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Everyone who aspires to more effective public service should read this book. It provides a compelling antidote to the managerial focus of theory and practice in public administration. Written with the aim of inspiring and rekindling a mission for public service, Transformational Public Service weaves together theory and stories from actual practice to show that public service can (and does) advance the goals of democracy, inclusiveness, and social and economic justice. Eight practitioners from government and non-governmental organizations at all levels - from the street to the executive office - tell their personal stories of transformational public service. Theory, poetry, and popular cultu...
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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.
As in earlier editions, the book is organized around a set of seven core principles: (1) serve citizens, not customers; (2) seek the public interest; (3) value citizenship and public service above entrepreneurship; (4) think strategically, act democratically; (5) recognize that accountability isn't simple; (6) serve, rather than steer; (7) value people, not just productivity. The book asks us to think carefully and critically about what public service is, why it is important, and what values ought to guide what we do and how we do it.
In addition to addressing the basics, American Public Administration: Public Service for the 21st Century stands out from other books in the market by offering a broader context in which to understand public administration and by devoting comprehensive coverage to current topics and trends, many of which are given chapter-length treatment (e.g., civil society, privatization, management information systems, and ethics). The most recent and compelling research is woven throughout every chapter to give students a useful, in-depth understanding of the field today. Real-world case studies and vignettes, helpful chapter pedagogy, an abundance of charts and graphs, and numerous Web listings help students learn and engage them in the text.
Studies how state-level public executives and managers in Tennessee decide and implement policy.
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 fo...
ïProfessor Kostera is a consummate writer whose studies stand out for originality of approach. Her contribution to our knowledge of the inner mechanisms and wider effects of organizations is impossible to over-value: indeed without KosteraÍs input, our knowledge of organizations, the successive reincarnations and strategy changes would be so much poorer. The book is pursued with exquisite consistency and sense of purpose. It is presented in all its enormous cognitive potential and exceptional analytical utility. A study of great value to both students and practitioners of organization.Í _ Zygmunt Bauman, University of Leeds, UK This book reflects on organizations through archetypical tale...
This book talks about the relationships amongst and between citizens and their governments, the possibilities of governing differently in ways that don't oppress, marginalize, or limit people, and about bringing different sensibilities to the practices of administration in US.