Book Description

Raadschelders and Fry provide a singular investigation into the influence of 10 scholars on contemporary public administration as well as how significant their work continues to be on contemporary research. In a field that is eclectic and pragmatic, it is only fitting that the diversity of the following scholars reflects the diversity of the field of public administration: Max Weber, Frederick W. Taylor, Luther H. Gulick, Mary Parker Follett, Elton Mayo, Chester Barnard, Herbert A. Simon, Charles E. Lindblom, Elinor Ostrom, and Dwight Waldo. The impacts of their personal life experiences on scholarly thought and their ideas about science and a science of public administration are used to enhance an examination of their ideas, concepts, and theories. The writings of such a wide-ranging group of scholars are also connected by a recognition of the growth and organizational independence of the field of public administration. For the Fourth Edition, a new perspective has been included: a review of Elinor Ostrom’s work provides valuable new material on organization and decision making that is applicable in many disciplines and across many fields. In addition, substantive updates to the scholarship and analysis found in each of the chapters in the book encourage new avenues for questions, insight, and exploration in the field of public administration.