Public Administration and Public Affairs (12e)

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 students 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.

Learning Goals

•        Explain how to establish an effective government in the face of increasing challenges.
•        Apply the necessary skills and tools to lead in a changing political environment.

Part I: In Defense of Governing Well
Chapter 1: Big Democracy, Big Bureaucracy
Chapter 2 Paradigms of Public Administration
 
Part II: Public and Nonprofit Organizations 
Chapter 3 The Threads of Organization: Theories 
Chapter 4 The Fabric of Organizations: Forces
Chapter 5 The Fibres of Organizations: People 
 
Part III: Public Management: Curbing Corruption, Enhancing Efficiency
Chapter 6 Clarifying Complexity: The Public’s Information Resource
Chapter 7 The Constant Quest: Efficient and Effective Governance
Chapter 8 The Public Trough: Financing and Budgeting Governments
Chapter 9 Managing Human Capital in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors

Part IV: Implementing Public Policy 
Chapter 10 Understanding and Improving Public Policy
Chapter 11 Intersectoral Administration
Chapter 12 Intergovernmental Administration
Chapter 13 Toward a Bureaucratic Ethic

Appendix: Becoming a Public or Nonprofit Administrator

• ¿extensively updated material, ranging from the technical to the theoretical issues of public administration and public affairs.¿
• New analysis of incivility and bullying in the public workplace, particularly between National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and the huge, and likely dysfunctional, explosion of intelligence agencies following 9/11. (ex. p. 65)
• explores¿prevalent terms from current dialogues on public administration, such as “Dysrationalic” decision making, “thinking dispositions,” “Guerrilla government” “Normal accidents” in public management, and “Green tape”. (ex. p. 83)
• addresses the controversies and conflicts surrounding recent unpredictable trends in public finance by asking important questions (ex. Ch. 8)
• completely overhauled to include the most recent and relevant issues and events needed to effectively teach students the fundamentals of public administration and public affairs.

• Coverage of the greatest challenges surrounding public administration today, namely political corruption, greater governance by nonprofit organizations and private contractors, and crises in public finance on federal, state, and local levels.¿ Examples include, the BP oil spill, Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, and the 2011 debt ceiling crisis. (ex. p. 1)
• Easy and accessible metaphors and explanations that allow students to grasp difficult concepts, such as the evolution of intergovernmental relations in terms of different types of cakes. (ex. Ch. 12)
• Revised and expanded discussions give students a look at the opportunities and the limitations in the field and allow instructors to approach the subject matter in a more meaningful and realistic manner.
• Boxes and figures highlight new features and content, and illustrate all of the major models of policymaking.¿¿¿(ex. Ch. 10)
• Revised and comprehensive appendices and reference materials, including a comprehensive guide on how to get a job in the public and nonprofit sectors and the Code of Ethics of the American Society for Public Administration. (ex. p. 463)
• Discussions that address the expansion of organizational ethics and accountability, humanism, and ethics of public bureaucracies in governments and public administration. (ex. Ch. 13)
• Coverage of the intellectual evolution of public administration that shows students where the field has been in terms of its definition while pointing them toward the future of public administration. (ex. Ch. 2)