Public Affairs and Policy Administration Series

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Order ISBN 978-0-87289-902-5.

A note from editor Don Kettl...

Public affairs and policy administration sit at a crossroads. A century of tradition in theory and practice are under fierce attack. Reformers argue the need to "reinvent" government and free its managers from dysfunctional processes and structures. Some theorists debate whether the dominant model--hierarchical bureaucracy controlled by authority--still describes how bureaucracies can--or should--operate. Other theorists seek formal models, driven by game theory, to provide more rigor. Everyone, in government and out, worries that government simply does not perform well.

These battles frame an important paradox. Courses on public affairs and public administration are staples in every college and university, yet text materials often fail to capture the big battles in the field or excite students. Public managers feel that advice from academics does not adequately address or solve the challenges they face. CQ Press offers a solution to this problem. With a new series of brief books which take on the big issues and presents them in a lively and engaging fashion scholars, students, and practitioners alike will have a new compass to guide them through the fundamental debates reshaping the field.

The books will connect policy areas to important administrative issues. They will examine emerging issues like performance management and information technology, and they will also explore lasting puzzles like federalism and budget reform. These books will probe for the story-behind-the-theory. They will provide lively examples of how these emerging processes might--or might not--reshape governance.

-Don Kettl, series editor



TITLES IN THIS SERIES

The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerrilla Government

Rosemary O'Leary

December 2005 / ISBN 978-1-933116-60-0

System Under Stress: Homeland Security and American Politics

Second Edition

Donald F. Kettl

December 2006 / ISBN 978-0-87289-333-7

Governing by Contract: Challenges and Opportunities for Public Managers

Phillip J. Cooper

July 2002 / ISBN 978-1-56802-620-6

Working with Culture: The Way the Job Gets Done in Public Programs

Anne M. Khademian

March 2002 / ISBN 978-1-56802-687-9

The Accountable Juggler: The Art of Leadership in a Federal Agency

Beryl Radin

January 2002 / ISBN 978-1-56802-643-5

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