Handbook Of State Government Administration

Devised to meet the ongoing challenge of identifying the skills and knowledge necessary for expanding the governing capacity of state and local authorities, this book discusses the fiscal consequences of "get tough" approaches to crime and presents more effective and less expensive policy options. Surveying the range of administrative and management practices employed by state governments, the editor and contributors explore the results of the governmental reform tradition, the impact of federalism and intergovernmental relations, and the effects of political culture on state government by focusing on economic development, welfare, corrections, and environmental programs and policies.

Devised to meet the ongoing challenge of identifying the skills and knowledge necessary for expanding the governing capacity of state and local authorities, this book discusses the fiscal consequences of get tough approaches to crime and presents more effective and less expensive policy options. Surveying the range of administrative and management practices employed by state governments, the editor and contributors explore the results of the governmental reform tradition, the impact of federalism and intergovernmental relations, and the effects of political culture on state government by focusing on economic development, welfare, corrections, and environmental programs and policies.

The fundamentals of public administration, from the world'sleading practitioners Handbook of Public Administration is the classic,comprehensive guide to the field, featuring original writings fromthe world's foremost public administration thought leaders andpractitioners. Intended to help both public administration studentsand practitioners navigate administrative challenges, overcomeobstacles, and improve effectiveness, this guide provides acomplete overview of the entire field. The information is organizedinto seven parts representing key domains of knowledge and practicethat are essential for effective public administration. Thesereflect changes in the state of modern public administration, thefactors that influence policies and programs, the mechanics of howgovernment works, and the tools that help administrators get thingsdone. Readers will find insightful discussions on the challenges ofcontemporary governance and the ethics of public administration, aswell as practical guidance on the everyday operations that bringeffective policies and programs to life. Students and experienced practitioners alike will appreciate thewell-rounded approach to issues public administrators face everyday. The book is complete enough to act as a text, but organizedlogically for quick reference for specific problems or situations.Readers will: Understand the challenges posed by the changing context ofpublic administration Explore how relationships and decisions influence publicpolicies and programs Learn the critical skills and tools public administrators mustmaster to be effective Explore the ethics and liabilities of public administration,and what it means to take part The role of public administration is evolving, and the changingnature of the field will impact the way policies and programs aredesigned and implemented. This book fully explores current andupcoming changes domestically and internationally against thebackdrop of public administration fundamentals. For the student orprofessional seeking a deeper understanding of the publicadministrator's role, Handbook of Public Administration is aclear, comprehensive resource.

This theoretically and experientially grounded reference provides a complete overview of the principles and applications of government administration and management practices in the local public sector. Written by over 25 distinguished academics and professionals with substantial experience as practitioners and consultants of administrative operations to local governments, the book covers the effects of environmental conditions on local administrators and management techniques to administration in different types of local government. It helps readers reduce research time by presenting advanced materials on local government administration and management in a single source.

Public administration is commonly assumed to be a young discipline, rooted in law and political science, with little history of its own. Likewise, teaching and scholarship in this field is often career oriented and geared either toward the search for immediately usable knowledge or guidelines and prescriptions for the future. Although most administrative scientists would acknowledge that their field has a history, their time horizon is limited to the recent past. Raadschelders demonstrates that public administration has in fact a long-standing tradition, both in practice and in writing; administration has been an issue ever since human beings recognized the need to organize themselves in order to organize the environment in which they lived. This history, in turn, underlines the need for administrators to be aware of the importance and contemporary impact of past decisions and old traditions. In seeking to go beyond the usual problem-solving and future-oriented studies of public administration, this volume adds greatly to the cognitive richness of this field of research. Indeed, the search for theoretical generalizations will profit from an approach that unravels long-term trends in the development of administration and government. "Raadschelders approaches public administration history from a dual perspective, as trained historian and professor of public administration.... The volume is appropriately called a æhandbook' in view of its methodical listing of the literature on administrative history, together with summaries of numerous authors' principal theories. The second chapter is an essay on sources in the field, including an extended bibliography.... These parts of the book alone make it useful to scholars in the field.... Raadschelders is helpful in other ways as well. The third and fourth chapters offer a highly sophisticated discussion of methodological problems encountered in writing administrative history, including the issue of perceiving æstages.' Other chapters discuss leading substantive issues such as the development of bureaucracy and citizenship. The author combines his own history-telling with more bibliographic commentary. Raadschelders presents his own overarching theory on the development of government, built around the thesis that centuries of state-making dedicated protecting territory were eventually balanced by a period of nation-building that served the people. This attempt at grand synthesis is admirable but less valuable than his remarkable success in reviewing the field's enormous range of complexity, and variety of viewpoints. This is the most important work appear on the subject since E.N. Gladden's two-volume History of Public Administration (1972). --C.T. Goodsell, Choice Jos C.N. Raadschelders is associate professor of public administration at the University of Leiden. He is the author and co-author of several books (in Dutch) on various aspects of public administration.

The Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government covers the main areas of study in subnational politics by exploring the central contributions to the comparative study of institutions, behaviour, and policy in the American context.

State and local government fiscal systems have increasingly become vulnerable to economic changes. Over the past three decades, state and local deficits during economic recession have been larger and deeper each time. The impact of the Great Recession and its aftermath of feeble growth and lingering high unemployment has been dramatic both in scope and intensity. Before the crisis, long-term structural deficits were persistent for both individual governments and the entire sector as spending plans and patterns outpaced governments' revenue-generating capacity. The revenue systems of these governments eroded while the workloads and scope on the expenditure side of the state and local system budget continued to grow. This handbook evaluates the persistent problems in the fiscal systems of state and local governments and what can be done to solve them. It contains 35 chapters authored by 60 practitioners and academics who are renowned scholars in state and local finance. Each chapter provides a description of the discipline area, examines major developments in policy, practices and research, and opines on future prospects. The chapters are divided into four sections. Section I is a systematic discussion of the institutional, economic, and political framework that provides a background for understanding the structure and financial performance of the state and local sector. The chapters in Section II provide an overview of the various components of state and local revenue systems and how they reacted to the Great Recession. They analyze the diverse forms of taxes and charges in detail, prescribe remedies and alternatives, and examine the implications for future revenue performance. Chapters in Section III turn to spending, borrowing and financial management in the state and local sector. The focus is on the big six service delivery sectors: education, health care, human services, transportation, pensions, and housing. Section IV is a set of chapters that look ahead and speculate about how the state and local government sector's money-raising, spending, and service delivery structures will adjust to the new circumstances.

The Handbook of Canadian Public Administration reflects on the historical approaches to the study and practice of public administration, while considering some of the new 'hot issues' in the field, such as: new public management; alternative service delivery; information and communications technology; voluntary sector and the role of municipal governments. It also looks at specific policy areas such health care, regulation of biotechnology, and Aboriginal self-government. Every chapter is written by an expert in the field and follows a format that is consistent throughout the book. Each selection looks first at the history of the topic in question, then at its current state, and ends by examining possible future directions. The volume has both individual chapter introductions and a general introduction providing the context, structure, and aims of the work as a whole.