Public Administration And Democratic Governance

Strengthening trust, accountability, and participation in government are essential to serving the needs of citizens. This volume brings together concepts and ideas from around the world on how to achieve more responsive and accountable public administration within the framework of democratic governance. Public officials and administrators are provided with conceptual and policy tools to help them understand today's complex challenges, and to pursue ideas that are most likely to enhance service delivery from the citizen's perspective. The publication is one of the analytical products emerging from the Global Forum on Reinventing Government.

A timely new perspective on the impact of populism on the relationship between democracy and public administration.

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.

Those who implement policies have the discretion to shape democratic values. Public administration is not policy administered, but democracy administered.

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.

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.

The Westminster-stylized model of Parliamentary democratic governance is out of step with today’s digitally and socially networked world. The resulting context for public sector governance brings both promise and peril – with profound consequences for public servants, elected officials, and citizens alike. This book presents a timely and thorough examination of the main sources of tension between the political and administrative foundations of the traditional state apparatus, commonly referred to as ‘machinery’, and newly emerging alternative governance mindsets and mechanisms driven by the advent of ‘mobility’. Consistent with the emergence of Government 2.0, some of the critical technological and organizational dimensions of mobility include openness, cloud computing, privacy and security, and social media. Furthermore, a more informed, educated, and connected citizenry creates new pressures and opportunities for public engagement, particularly online. Blending conceptual and empirical perspectives from Canada and many other jurisdictions around the world, this book aims to provide scholars, students, and practitioners of democratic and public sector governance with fresh insight into both the prospects for reform and the critical choices that lie ahead for governments and citizens in an increasingly mobile and participative age.

Written by two of the leading scholars in the field, this book explores public administration in the past, present and future, critically reviewing the modernization of public management reform. It reasserts public administration as an integral component of democratic governance and fostering a state-citizen relationship. Wide-ranging in scope, The Next Public Administration: Extends basic public administration to consider issues associated with management, governance and democracy Covers core public administration concepts and their evolution through time Draws on an international spread of examples, bringing theoretical discussions to life Includes lists of further reading Essential reading for students of public management and public administration.

A Brookings Institution Press and Visions of Governance for the 21st Century publication Advances in information technology are transforming democratic governance. Power over information has become decentralized, fostering new types of community and different roles for government. This volume—developed by the Visions of Governance in the 21st Century program at the Kennedy School of Government—explores the ways in which the information revolution is changing our institutions of governance. Contributors examine the impact of technology on our basic institutions and processes of governance, including representation, community, politics, bureaucracy, and sovereignty. Their essays illuminate many of the promises and challenges of twenty-first century government. The contributors (all from Harvard unless otherwise indicated) include Joseph S. Nye Jr., Arthur Isak Applbaum, Dennis Thompson, William A. Galston (University of Maryland), L. Jean Camp, Pippa Norris, Anna Greenberg, Elaine Ciulla Kamarck, David C. King, Jane Fountain, Jerry Mechling, and Robert O. Keohane (Duke University).