Course Description
Perennial and emerging research issues, perspectives, and controversies in the field of public administration.
Athena Title
Ideas/Issues in PA
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course is designed to explore significant developments and themes in the theory of public administration, especially American public administration. The seminar builds on more basic courses in public administration and is intended to assist students in preparation for doctoral preliminary examinations; it is assumed that enrolled students will have completed the basic courses. Major foci in this seminar include the historical development of public administration as a body of thought and as a theory of politics; the enduring theme of public administration and democracy; various possible unifying themes, theories, and criteria; and, prospects for the future. The course is aimed at encouraging advanced students to refine their abilities to identify, analyze, interpret, critique, evaluate, and contribute to the literature and intellectual developments of this field of scholarship, as well as to place current and emerging trends in a broader context.
Topical Outline
I. Introduction to the course II. Historical influence I: A stateless legacy? III. Historical influence II: public administration and democracy IV. The efficiency criterion and administrative science V. A Wilsonian civil service: Representativeness and professionalism VI. Public organization and public management VII. "Refounding" and Constitutional legitimacy VIII. Public choice and political economy IX. The new public administration: Social equity and related themes X. The present and future of public administration
Syllabus
Public CV