PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION THEORY PRIMER

In the past thirty years, public administration has developed more systematic patterns of inquiry about the substance of public organizations behavior, public management, and public policy implementation. This book explores how the science and art of policy administration is definable, describable, replicable, and cumulative. Frederickson and Smith describe several theories and analytical approaches that contribute to what we know about policy administration. This book asks: Which theories or approaches are the most promising, the most influential? Which are the most important now and likely to be the most important in the future? The purpose of this effort is to set out a detailed description of key theories in contemporary public administration and thus improve the reliability of our knowledge and our understanding of public administration.

“Frederickson and Smith have drawn a road map of the field’s big question- and the most promising directions for resolving them. It’s an important and lively contribution to the debate about the future of public administration theory.”

— Donald F. Kettl, University of Wisconsin, Madison

“Much of the administration theory literature is partial, polemical and difficult to penetrate. This volume is very different from that pattern. It provides the reader with a road map to access a broad range of theories. It unpacks the controversies in the field and allows the reader to gain a sense of the intellectual debates surrounding this topic.”

— Beryl Radin, University of Baltimore

“This book proves there is nothing as practical as a good theory. The Public Administration Theory Primer is an important addition to the field.”

— Brinton Milward, University of Arizona

H. George Frederickson is Distinguished Professor of Public Administration at the University of Kansas.

Kevin B. Smith is an associate professor of political science at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.