Handbook of Bureaucracy


Book Description

This encyclopedic reference/text provides an analysis of the basic issues and major aspects of bureaucracy, bureaucratic politics and administrative theory, public policy, and public administration in historical and contemporary perspectives. Examining theoretical, philosophical, and empirical interpretations, as well as the intricate position of b




The Oxford Handbook of American Bureaucracy


Book Description

One of the major dilemmas facing the administrative state in the United States today is discerning how best to harness for public purposes the dynamism of markets, the passion and commitment of nonprofit and volunteer organizations, and the public-interest-oriented expertise of the career civil service. Researchers across a variety of disciplines, fields, and subfields have independently investigated aspects of the formidable challenges, choices, and opportunities this dilemma poses for governance, democratic constitutionalism, and theory building. This literature is vast, affords multiple and conflicting perspectives, is methodologically diverse, and is fragmented. The Oxford Handbook of American Bureaucracy affords readers an uncommon overview and integration of this eclectic body of knowledge as adduced by many of its most respected researchers. Each of the chapters identifies major issues and trends, critically takes stock of the state of knowledge, and ponders where future research is most promising. Unprecedented in scope, methodological diversity, scholarly viewpoint, and substantive integration, this volume is invaluable for assessing where the study of American bureaucracy stands at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, and where leading scholars think it should go in the future. The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics are a set of reference books offering authoritative and engaging critical overviews of the state of scholarship on American politics. Each volume focuses on a particular aspect of the field. The project is under the General Editorship of George C. Edwards III, and distinguished specialists in their respective fields edit each volume. The Handbooks aim not just to report on the discipline, but also to shape it as scholars critically assess the scholarship on a topic and propose directions in which it needs to move. The series is an indispensable reference for anyone working in American politics. General Editor for The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics: George C. Edwards III




Bureaucracy and Administration


Book Description

Bureaucracy is an age-old form of government that has survived since ancient times; it has provided order and persisted with durability, dependability, and stability. The popularity of the first edition of this book, entitled Handbook of Bureaucracy, is testimony to the endurance of bureaucratic institutions. Reflecting the accelerated globalizatio




Research Handbook on Street-Level Bureaucracy


Book Description

When the objectives of public policy programmes have been formulated and decided upon, implementation seems just a matter of following instructions. However, it is underway to the realization of those objectives that public policies get their final substance and form. Crucial is what happens in and around the encounter between public officials and individual citizens at the street level of government bureaucracy. This Research Handbook addresses the state of the art while providing a systematic exploration of the theoretical and methodological issues apparent in the study of street-level bureaucracy and how to deal with them.




The (Delicate) Art of Bureaucracy


Book Description

A playbook for mastering the art of bureaucracy from thought-leader Mark Schwartz.




Bureaucracy’s Masters and Minions


Book Description

In Bureaucracy’s Masters and Minions: The Politics of Controlling the U.S. Bureaucracy, the author argues that political control of the bureaucracy from the president and the Congress is largely contingent on an agency’s internal characteristics of workforce composition, workforce responsibilities, and workforce organization. Through a revised principal-agent framework, the author explores an agent-principal model to use the agent as the starting-point of analysis. The author tests the agent-principal model across 14 years and 132 bureaus and finds that both the president and the House of Representatives exert influence over the bureaucracy, but agency characteristics such as the degree of politization among the workforce, the type of work the agency is engaged in, and the hierarchical nature of the agency affects how agencies are controlled by their political masters. In a detailed case study of one agency, the U.S. Department of Education, the author finds that education policy over a 65-year period is elite-led, and that that hierarchical nature of the department conditions political principals’ influence. This book works to overcome three hurdles that have plagued bureaucratic studies: the difficulty of uniform sampling across the bureaucracy, the overuse of case studies, and the overreliance on the principal-agent theoretical approach.




Handbook of Public Administration


Book Description

The past two decades have been marked by a period of substantial and often fundamental change in public administration. Critically reflecting on the utility of scholarly theory and the extent to which government practices inform the development of this theory, the Handbook of Public Administration was a landmark publication which served as an essential guide for both the practice of public administration today and its on-going development as an academic discipline. The Concise Paperback Edition provides a selection of 30 of the original articles in an accessible paperback format and includes a new introduction by B. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre. It is an essential point of reference for all students of public administration.




Evolution of the Post-Bureaucratic Organization


Book Description

Continuous improvements in business operations have allowed companies more opportunities to grow and expand. This not only leads to higher success in increasing day-to-day profits, but it enhances overall organizational productivity. Evolution of the Post-Bureaucratic Organization is a pivotal source of research containing integrated and consistent theoretical frameworks on post-bureaucratic organizations, multidisciplinary perspectives, and provides case studies related to the critical aspects of the emergence of post-bureaucratic organizations. Featuring extensive coverage across a range of relevant perspectives and topics, such as business ethics, organizational communication, and cultural perspectives, this book is ideally designed for scholars, PhD and post-graduate university students, managers, and practitioners.




The SAGE Handbook of Public Administration


Book Description

The original Handbook of Public Administration was a landmark publication, the first to provide a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the discipline. The eagerly-awaited new edition of this seminal international handbook continues to provide a complete review and guide to past and present knowledge in this essential field of inquiry. Assembling an outstanding team of scholars from around the world, the second edition explores the current state-of-the-art in academic thinking and the current structures and processes for the administration of public policy. The second edition has been fully revised and updated, with new chapters that reflect emerging issues and changes within the public sector: - Identifying the Antecedents in Public Performance - Bureaucratic Politics - Strategy Structure and Policy Dynamics - Comparative Administrative Reform - Administrative Ethics - Accountability through Market and Social Instruments - Federalism and intergovernmental coordination. A dominant theme throughout the handbook is a critical reflection on the utility of scholarly theory and the extent to which government practices inform the development of this theory. To this end it serves as an essential guide for both the practice of public administration today and its on-going development as an academic discipline. The SAGE Handbook of Public Administration remains indispensable to the teaching, study and practice of public administration for students, academics and professionals everywhere.




Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration


Book Description

With contributions from nearly 80 international experts, this comprehensive resource covers diverse issues, aspects, and features of public administration and policy around the world. It focuses on bureaucracy and bureaucratic politics in developing and industrialized countries and emphasizing administrative performance and policy implementation, as well as political system maintenance and regime enhancement. The book covers the history of public administration and bureaucracy in Persia, Greece, Rome, and Byzantium and among the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas, public administration in small island states, Eastern Europe, and ethics and other contemporary issues in public administration.