Introduction to Public...
Transcript of Introduction to Public...
Introduction to Public Administration
Sample Syllabus
Jiahuan Lu
University of Maryland, College Park
Phone: 240-898-8132 E-mail: [email protected]
Course Description
This is an introductory course designed to provide a venue for master students to become
exposed to the present state of research, theory building, and practice in public
administration in general, and in public management in particular. The course will begin
with a discussion of the nature of public administration and move to some subfields in
public administration, such as administrative organizations, administrative reforms, decision
making, policy implementation, and so on. We will also examine the people side of
government organizations as well as management and leadership roles within organizations.
Recent management innovations in government will be discussed.
The course is intended to move beyond a conceptual framework of public administration and
help students develop the knowledge, insights and skills necessary to manage and lead
public organizations. Toward this goal, case studies will be used as throughout the semester.
In short, this class is both theoretical and practical. The course will include lectures,
discussion, case studies, simulations, role plays, and other experiential learning.
Course Materials
Required Readings:
Kettl, D. F. (2011). The politics of the administrative process, Washington, DC: CQ Press
(5th edition recommended, 4th edition acceptable). There is a book website
(http://college.cqpress.com/sites/adminpolitics/Home.aspx), which includes rich materials
reviewing the subjects. I urge you to use these materials to help you learn.
Shafritz, J.M, & Hyde, A.C. (2011). Classics of public administration. Boston: Wadsworth
Publishing (7th
edition recommended, earlier versions acceptable).
In addition, we will be reading a number of case studies. The Kennedy School Cases are
available for purchase online at www.ksgcase.harvard.edu. Be sure to mark your status as
"Academic" to receive a substantial discount on the purchase price. The names and numbers
of the cases are included in the weekly readings below.
All of the other readings for the course will be available on Blackboard.
Recommended Books:
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Frederickson, H. G., & Smith, K. B. (2003). The public administration theory primer.
Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Wilson, J. Q. (1989). Bureaucracy: What government agencies do and why they do it. New
York: Basic Books.
Kettl, D. F. (2002). The transformation of governance: Public administration for twenty-first
century America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Cohen, S., Eimicke, W., & Heikkila, T. (2008). The effective public manager: Achieving
success in a changing government. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Course Requirements
Class Participation (20%)
Active class participation means engagement, informed by knowledge of the readings and
other materials, in class sessions and other aspects of the course. Your comprehension and
insights about cases and assigned readings are vivid in class discussion, and I will note and
appreciate quality comments.
I would expect that you will attend every class and that you are prepared. I will “cold
call.” Arriving late/leaving early cannot enhance and may well reduce your final
course grade.
Each student is required to prepare at least 2 or 3 discussion questions related to the
assigned readings and bring the questions to the class. Please email the questions to
me by 5:00 pm on the day before class. However, in order to allow time to explore a
smaller number of issues in greater depth, not every question will be discussed in
class.
Students should also prepare for the case discussions (if it is assigned) by identifying,
and being prepared to participate in the class discussion, on: (1) the issues raised, (2)
the relevant theory and practice (from readings, experience, etc.), and (3) your
recommended actions and rationale.
I will be happy to discuss the course, your progress, or any other issues of interest to
you on an individual basis. Please see me in class or call to set up an appointment.
Case Studies (40%)
Students are expected to submit two (out of three options) short memos throughout the
semester. Details on case assignments can be found in the Appendix. Memos are due in hard
copy at the beginning of class. The instructor will have all written assignments returned to
you, graded and with comments, one week after they have been handed in.
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Requirements for case assignments: All written assignments should be clearly written and
well organized. They are to be typed, no more than 4 pages each, double spaced, and 12 -
Times New Roman format. All written assignments must be on time. Late assignments will
not be accepted.
Synthetic Critical Essay Review (40%)
A 15-page essay on a topic selected from Kettl book. You may gear the paper to your area of
interest, but must explore the topic in public administration field. In order to get my
feedback on the paper as you work on it, we will adhere to the following schedule:
a) Week 4—topic selection is forwarded to me, with a preliminary listing of literature
examined.
b) Week 8—submit a summary of what you are finding in your literature review on each
topic. This will be an outline. I do not review drafts of papers.
c) Week 14—final paper due after the presentation
Your paper will incorporate the following:
a) What are the major issues involved in the study of the topic you have selected and
what do we know about them?
b) How do we know it? That is, what is the state of methodological choice, development,
sophistication, and marshalling of evidence? Where do we have consensus on findings?
Where do we not? Where are the major gaps that you see in the study of the topic
(substantively, methodologically, epistemologically).
c) What do you see as a priority(ies) for future research in this area for theory
development and testing, and why?
Each student should also prepare for a powerpoint presentation during the last class meeting.
The powerpoint file should be structured for a ten-minute briefing that addresses and
explains the key points of the analysis presented in the paper. Each powerpoint presentation
will also be made available in digital form to all other class participants. The presentation
will be counted as 10% of your grade.
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Course Overview
Week Topic Case Discussion Note
1 Introduction
Part I: Intellectual Development of American Public Administration
2 The Nature of Public Administration
3 The Development of American Public
Administration HKS case 1843.0
Part II. Public Administration as Managing Bureaucracy
4 Administrative Organization Hand-out Topic selection
due
5 Decision Making, Policy Process, &
Implementation
Assignment #1
due
6 Human Resource Management HKS case 1181.0
Part III. Public Administration as Governance
7 Administrative Reform HKS case 1269.0
HKS case 1270.0
8 Tools of Government Summary of
literature due
9 Contracting HKS case 1326.0 Assignment #2
due
10 Collaboration and Networks
11 Performance Management HKS case 1647.0
12 Leadership and Leading Change HKS case 101.0
HKS case 102.0
Assignment #3
due
13 Presentation
14 Presentation/Wrap-up
Final paper due
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COURSE SCHEDULE
Class 1. Introduction
*General introductions, overview of course and discussion of syllabus and grading. Please
bring a copy of the syllabus to class.
Readings:
Kettl, Ch. 3, p.59-71.
Part I: Intellectual Development of American Public Administration
Class 2. The Nature of Public Administration
Readings:
Kettl, Ch. 1 – 2.
Wilson, W. (1887). The study of administration. Political Science Quarterly, 2, 197-222.
Rosenbloom, D. (1983). Public administrative theory and the separation of powers. Public
Administration Review, 43(3), 219-227.
Romzek, B. S., & Dubnick, M. J. (1987). Accountability in the public sector: Lessons from
the Challenger tragedy. Public Administration Review, 47(3), 227-238.
Finer, H. (1941). Administrative responsibility in democratic government. Public
Administration Review, 1(4), 335-350. [optional]
Friedrich, C. J. (1940). Public policy and the nature of administrative responsibility, in
Public Policy, edited by C. J. Friedrich & E.S. Mason, Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
3-24. [optional]
Class 3. The Development of American Public Administration
Readings:
Goodnow, F. J. (1900). Politics and administration. (excerpt)
Taylor, F. W. (1912). Scientific management. (excerpt)
Gulick, L. (1937). Notes on the theory of organization. (excerpt)
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Barnard, C. I. (1938). Informal organizations and their relation to formal organizations.
(excerpt)
Weber, W. (1946). Bureaucracy. (excerpt)
Appleby, P. (1945). Government is different. (excerpt)
Simon, H. A. (1946). The proverbs of administration. (excerpt)
Waldo, D. (1948). The administrative state. (excerpt)
Case Discussion:
Hurricane Katrina (A): Preparing for "The Big One" in New Orleans (HKS 1843.0)
Part II. Public Administration as Managing Bureaucracy
Class 4. Administrative Organization
Readings:
Kettl, Ch.4 and 6
Merton, R. K. (1957). Bureaucratic structure and personality (excerpt)
McGregor, D. M. (1957). The Human side of Enterprise (excerpt)
Katz, D. & Kahn, R. L. (1966). Organizations and the system concept (excerpt)
Downs, A. (1967). The life cycle of bureaus (excerpt)
Kaufman, H. (1969). Administrative decentralization and political power (excerpt)
Bennis, W. (1967). Organizations of the future (excerpt)
Ott, J.S. (1989). Understanding organizational culture (excerpt)
Case Discussion:
Preventing Child Abuse: The Challenge for the Department of Social Services (Hand-out by
instructor)
Class 5. Decision Making, Policy Process, & Implementation
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* Please bring a policy problem in your field of interest to the class meeting. Think in
advance how the policy analytical models in the reading could help understand the policy
process. We will discuss in class your cases.
Readings:
Kettl, Ch. 10.
Allison, G. T. (1969). Conceptual models and the Cuban missile crisis. American Political
Science Review, 63(3), 689-718.
Lindblom, C. E. (1959). The Science of “Muddling Through” (excerpt)
Pressman, J.L, & Wildavsky, A. (1973). Implementation (excerpt)
Lipsky, M. (1980). Street-level bureaucracy (excerpt)
Kingdon, J.W. (1984). Agenda, Alternative, and public policies (excerpt)
Stone, D. (1988). Policy Paradox (excerpt)
Class 6. People in Government Organizations
Readings:
Kettl, Chapters 8 and 9, p.273-286.
Krislov, S. (1974). Representative bureaucracy (excerpt)
Perry, J. L., & Wise, L. R. (1990). The motivational bases of public service. Public
Administration Review, 50(3), 367-373.
Norma M. Riccucci, “Workforce Diversity and the Twenty-First Century,” in Riccucci,
Managing Diversity in Public Sector Workforces (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2002):
1-10
O'Toole, L. J., & Meier, K. J. (2009). The Human Side of Public Organizations
Contributions to Organizational Performance. American Review of Public Administration,
39(5), 499-518. [optional]
Case Discussion:
Disability Issues in the Workplace (HKS case 1181.0)
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Part III. Public Administration as Governance
Class 7. Administrative Reform
Readings:
Kettl, Ch.7
Hood, C. (1991). A public management for all seasons?. Public administration, 69(1), 3-19.
Kettl, D. F. (1997). The global revolution in public management: Driving themes, missing
links. Journal of Policy Analysis and management, 16(3), 446-462.
The National Performance Review. (1993). From red tape to results: Creating a government
that works better and costs less (excerpt)
Case Discussion:
Organizing Competition in Indianapolis (HKS case 1269.0 and 1270.0)
Class 8. Tools of Government
* We will divide the students into several groups, each responsible for one tool of
government (e.g., contract, grant, tax, …). You then will be the expert on that tool and
“teach” the class. Powerpoint presentation might be helpful. We will discuss the detailed
arrangement and requirement one week before this class.
Readings:
Kettl. Ch 3
Salamon, L. M. (2002). The new governance and the tools of public action: An introduction,
In L. M. Salamon (Ed.), The tools of government: A guide to the new governance (pp. 1-27).
New York: Oxford University Press.
Class 9. Contracting
Readings:
Kettl, Ch 12, p.420-426.
Kettl, D. F. (2002). Managing indirect government. In L. M. Salamon (Ed.), The tools of
government: A guide to the new governance (pp. 490-510). New York: Oxford University
Press.
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Brown, T. L., Potoski, M., & Slyke, D. M. V. (2006). Managing public service contracts:
Aligning values, institutions, and markets. Public Administration Review, 66(3), 323-331.
Romzek, B. S., & Johnston, J. M. (2002). Effective contract implementation and
management: A preliminary model. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory,
12(3), 423-453.
Hefetz, A. & Warner, M. (2004). Privatization and its reverse: Explaining the dynamics of
the government contracting process. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory,
14(2), 171-90.
Moe, R. C. (1987). Exploring the limits of privatization. Public Administration Review,
47(6), 453-460.
Rosenbloom, D. H., & Piotrowski, S. J. (2005). Outsourcing the constitution and
administrative law norms. American Review of Public Administration, 35(2), 103-121.
[optional]
Case Discussion:
Partners in Child Protection Svcs: DSS and La Alianza Hispana (A) (HKS case 1326.0)
Class 10. Collaboration and Networks
Readings:
Kettl, D. F. (2006). Managing boundaries in American administration: The collaboration
imperative. Public Administration Review, 66(s1), 10-19.
O'Toole, L. J. (1997). Treating networks seriously: Practical and research based agendas in
public administration. Public Administration Review, 57(1), 45-52.
O’Leary, R., Gazley, B., McGuire, M., & Bingham, L. B. (2009). Public managers in
collaboration, in Rosemary O’Leary and Lisa Blomgren Bingham (eds.), The collaborative
public manager (pp.1-12). Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
Bryson, J. M., Crosby, B. C., & Stone, M. M. (2006). The design and implementation of
cross‐sector collaborations: Propositions from the literature. Public Administration Review,
66(s1), 44-55.
Milward, H. B., & Provan, K. G. (2006). A manager’s guide to choosing and using
collaborative networks. IBM Center for the Business of Government.
Class 11. Performance Management
Readings:
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Hatry, H. P. (2006). Performance measurement: Getting results. Washington, DC: Urban
Inst Press. Ch 1-2, p. 3-26.
Radin, B. A. (2000). The Government Performance and Results Act and the tradition of
federal management reform: square pegs in round holes?. Journal of Public Administration
Research and Theory, 10(1), 111-135.
Behn, R. D. (2003). Why measure performance? Different purposes require different
measures. Public Administration Review, 63(5), 586-606.
Heinrich, C. J., & Marschke, G. (2010). Incentives and their dynamics in public sector
performance management systems. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 29(1), 183-
208.
Bevan, G., & Hood, C. (2006). What’s measured is what matters: Targets and gaming in the
English public health care system. Public administration, 84(3), 517-538.
Behn, R. D., & Kant, P. A. (1999). Strategies for avoiding the pitfalls of performance
contracting. Public Productivity & Management Review, 22(4), 470-489. [optional]
Case Discussion:
Mayor Anthony Williams and Performance Management in Washington, DC (HKS case
1647.0)
Class 12. Leadership and Leading Changes
Readings:
Kettl, Ch 9, p.286-304.
Kotter, J.P. (1990). What leaders really do. Harvard Business Review, 79 (11), 85–97.
Kotter, J. P. (1995). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard business
review, 73(2), 59-67.
Rainey, H., & Thompson, J. (2006). Leadership and transformation of a major institution:
Charles Rossotti and the Internal Revenue Service. Public Administration Review, 66 (4),
596-604.
Lambright, W. H. (2001). Transforming government: Dan Goldin and the remaking of
NASA. Washington, DC: The IBM Center for the Business of Government.
Case Discussion:
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Jerome Miller and Department of Youth Services (A) and (B) (HKS case 101.0 & 102.0)
Class 13. Student Presentation
Class 14. Student Presentation / Wrap-up: What have we learned?
Readings:
Kettl, D.F., & Kelman, S. (2007). Reflections on 21st century government management.
Washington, DC: The IBM Center for the Business of Government.
What have we not covered this semester that you are most interested in?
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Appendix: Assignments
These assignments are designed to provide you an opportunity to think about how you would
handle specific public administration issues. There is no right or wrong answer for the
assignments. Grades will be determined on how well you support your arguments.
Assignment #1:
Reading: Hurricane Katrina (A): Preparing for "The Big One" in New Orleans (HKS 1843.0)
This case tells the story of the lead-up to the storm, detailing the plans that officials would
draw on to prepare for the hurricane's onslaught, the steps that were taken to evacuate and
shelter hundreds of thousands of residents in metropolitan New Orleans, and the
communications among different agencies and levels of government as the storm drew near;
it shows officials concerned about the effects of the hurricane, but confident that their
preparations were commensurate with the challenges that Katrina would pose. The case asks
readers to consider why local, state, and federal governments all proved unready to respond
effectively to a catastrophic event which had been long predicted.
Since the attacks of September 11th, 2001 the government has shifted the focus of many
agencies towards terrorism. The reorganization of many agencies into the newly formed
Department of Homeland Security has changed the operational structure with which many
have been accustomed. The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has asked
you to form a work group to explain what some of the problems with DHS’s structure that
were prevented it from helping Louisiana and the surrounding states prepare for hurricane
Katrina.
Answer the following questions:
1. What actions were taken by local, state and federal agencies to prepare for Katrina? Was
DHS involved in these? Were they prevented from being involved?
2. How had FEMA’s role and resources changed since becoming part of DHS?
3. How could FEMA have been better able to assist in preparations?
4. What organizational changes in DHS and FEMA would allow for better preparation in
the future?
Assignment #2:
Reading: Columbia’s Final Mission (HBS Case 9-304-090)
You may find these two reading helpful while writing your answers:
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McCurdy, H. E. (1992). NASA’s organizational culture. Public Administration Review,
52(2), 189-192.
Donahue, A. K., & O'Leary, R. (2012). Do shocks change organizations? The case of
NASA. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 22(3), 395-425.
Answer the following questions:
1. Assess the performance of Rodney Rocha and Linda Ham. Did each do all what he or she
should have done? Why was it so hard to hold anyone accountable?
2. How organizational issues kept important technical concerns from being heard? How
organizations should deal with "ambiguous threats" - weak signals of potential crisis?
3. What role did NASA’s culture play in the Columbia disaster?
4. Put yourself in the shoes of the managers in the case, consider the following questions:
What prior assumptions and beliefs shaped the way that you thought and behaved during
the Columbia mission? What pressures affected your behavior? Where did these
pressures originate? In what ways did the culture impact your actions? If you were in that
person’s shoes during the Columbia mission, would you have behaved differently? Why
or why not?
Assignment #3:
Reading: Oklahoma’s Milestones Reimbursement System: Paying for What You Get (HKS Case
C14-98-1477.0).
Answer the following questions:
1. Whether or not you believe that Milestones is on balance an improvement over the
previous system for paying vendors of employment services for the severely disabled,
assess its greatest strengths relative to the status quo ante.
2. Whether or not you believe that Milestones is on balance an improvement over the
previous system, assess its greatest weaknesses and risks.
3. The vendors providing employment-related services for the severely disabled in
Oklahoma, both prior to and after the 1996 reforms, were private, but not-for-profit. Was
this an essential constraint under the earlier input-based contracting system? What would
have been the advantages and disadvantages of for-profit private suppliers under the pre-
1996 fee-for-service system? Is the case for restricting contracts to non-profits (instead of
contracting with both non-profit and for-profit vendors) stronger, or weaker, with the new
Milestones system? Why?
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4. What are the characteristics of a social service function that make it most suitable to
outcomes-based contracting? What characteristics make outcomes-based contracting
inappropriate? Under what general circumstances is inputs-based private contracting
(rather than outcomes-based contracting, on the one hand, or direct governmental service
delivery, on the other) likely to be the most suitable way to deliver public services?