Book Description
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION is one of the most widely adopted books for both undergraduate and graduate levels. The basis of the appeal is the three part framework of management, politics, and the law. Its theme is that all three perspectives are central to public administration, and that ignoring one or another leads to failures in both the practice of and in academic treatments of the field. This edition continues to refer to these three perspectives, but it divides management into two subsets: traditional and "the new public management".
Customer Reviews:
Difficult reading, very "wordy".......2006-12-15
This book was a required text for my PA course. It was very wordy and at times difficult to understand due to the repetitious content. I feel that there is probably a more straight forward style of writing than this one. Not for the student who is just beginning a public administration course, some back ground would be helpful if this text is to be used. However, it contains "Introduction" in its title. Well! I 'don't know about that? Great info, however, difficult reading.
mosgt boring book ever........2006-11-06
This is the most repetative book I have ever read. Just reading the intro to any chapter is all you really need, within the chaper, the author will state the exact same thing 3-5 times. I give it three starts because there is a lot of good information, it is just not well presented.
Good Graduate Level Text.......2005-10-27
This was a required text book for one of the classes in my master of public administration program (MPA). I found it to be extremely useful for understanding both the historical evolution of public administration and the current practice. The emphasis on the (sometimes conflicting) managerial, legal, and political perspectives of each aspect of public administration works nicely if you are also learning the Hamiltonian, Madisonian, and Jeffersonian perspectives on the founding of the government. I always find it useful to understand and remember how things work if I get a good explanation of why it is so--this book does a good job of balancing the how/why.
It's not a text for the casual reader, but if you are a graduate student, plan to be (or already are) a public manager, or just want a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of public administration, this book will serve you well.
Since I know some students don't buy books on their syllabi for financial reasons or for stubbornness, my recommendation is to get the book. It also makes a great reference for the papers you'll have to write.
Public Administration.......2000-05-21
Public Administration: Understanding Management, Politics, and Law in the Public Sector is a textbook that explicitly examines and explains the three major issues of public administration: management, politics, and law. It is an excellent text for advanced undergraduate or graduate students. In addition, this book identifies the differences in roles involved in public administration. For example, it describes the difference between the managerial and leadership roles in delivering public services. It discusses the traditional management style versus the New Public Management style in dealing with accountability on the part of administration, as well as the public.
Book Description
"This book should be in the library of everyone who serves--or aspires to serve--on the governing board of any organization, large or small, nonprofit or corporate. Better than any other available resource, it tells what the roles of board members are and what they must and shouldn't do. An indispensable guidebook to leadership excellence."
--George Weber, secretary general, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva
"John Carver's Boards That Make a Difference was required reading for board members of the Calgary Philharmonic Society. It provided a clear and concise road map with which we carried out significant governance restructuring of the society."
James M. Stanford, president & CEO,, Petro-Canada, and past chairman of the Calgary Philharmonic Society, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
John Carver's groundbreaking Policy Governance model has influenced the way public and nonprofit boards operate around the world. Now, as widespread experience with the model continues to grow, Carver enriches his definitive exposition with updated policy samples, a new chapter on the process of policy development, and additional resources for various types of boards. He debunks the entrenched beliefs about board roles and functions that hamper dedicated board members. With creative insight and commonsense practicality, Carver presents a bold new approach to board job design, board-staff relationships, the chief executive role, performance monitoring, and virtually every aspect of the board-management relationship. In their stead, he offers a board model designed to produce policies that make a difference, missions that are clearly articulated, standards that are ethical and prudent, meetings, officers, and committees that work; and leadership that supports the fulfillment of long-term goals.
Customer Reviews:
Very Helpful.......2003-04-01
The world is full of experts at what is wrong with the things that we do. Dr. Carver has a rock-solid, well thought out suggestion concerning how to do it right. One reviewer complained that Dr. Carver's suggestions are not realistic. Right is not often realistic, but right is always right. It's far better to start with an ideal and compromise from that point than to capitulate from the outset. Boards that Make a Difference is well worth reading.
Idealistic.......1999-06-27
The carver style of governance is a tad idealistic and perhaps overly optimistic. I have read everything Dr Carver has written concerning this field and enjoy this material at an academic level. But when it comes to operationalizing this model in boardrooms I've seen it fail time and time again. Not to say that the model is flawed because in fact the model is normative and conceptually complete. However it doesn't capture that element of reality from which, in my experience, the model requires - practicality and real-world application. Dr Carver's notion that Boards can do without Finance and Audit Committees is very naive. Most consultants from the chartered accountant genre are saying the complete opposite. In fact most government policy initiatives are moving toward more control of financial affairs of organizations for boards from charts of accounts to fiscal policy. So I don't think the elimination of Finance and Audit Committees is realistic nor is it a terribly bright suggestion. I guess my only crticism is that the carver model is far to idealistic and philosophical for a practical application in the form Dr Carver suggests. Sorry but a hybrid model of traditional Board governance and the carver model may work given the commitment required from directors to follow-though on everything suggested in that system of governance,
A must-have for not-for-profits!.......1999-03-29
This book was the core piece of a radical change in our board room. It led us down the path we knew we wanted to go but didn't know how to get there. His model for board room organization could revolutionize boards of companies in transition, like those of the rural electric program in America. It's a road map for where you already know in your heart that you want to go.
Essential for public boards seeking to lead strategically.......1999-01-27
After 5 years on a local Board of Education I finally found a book that describes everything I know is wrong with board management practices in schools and nonprofit organizations. But that is the easy part. Carver offers sound alternatives to current practices that put the responsibility and the capability for strategic leadership right where it belongs--on the board.
I winced as I read Carver's description of reactive boards trapped in the "approval syndrome" in which boards rely on staff to bring issues and recommendations to them for approval. This pervasive practice not only takes board members out of the driver's seat, but it confuses the lines of accountability between the board and the CEO for the organization.
Carver offers a framework for changing all that by forcing the board to rethink all of its policy with an eye toward board-determined policies that operate at the highest level possible. In Carver's approach only four types of policies need to be set by the board: 1) "Ends" policies (board expectations), 2) Executive Limitations (the "don'ts" for the organization), 3) Board process policies and 4) Board-CEO relationship policies. *Everything* you need to be involved in can be fit into one of these four categories.
Want to learn how to stop working at the staff level and how to help your organization find a true sense of direction? Carver's book offers practical and straightforward ways of getting there.
Accessible, Codified Common Sense.......1999-01-24
Mr. Carver presents a very readable way of looking at how governing boards should work. His theories are logical and his arguments pursuasive. He offers board members an intellectual framework to consider how their organizations are running. The book is prescriptive, but not preachy. I was very surprised to find it sensible after hearing so much hype from "converts" to his method.
Book Description
Starting from the premise that management of human resources is critical to successful implementation of government programs, the authors give aspiring managers the tools they need to effectively manage employees, and thus achieve their agency's goals. This Second Edition incorporates changes brought about by recent attempts to streamline operations at all levels of government, and covers the impact of technology on government employment.
Book Description
Since the late 1980s the international relief community has seen its resources and personnel stressed beyond capacity by humanitarian crises--large-scale, man-made catastrophes such as the conflicts in Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Chechnya, Zaire, and elsewhere. Waged within collapsing states, political and ethnic strife targets civilians, causes mass population dislocation and widespread human rights abuses, and impedes the efforts of relief organizations to respond effectively. Covering topics ranging from emergency public health measures to the psychological trauma of relief workers, this volume presents both a seasoned assessment of current practice and proposals for improving operational efforts in the future. The discussion also raises important questions relating to the definition and direction of the overall humanitarian mission.
Book Description
In recent years, a commitment to increased accountability and improved performance has become essential in both governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations. To help managers and executives in their ongoing quest for greater accountability and improved performance Theodore H. Poister, offers a comprehensive resource for designing and implementing effective performance measurement systems at the agency level. The ideas, tools, and processes in this vital resource will help organizations develop measurement systems to support such results-oriented management approaches as strategic management, results-based budgeting, performance management, process improvement, performance contracting, and employee incentive systems. Using this book as a guide, public and nonprofit organizations can accurately measure outputs, efficiency, productivity, effectiveness, service quality, and customer satisfaction, and use the resulting data to strengthen decision-making and improve agency and program performance.
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Customer Reviews:
Great book .......2007-09-09
Especially good insights into overcoming the resistence of nonprofit employees to the culture of organizational improvement - how to move them toward benchmarking and performance measurement.
Product Description
A rare, behind-the-scenes look at the stunning crime-fighting revolution that revolutionized law enforcement! Ever wonder how NYC, once infamous for crime and violence, gains status as the safest big city year after year? The answers are here, coming straight from one of the actual creators of the most innovative crime reduction programs in history! From the four deceptively simple principles of COMPSTAT to the accountability protocols that can improve every agency, this is more than just a case study...it s a field-tested, ready-to-use, crime-fighting blueprint!
Customer Reviews:
A good solid book, from someone in the trenches.......2007-04-07
There has been a tremendous amount of discussion about the crime drop of the 1990s, and the ongoing debate over what caused it. While many books have been published seeking to deny the obvious -- that changes in police technique caused the crime drop -- relatively few books have been published describing the new police techniques that have done so much good. Perhaps the most readable book on the subject is Bill Bratton's book, Turnaround, which is a personal biography, a description of how he achieved what he did in the police and a morality tale about his clash with Rudy Guiliani.
Vincent Henry was a working cop, who was in the trenches in the Compstat Revolution. He was deeply involved in all of this, and he has alot of knowledge about it. He has written a solid, workmanlike book. It is not as good a read as Bratton's book; its tone is more like that of a textbook. He gives a good throrough description, however, of the philosophy and practice of Compstat. Anyone actually involved in police management, or seeking ways to apply the lessons of Compstat to other areas of government, should read this book.
Compstat - From A to Z.......2002-05-26
Vincent Henry has written a book that is a valuable contribution to the understanding of Compstat.
Compstat was a 1996 winner of the Innovation in Government and has been listed as one of the major contributing factors to the "turn around" of police productivity in the New York Police Department in the mid-1990s.
Compstat has been the subject of several rumors, half truths and outright distortions. In a book whose audience is primarily college level students of policing and police management, Henry methodically explains the organizational context in which Compstat developed, actual implementation tactics and strategies used and assesses the future utility of the Compstat process in a variety of private and public settings.
Henry clearly establishes that Compstat is more than a "dog and pony show" or a staff meeting supplemented with computer graphics and statistical analysis. Rather it is one of several tools necessary to produce effective results in modern policing, " Compstat must be seen as one facet of a comprehensive and carefully orchestrated array of management strategies and practices".
This book is handicapped to an extent by the several audiences it serves simultaneously. First, nine of the ten chapters close with "Questions for Debate and Discussion", which serves the academic audience well but is bothersome to the general readers. Second, the use of sidebars tends to dilute the impact of the author's primary discussion at several points. However, the tenth chapter "The Compstat Paradigm: Summary of Basic Principles and Precepts" is one of the best short summaries of Compstat to be found anywhere in print. Those seven pages make the cost of the book worth very cent.
The most comprehensive and thorough description of Compstat.......2002-04-19
The New York City Police Department has achieved great reductions in crime through the Compstat process. Major crimes have declined 66%, and homicides are down 77% since 1993. These statistics translate into thousands of lives saved and significantly improved quality of life for all the people of New York. Those who argue that factors other than the police were responsible for this decline ignore the significant institutional changes in the NYPD and its method of policing.
It was not simply hiring thousands of cops and putting them on the street, it was a matter of changing the way those cops worked. This involved not only technological change, such as the use of computer pin mapping, but also managerial and cultural change within the NYPD. The result was a more analytical and focused NYPD, a more responsive and flexible department, better able to serve the people of New York. Compstat was driving force behind those changes.
Vincent Henry is a friend and coworker of mine for ten years, since I was a student in his class at CW Post College. While he has academic credentials, he also has the experience and perspective of a street cop. He was well placed to observe significant developments in the NYPD and its strategies over the years. He has an in-depth knowledge of the history of the agency and the personalities involved in the development of Compstat. This background provides insight into the subtleties and nuances of Compstat (and the NYPD as a whole) that an outsider may miss. The Compstat Paradigm is not only a description of the development of Compstat, but also a history of the NYPD over the last two decades. This historical context increases understanding of the political and personal forces that influenced the development of Compstat.
I have attended dozens of Compstat sessions as both an observer and a participant. I have read other books on Compstat, including NYPD Battles Crime by Eli Silverman and Managing Police Operations: Implementing the NYPD Crime Control Model Using Compstat by Phyllis Parshall McDonald. The Compstat Paradigm is the most comprehensive and thorough description of Compstat available, and provides the best overview of what the Compstat process is, how it developed, and how it works in the New York City Police Department.
Book Description
Summarizing the critical changes affecting labor relations in the global marketplace, this comprehensive text outlines problems and provides strategies for success in the dynamically evolving work environment. Blending description, analysis, and empirical research into a thorough overview of the field, the authors discuss court decisions and collective bargaining and labor relations at all levels of government. In addition to a compendium of research resources, this classroom-friendly edition includes more new case studies illustrating key examples. The third edition retains the successful features of previous editions and combines expertise from both academic and professional perspectives.
Customer Reviews:
Best Single Text Available.......2006-07-21
I teach collective bargaining & labor relations in the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at the University of New Hampshire. Kearney's book is the sole comprehensive text on public sector labor relations available at this time. Its thorough coverage includes the history of public sector labor relations, the ins & outs of collective bargaining, the impacts on budgets and personnel policies, and much more. I've used it as the primary text in a graduate-level course, supplemented by journal articles and case studies. Several students remarked that the book was detailed yet readable, as well as realistic (students often catch on when an author has never been a practitioner of the subject matter). I recommend this book for courses in public sector labor relations, and it would be useful in most Public Administration programs. A good complement to this text is Najita and Stern's Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector: The Experience of Eight States, a reader of case studies that illustrate most of the concepts described by Kearney.
Book Description
"An essential reference for students and practitioners of public administration."
--Public Administration Review Sponsored by the American Society for Public Administration, this completely revised and expanded edition reflects both the ever-evolving changes in public administration and the continuity of practice. Written by experts from diverse areas of public administration--including law, politics, personnel, and operations--the book has been substantially updated to reflect the most current developments and research. An entirely new section focuses on leadership, negotiation, communication, and interpersonal skills.
Book Description
How can you design effective social programs, programs that successfully address the needs of those they serve? Designing and Managing Programs offers practitioners and administrators step-by-step instructions for designing, implementing, managing, and assessing social programs. Written in a clear and accessible style, the authors first address the problem of identifying the need for specific social programs (and how to make informed decisions as to whether or not a program is, in fact, needed). They thoroughly discuss program design, setting goals and objectives, developing and managing budgets, administration, service delivery processes, and program evaluation. In addition, they provide a useful case illustration of hypothetical private, nonprofit, mid-sized, and multiservice agencies. Designing and Managing Programs is an ideal resource for administrators and experienced practitioners looking to create an effective social program. "A well-organized discussion of an effectiveness-oriented approach to social service program design, management, and evaluation. Liberal use of examples, tables, and figures adds additional clarity to a precisely stated, straightforward exposition that walks the reader through all the basic steps of a highly systematic approach. . . . Provides guidance to the process of understanding social problems, assessing needs, selecting appropriate intervention strategies, setting goals and objectives, designing programs, creating an information system, calculating costs, quantitative monitoring, and evaluating program effectiveness. Since effectiveness is an extremely valuable program quality and the authors' descriptions are highly sensitive, the book represents a valuable resource. . . . Essentially, it is a cookbook approach in which Step A must be completed before Step B, and each of the remaining activities follow from completion to the previous one. This is a very good cookbook." --Community Alternatives
Customer Reviews:
think of the programs as experiments.......2007-06-11
The book is directed at a researcher, who might be an undergrad or graduate student in the social sciences. Who has never designed and run an experiment. So the topics that need to be understood are explained.
Like simple statistical analysis. This particular discussion is indeed very brief. The reader who needs help with this should consult other books that have more extensive discussions.
Other topics are covered in more detail by Kettner. Like defining various hypotheses that can be tested by the experiment. And conducting the experiment or intervention. Here, the experiment might, in a slightly different context, be a social program that has to be implemented. The book helps you lay out that program and run it.
Book review.......2006-03-23
This book was purchased for a class. It has been useful in aspects of my job as well.
Books:
- Rendezvous with Rama
- Right Projects Done Right: From Business Strategy to Successful Project Implementation (Jossey Bass Business and Management Series)
- School and Society: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives with PowerWeb and Timeline
- Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth
- Selling 101: What Every Successful Sales Professional Needs to Know
- SPIN Selling
- Spreadsheet Modeling and Decision Analysis (with CD-ROM and Microsoft Project 2003 120 day version)
- Strategic and Competitive Analysis: Methods and Techniques for Analyzing Business Competition
- Strategic Management and Business Policy (10th Edition)
- Supervision of Police Personnel (6th Edition)
Books Index
Books Home
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Public Affairs & Administration
| Government
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Classics of Public Administration
Public Administration: Concepts and Cases
Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It (Basic Books Classics)
Sources: Notable Selections in American Government (Classic Edition Sources)
Handbook of Public Law and Administration (Jossey-Bass Nonprofit and Public Management Series)
