond their own organizational boundaries. This book provides solid data on how bureaucracies can expedite information processing and reduce organizational conflicts. Jay Eungha Ryu finds that the fu...
Means, Motives, and Opportunities illuminates how states spend public money through the lens of governmental structure, executive power, and interest group competition. Christian Breunig and Chris Koski argue that policymaking is a function of not only policymakers' means (powers), but of their motives (issues) and opportunities (interest group competition) for change. Using over twenty-five years of data across all fifty US states, four in-depth case studies, and multiple examples of budget battles, the book describes a budget-making environment in which governors must balance the preferences of interest groups with their own, all while attempting to build a budget that roughly balances. While governors are uniquely powerful, the range of changes they can make is largely impacted by interest group competition. By showing how means, motives, and opportunities matter, the book shows how spending decisions at the state level influence nearly every aspect of American life.
This primer succinctly summarises key theoretical concepts in fiscal choice for both practitioners and scholars. The author contends that fiscal choice is ultimately a choice of both politics and economics. The book first introduces budget institutions and processes at various levels of government, which restrict budget decision makers' discretion. It also explains budget decision makers' efforts to make rational resource allocations. It then shows how and why such efforts are stymied by the decision makers' capacity and institutional settings. The book's unique benefit is its emphasis on all the essential topics, with short, module-type chapters which can be read in any order.
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.
Updated in its 12th edition, Public Administration and Public Affairs shows readers how to govern efficiently, effectively, and responsibly in an age of political corruption and crises in public finance. With a continuing and corroding crisis occurring, as well as greater governance by nonprofit organizations and private contractors, it is vital that readers are given the skills and tools to lead in such an environment. Using easy-to-understand metaphors and an accessible writing style, Public Administration and Public Affairs shows its readers how to govern better, preparing them for a career in public administration.
Contract management is a critical skill for all contemporary public managers. As more government duties are contracted out, managers must learn to coordinate and measure the performance of private contractors, and to write contract requirements and elicit bids that obtain important services and products at the best possible price and quality. They must also learn to work in teams that include both public and private sector partners. The Responsible Contract Manager delves into the issues of how to ensure that the work done by private sector contractors serves the public interest and argues for the necessity of making these organizations act as extensions of the public sector while maintainin...
Public managers not only have to function as leaders within their agencies, they must also establish and coordinate multi-organizational networks of other public agencies, private contractors, and the public. This book addresses the issues that affect government managers worldwide.
Public administration has evolved into an extraordinarily complex form of governance employing traditional bureaucracy, quasi-government public organizations, and collaborative networks of nongovernmental organizations. Analyzing and improving government performance—a matter of increasing concern to citizens, elected officials, and managers of the organizations themselves—has in turn become a much more fraught undertaking. Understanding the new complexities calls for new research approaches. The Art of Governance presents a fresh palette of research based on a new framework of governance that was first developed by coeditor Laurence E. Lynn, Jr., with Carolyn J. Heinrich, and Carolyn J. ...
Essentials of Public Service is the most accessible, student-friendly introductory Public Administration text on the market. The book prepares students for careers in today’s public service, whether in government or nonprofits. Each chapter teaches the public service context, essential public service skills, and what it takes to do the job, whether managing or providing direct service.
In the third edition of his award-winning book, Hal G. Rainey provides a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of research on public organizations and management. Drawing on a review of the most current research about government organizations and managers— and about effective and ineffective practices in government— this important resource offers specific suggestions for managing these challenges in today's public organizations. Using illustrative, real-life vignettes and examples, the book provides expert analysis of organizational design, goals, power, effectiveness, leadership, motivation and work attitudes, decisionmaking, and more.