商品簡介
There are many ways of looking at public administration thinking and practice. Throughout its history, the PA discipline has used a number of different perspectives, and both mainstream and alternative lenses have produced valuable insights and prescriptions. At the same time, any one way of looking at public administration can be misleading. A solitary lens can miss critical aspects and can reveal only part of the picture.
Looking at public administration through a variety of perspectives, taken together and synthesized, deepens our understanding of the discipline. A substantial variety of lenses, analyzed together, can give new life to public administration theory and practice. That is the unique contribution of Public Administration in Perspective: Theory and Practice Through Multiple Lenses.
Part I of the book exmines PA thinking and practice from a variety of lenses and offers a comprehensive guide to students on the major approaches to theory and practice in the discipline.
Each chapter in Part I describes the key features of the selected perspective---history, content, and proponents---and discusses the strengths and weaknesses related to PA theory and practice.
Part II synthesizes the various perspectives, with specific implications for PA management and practice. Part III concludes with a complete overview, identifying ways in which the readers can think much more creatively and productively about PA, putting the multiple perspectives themselves into perspective.
作者簡介
David John Farmer is professor of government and public affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to entering academia, he served as Director of Operations Management for the NYPD and as a division director for the U.S. Department of Justice. His extensive publications include The Language of Public Administration and To Kill the King: Post-Traditional Governance and Bureaucracy (M.E. Sharpe, 2005). He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of London.
