The American political system is undergoing a serious governmental crisis--our political leaders know only how to campaign, not how to gain consensus on goals or direct a course that is for the good of the nation. Continuing research that began over a decade ago with Gary L. Wamsley′s Refounding Public Administration, this informative new volume continues the argument that public administration is at the center of the governance process and is therefore forced to compensate for the growing inadequacy of our leaders. Refounding Democratic Public Administration offers a revisualization of the relationship between public servants and the citizens they serve, as well as a continuing discourse on how public administration can constructively balance forces of change and stability in order for democracy to evolve and mature. This eye-opening volume will be required reading for students and professionals in public administration, political science, and management/organization studies.

Refounding Public Administration redefines the legitimate role of the public administrator and creates a normative theory of the development of American public administration. It is an extension of the Blacksburg Manifesto which was the result of the Blacksburg Conference and as such will produce considerable academic dialogue and controversy.

The true measure of the successful practice of public service is its ability to remain faithful to the tenets of democratic society. This introductory text links the practice of public administration to the core concepts of American democracy. It covers the nuts and bolts of public administration in the context of "delivering democracy" in public service - providing what the public really wants as opposed to what self-serving bureaucracies may call for. Chapters in "Democracy and Public Administration" discuss the functional topics covered in other texts, but from the perspective of this democratic ideal. Each chapter is written by an expert in the area, and summarizes previous research in the area, presents the author's research and thought, and offers ways in which practitioners can apply the concepts discussed to their daily work.

For instructors who want to expose their students to the social, political, and historical context of the practice of public administration, this book provides a unique approach to the introductory PA course. The author's own text is skilfully interwoven with a collection of seminal readings and documents that illuminate the key issues of past and present for public service professionals in a democratic society. More than an overview of public administration, Public Administration and Society offers students a broad perspective on the American Founding Era, the relationship of citizens to government, and how the structure of government reflects societal values. The premise of the book is that understanding the societal context is important to the success of the practitioner and to the practitioner's role as a responsible agent of change in a democratic society. Introductory essays and readings offer students perspectives on five important thematic areas in public administration: the Founding-Era debate over the size and scope of government, the relationship of the community to the individual, public organizations and policy making, values and public administration, and the role of the public service practitioner in a democratic society. This new edition of features five new readings, and, based on input from adopters, an entirely new section on public policy making (Part IV: Public Organizations and Policy). The author's part-opening sections have all been extensively revised and updated.

Contemporary public policy challenges are increasingly called “wicked problems,” or problems that cannot be solved by one sector or one agency of government alone. Solutions to wicked problems often further require the recognition and acceptance of tradeoffs or drawbacks, which might include a cost or sacrifice for the whole of society or a subsection of society. Based on the premise that government of, by, and for the people is not sufficient to rise to and meet wicked public policy problems, this volume provides strategies and ideas for public administration educators across diverse environments, as well as undergraduate and graduate education, to include and integrate the principles of “with the people” in public administration education and practice. This book explores the ways that notions of governing with citizens can be integrated into courses that focus on public administration and policy. It invites instructors to think about what it means to be educators within higher education institutions in a democratic society, championing deliberation and engagement as a way to prepare students for professional roles in their communities. Each chapter is written by a contributor who has road-tested the inclusion of democratic ideals and principles in their own classrooms, and each chapter therefore provides blueprints, curriculum plans, and lesson plans for the integration of democratic principles in public administration education and practice. Teaching Democratic Ideals to Public Affairs Students is essential reading for faculty in public administration, public policy, and political science departments, and it will also be a useful guidebook for practicing public administrators, as well as those who provide training to practicing administrators and leaders.

This widely-praised book is built around seven core principles that provide a framework for the many voices calling for the reaffirmation of democratic values,citizenship, and service in the public interest. This edition includes a brand new chapter that provides action recommendations for putting these values into practice, as well as current examples of how these ideas have been put to use in the real world.

After a quarter of a century of implementation of New Public Management (NPM) reform strategies, this book assesses the major real outcomes of these reforms on states and public sectors, at both the organisational level and a more political level. Unlike most previous accounts of reform, this book looks at how reform has changed the role of the public administration in democratic governance. Featuring case studies on the UK, Germany, France, Norway, Ireland, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Post communist states, Mexico, South Korea, Turkey and the European Commission, and focusing on two issues this book: Examines the significant variations in the "trajectories" of administrative reform among West European countries on the basis of empirically rooted research on different national case studies. Assesses the extent to which these "constitutive" public policies have affected the institutions of government and the governing processes of our democratic occidental states and ask how have NPM-inspired programs, with their exclusive focus on managerialist objectives and instruments, challenged the political and democratic nature of public administration? Looking at the broader issues relating to the current recompositions of democratic states, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of all matters relating to public administration and governance within political science, management, public law, sociology, contemporary history, and cultural studies.