Theories of public organization / Robert B. Denhardt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Denhardt, Robert B.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public administration.

Physical Description:

xiv, 221 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

Fourth edition.

Place of Publication:

Belmont, CA : Thomson/Wadsworth, [2004]

Summary:

This brief, readable overview of public administration theory is the only book of its kind. In an area where ideas really make a difference, as those ideas directly affect the way we act in administration, the book's presentation of multiple viewpoints enables students to develop their own philosophies of public administration, and helps them relate theory to application.

Contents:

1 Learning About Public Organizations 1

The Acquisition of Knowledge 2

Formal Theories of Public Organization 9

Building Theories of Public Organization 11

Public Administration as a Profession 13

Focusing on Complex Organizations 14

Redefining the Field 16

2 The Intellectual Heritage: Marx, Weber, and Freud 19

Karl Marx 20

Transition to Socialism 21

Industrial Organization and Individual Development 22

Growth of Alienation 23

Max Weber 25

Rationalization of Social Theory, the Notion of the "Ideal Type" 26

Sigmund Freud 30

3 The Political Heritage: From Wilson to Waldo 39

Beginnings of Public Administration Theory 40

Politics-Administration 44

The Lingering Influence of Politics-Administration 47

Adopting Business Management Techniques 49

Scientific Approaches to Management 50

Administrative Management and Organizational Structure 55

Centralization and Integration 56

Efficiency: The Key Measure of Success 61

Democratic Administration 63

4 The Rational Model of Organization 67

A Science of Human Behavior 67

The Generic Approach to Administration 68

The Proverbs of Administration 69

The Rational Model of Administration 73

Decision Making and Policy Formulation 77

Closed Systems versus Open Systems 82

5 Organizational Humanism and the New Public Administration 88

Themes in Organizational Humanism 89

Personality and Organization 93

Organization Development in the Public Sector 97

The New Public Administration 101

6 The Policy Emphasis and the New Public Management 111

Development of the Public Policy Orientation 112

Responsiveness in Public Policy 115

Effectiveness in Public Policy 125

The Discovery of Policy Implementation 127

Methods of Policy Analysis 131

The Intellectual Crisis 132

The New Public Management 136

7 Public Administration and the New Public Service 147

A Critique of the Rational Model 149

Interpretive/Action Theory 154

The Active-Social Paradigm 157

Critical Social Theory 159

Postmodernism and Discourse Theory 165

The New Public Service 172

Outlining the New Public Service 179

8 The Practitioner as Theorist 186

Theories and Theory Building 187

Toward Theories of Public Organization 190

Organizational and Personal Learning 193

A New Role for Theorists 196

Appendix The Administrative Journal 199

The Journal Format 201

Working in the Administrative Journal 203.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

0534612172

OCLC:

52072477