Synopses & Reviews
Public Administration: Concepts and Cases offers a unique and highly regarded framework in which conceptual readings are paired with contemporary case studies that reflect real-world examples of administrative work, as well as new thinking and developments in the field. Case studies and examples cover topics such as the Columbia space shuttle disaster, the shootings at Columbine High School, the AIDS epidemic, and the war in Iraq--making it easy to engage students in the readings.
Review
"Richard Stillman's case book is a necessity for teaching Public Administration. It is the only adequate text for examining the relationship between theory and practice."
Review
"Public Administration: Concepts and Cases is a wonderful tool for introducing students to the deep intellectual roots of public administration and demonstrating to them the relevance of our theoretical foundations for solving the complex problems that characterize the practice public management."
Review
"The author has done an outstanding job providing fundamental elements of American public administration. The conceptional readings and case studies included are engaging ways to equip students."
Review
"This text appealed to me because of its combined use of concepts and cases. Additionally, the book includes very important classical public administration pieces. It provides a good framework for approaching the field from either a historical perspective or from a practical perspective."
Synopsis
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: CONCEPTS AND CASES offers a unique and highly regarded framework in which conceptual readings are paired with contemporary case studies that reflect real-world examples of administrative work, as well as new thinking and developments in the field. Case studies and examples cover topics such as the Columbia space shuttle disaster, the shootings at Columbine High School, and the war in Iraq--making it easy to engage students in the readings.
About the Author
Richard Stillman is Professor of Public Administration at the Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado at Denver. He taught on the faculties of George Mason University and California State University-Bakersfield and is the author or editor of several books including: The Integration of Negro in the U.S. Armed Forces, The Rise of the City Manger, A Search for Public Administration(with Brack Brown), Professions in Government (with Frederick C. Mosher), _Results-Oriented Budgeting, The American Bureaucracy, The American Constitution and Administrative State, The Effective Local Government Manager(with Wayne Anderson and Chester Newland), Preface to Public Administration, The Modern State and its Study(with Walter Kickert), Creating the American State, and Basic Documents of American Public Administration Since 1950. He is an elected fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration and his textbook, Public Administration: Concepts and Cases, 8th Edition is used at over 400 universities and colleges. His books have been translated into Chinese, Korean, and Hungarian. Dr. Stillman received the William E. and Frederick C. Mosher Award for distinguished scholarship and is currently editor in chief of the Public Administrative Review.
Table of Contents
1. The Search for the Scope and Purpose of Public Administration. Reading 1.1: The Study of Administration (Woodrow Wilson). Reading 1.2: The Study of Public Administration in the United States (Richard J. Stillman II). Case Study 1: The Blast in Centralia No. 5: A Mine Disaster No One Stopped (John Barlow Martin). Part I: THE PATTERN OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN AMERICA: ITS ENVIRONMENT, STRUCTURE, AND PEOPLE. 2. The Formal Structure: The Concept of Bureaucracy. Reading 2: Bureaucracy (Max Weber). Case Study 2: How Kristin Died (George Lardner, Jr.). 3. The General Environment: The Concept of Ecology. Reading 3: The Ecology of Public Administration (John M. Gaus). Case Study 3: William Robertson: Exemplar of Politics and Public Management Rightly Understood (Terry L. Cooper and Thomas A. Bryer). 4. The Political Environment: The Concept of Administrative Power. Reading 4: Power and Administration (Norton E. Long). Case Study 4: The Columbia Accident (Maureen Hogan Casamayou). 5. Intergovernmental Relations (IGR): The Concept of Opportunistic Federalism. Reading 5: From Cooperative to Opportunistic Federalism (Tim Conlan). Case Study 5: Wichita Confronts Contamination (Susan Rosegrant). 6. Internal Dynamics: The Concept of the Informal Group. Reading 6: Hawthorne and the Western Electric Company (Elton Mayo). Case Study 6: American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center (William Langewiesche). 7. Key Decision Makers Inside Public Administration: The Concept of Competing Bureaucratic Subsystems. Reading 7: Inside Public Bureaucracy (Richard J. Stillman II). Case Study 7: The Decision to Go to War with Iraq (James P. Pfiffner). Part II: THE MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS: THEIR MAJOR ACTIVITIES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND ROLES. 8. Decision Making: The Concept of Incremental Choice. Reading 8: The Science of "Muddling Through" (Charles E. Lindblom). Case Study 8: How A City Slowly Drowned (Michael Grunwald and Susan B. Glasser). 9. Administrative Communications: The Concept of Its Professional Centrality. Reading 9: Administrative Communication (Or How to Make All the Rest Work): The Concept of Its Professional Centrality (James L. Garnett). Case Study 9: The Shootings at Columbine High School: The Law Enforcement Response (Susan Rosegrant). 10. Executive Management: The Concept of Collaborative Management Reading 10: Collaborative Processes: Inside the Black Box (Anne Marie Thomson and James L. Perry). Case Study 10: Government as a Catalyst: Can It Work Again with Wireless Internet Access (Abhijit Jain, Munir Mandviwalla, and Rajiv D. Banker). 11. Public Personnel Motivation: The Concept of the Public Service Culture. Reading 11: The Public Service Culture (Lois Recascino Wise). Case Study 11: Who Brought Bernadine Healy Down? (Deborah Sontag). 12. Public Budgeting: The Concept of Budgeting as Political Choice. Reading 12: The Politics of Public Budgets (Irene S. Rubin). Case Study 12: Death of a Spy Satelitte Program (Philip Taubman). 13. Administration Reorganization: The Concept of the Four Tides of Reform. Reading 13: The Tides of Reform Revisited: Patterns in Making Government Work (Paul C. Light). Case Study 13: Expectations (Katherine Boo). Part III. ENDURING AND UNRESOLVED RELATIONSHIPS: CENTRAL VALUE QUESTIONS, ISSUES, AND DILEMMAS OF CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION. 14. The Relationship Between Politics and Administration: The Concept of Issue Networks. Reading 14: Issues Networks and the Executive Establishment (Hugh Heclo). Case Study 14: Reinventing School Lunch: Transforming a Food Policy into a Nutrition Policy (Laura S. Sims). 15. The Relationship Between Bureaucracy and the Public Interest: The Concept of Administrative Responsibility. Reading 15: Public Policy and the Nature of Administrative Responsibility (Carl J. Friedrich). Case Study 15: Torture as Public Policy (James P. Pfiffner). 16. The Relationship Between Ethics and Public Administration: The Concept of Competing Ethical Obligations. Reading 16: Public Administration and Ethics: A Prologue to a Preface (Dwight Waldo). Case Study 16: George Tenet and the Last Great Days of the CIA (Richard D.White).