Are public servants self-interested, or motivated by a sense of duty and commitment far above what we would expect given their often modest compensation and frequent public criticism? This book looks at research on this and related questions in assessing the current state of our scientific knowledge.

Public service values are too rarely discussed in public administration courses and scholarship, despite recent research demonstrating the importance of these values in the daily decision making processes of public service professionals. A discussion of these very tenets and their relevance to core public functions, as well as which areas might elicit value conflicts for public professionals, is central to any comprehensive understanding of budget and finance, human resource management, and strategic planning in the public sector. Public Service Values is written specifically for graduate and undergraduate courses in public administration, wherever a discussion of public service ideals might enrich the learning experience and offer students a better understanding of daily practice. Exploring the meaning and application of specific values, such as Neutrality, Efficiency, Accountability, Public Service, and Public Interest, provides students and future professionals with a ‘workplace toolkit’ for the ethical delivery of public services. Well-grounded in scholarly literature and with a relentless focus on the public service professional, Public Service Values highlights the importance of values in professional life and encourages a more self-aware and reflective public practice. Case studies to stimulate reflection are interwoven throughout the book and application to practice is cemented in a final section devoted to value themes in professional life as well as a chapter dedicated to holding oneself accountable. The result is a book that challenges us to embrace the necessity of public service values in our public affairs curricula and that asks the important questions current public service professionals should make a habit of routinely applying in their daily decision making.

This revised edition, like the original, concerns the problems of harmonizing effective governmental administration with the requirements of a democracy. It features a new chapter on the impact of management and theories of management upon public personnel administration, including discussion of the Model Public Personnel Law of 1940, the Watergate scandals and President Carter's personnel reforms of 1978

Why Public Service Matters conveys the importance, purpose, and nobility of a career as a civil servant in the United States. It does so, however, with an unflinching eye on the realpolitik that drives public administration in America's "compensatory state" and on the pitfalls of reformers' focus on bureaucratic, rather than democratic, administration. The book links the nation's ability to handle contemporary policy problems with the strategic, tactical, and normative quality of public management. In doing so, it offers newcomers a rare, concise, and accessible overview of the field. Readers will gain an appreciation for the challenges, choices, and opportunities facing public managers as they help advance a sense of common purpose informed by democratic constitutional values in twenty-first century America.

Public service professionals government officials, those in the legal system, first responders, and investigators confront ethical issues every day. In an environment where each decision can mean the difference between life and death or freedom and imprisonment, deciding on an ethical course of action can pose challenges to even the most season

A close examination of the ethics of higher civil servants in Britain and how they have been undermined by recent developments in public administration. Barry O'Toole tackles key questions such as: how should public servants behave? how should they be encouraged to think ethically? how should they be motivated to do so? Focusing on the role of public service, public duty and the public interest in the twenty-first century, O’Toole answers these important questions and looks at the emergence of ‘new public management’, the increasingly important role of 'special advisers' and the decline of the public service ethos under New Labour. The Ideal of Public Service explores some of the key contributions to the development of ideas about public service in the context of British central administration and provides a discussion of recent trends in administrative practice in the UK. Combining political theory and an analysis of the history and development of the civil service, this timely book will be of strong interest to those researching British Politics, Governance and Public Policy.

Designed to serve as a basic text for an introductory course in Public Administration, this innovative work provides students with an understanding of the basic management functions that are covered in all standard textbooks with two important differences. First, it is written to address the needs of both the experienced practitioner and the entry-level public servant. Case examples bridge the content-rich environment of practitioners with the basic principles of public administration sought by pre-service students. Second, the discussion of basic management practices is grounded in the political and ethical tensions inherent in the American constitutional form of governance. This reflects the authors' belief that public administration operates as an integral part of the country's political traditions, and thereby helps define the political culture. The book provides a framework for understanding American political traditions and how they inform public administration as a political practice. Key Changes in the Second Edition include: A new introductory chapter that explains what the authors mean by a constitutional approach and why that is important. An expanded discussion of the role of civil society in promoting the common good. A new section in chapter 5 on New Public Governance. Updated exhibits that incorporate up-to-date census data and revenue figures (chapter 10). A new section in chapter 14 that recognises the importance of maintaining accountability in contract and networked systems of governance. Significantly rewritten chapters to add emphasis on the relevance of the chapter material to nonprofit organisations. A significantly revised bibliography which incorporates new bodies of research that have appeared since the first edition.