Description
Book SynopsisIn this field-defining, broad approach to the study and practice of public administration, H. George Frederickson, one of the field's most respected scolars, carefully measures the meets and bounds of public administration and fixes its place in the context of changing politics, values, and ethics. He describes a robust and exciting public administration that includes, but is much more than, effective government management. The Spirit of Public Administration defines an ethic for the field that illustrates: * What the differences are between public administration and government administration, and how these differences redefine the field * How to practice ethical and energetic public administration in the context of contemporary politics * Why fairness and benevolence are as important as efficiency and economy * What implications are evident in the transition from government to governance Frederickson strongly defAnds broad grants of discretion to public administrators and then lays ou
Trade Review"George Frederickson's principled discourse on the study and practice of public administration reflects the wisdom of broad experience and an overarching intellect. This book is an indispensable antidote to contemporary pleas that we narrow our sense of what governance is all about." --Laurence E. Lynn, Jr., professor, Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago
"George Frederickson has served as a leading scholar on social equity in public administration, public service ethics, and related topics in this book. By bringing together his insights on these topics, this book provides a very valuable resource for the field." --Hal G. Rainey, professor, Department of Political Science, University of Georgia
"This book, by one of the field's masters, explores the very heart and soul of public administration. Its conclusions sketch a fresh, new approach, grounded in public interest, that the field greatly needs to rediscover." --Donald F. Kettl, professor, Robert M. La Follette Institute of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Understanding Public Administration
Part One: Governance, Politics, and the Public 1. Finding the Public in Public Administration
2. The Political Context of Public Administration
3. Public Administration as Governance
Part Two: Issues of Fairness 4. The Question of Administrative Discretion
5. Fairness and Social Equity in Public Administration
6. Intergenerational Concepts of Public Administration
Part Three: Ethics, Citizenship, and Benevolence in Public Administration 7. Ethics and Public Administration
8. The Paradox of Distance and the Problem of Differentiation (with David G. Frederickson)
9. Patriotism, Benevolence, and Public Administration (with David Kirkwood Hart)
10. The Public Administrator as a Representative Citizen (with Ralph Clark Chandler)
11. Pushing Things Up to Their First Principles
