Public Administration in Theory and Practice / Edition 3

by Raymond W Cox III, Susan Buck, Betty Morgan

Overview

Hailed for its timelessness and timeliness, Public Administration in Theory and Practice examines public administration from a normative perspective and provides students with an understanding of the practice of public administration. Combining historical, contextual, and theoretical perspectives, this text give students a truly comprehensive overview of the discipline and focuses on the practical implications of public administration theory. This substantially revised third edition features:

• Increased emphasis on and expanded coverage of management skills, practices, and approaches, including an all-new "Managerial Toolkit" section comprising several new chapters on important topics like transboundary interactions, cultural competencies, citizen engagement, and leadership and decision-making.
• Expanded part introductions to provide a thematic overview for students, reinforce the multiple conceptual frameworks or lenses through which public administration may be viewed, and provide guidance on the learning outcomes the reader may anticipate.
• Still deeper examination of the connections between historic theoretical perspectives and current practices, to help students think through practical and realistic solutions to problems that acknowledge historic precedence and theory, yet also leave room for creative new ways of thinking. This expanded analysis also offers a forum for comparative perspectives, particularly how these practices have emerged in other countries.
• PowerPoint slides, Discussion Questions (with a focus on practice), Learning Outcomes, and "Things to Ponder" at the end of each chapter that may be used as lecture topics or essay examination questions.

Public Administration in Theory and Practice, third edition is an ideal introduction to the art and science of public administration for American MPA students, and serves as essential secondary reading for upper-level undergraduate students seeking a fair and balanced understanding of public management.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138544390
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/12/2019
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Raymond W. Cox III is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Public Administration and Urban Studies at the University of Akron.

Table of Contents

Preface to Third Edition vii

Introduction and Overview 1

Part I Theoretical Foundations 7

Chapter 1 Normative Foundations of Public Administration 9

Chapter 2 Ethical Foundations 28

Part II Organizational Functions and Competencies 49

Chapter 3 Personnel Practices 53

Chapter 4 Budgeting Practices 97

Chapter 5 Administrative Law 124

Chapter 6 Policy Analysis 139

Chapter 7 Program Evaluation 154

Chapter 8 Organizational Dynamics and Change 174

Part III The Managerial Toolkit 200

Chapter 9 Transboundary Interactions 203

Chapter 10 Cultural Competence 216

Chapter 11 Citizen Engagement 234

Chapter 12 Strategic Management 245

Chapter 13 Leadership and Decision-Making 261

Part IV Outside Looking In 277

Chapter 14 Bureaucracy, the Rule of Law, and Representative Democracy 279

Chapter 15 Administration in a Global Perspective 294

Chapter 16 Concluding Thoughts 321

Suggested Readings 334

Index 343

Editorial Reviews

This book offers a succinct and clear roadmap to the field of public administration’s holy grail: enlightened praxis for public managers. That is, it presents how social-scientific theory can inform occupational practice in the setting of public organizations. It does this by focusing on the theoretical underpinnings of a set of approaches or tools for solving the common problems faced by public administrators in their day-to-day administrative routines. Among others, these problems include ethical challenges, the difficulties of intra and inter-organizational collaboration, making plans and carrying them out, and determining direction and change.

– Bruce J. Perlman, University of New Mexico, USA

The book seamlessly weaves together the normative and practical approaches to understanding public administration. It is a highly informative book that provides an in-depth understanding of the field for graduate and undergraduate students.

– Sucheta Pyakuryal, University of North Florida, USA

This edition continues the standard of excellence of prior editions via its analysis of public administration, public management, and public policy and links to modern-day political and economic challenges. A strength of the book is the admirable way in which its chapters easily facilitate classroom learning, debates, critical analysis, and comparative considerations."

– Kim Moloney, Murdoch University, Australia

From the Publisher