The Public Administration Theory Primer
In the past thirty years, public administration has developed more systematic patterns of inquiry about the substance of public organization 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.
Chapter 1 Introduction: The Possibilities of Theory
Chapter 2 Theories of Political Control of Bureaucracy
Chapter 3 Theories of Bureaucratic Politics
Chapter 4 Public Institutional Theory
Chapter 5 Theories of Public Management
Chapter 6 Postmodern Theory
Chapter 7 Decision Theory
Chapter 8 Rational Choice Theory and Irrational Behavior
Chapter 9 Theories of Governance
Chapter 10 Conclusion: A bright future for Theory?
The Eclectic: Art and Beyond 