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:

mailto:[email protected]

http://college.cqpress.com/sites/adminpolitics/Home.aspx

http://www.ksgcase.harvard.edu/

Jiahuan Lu, Sample Syllabus, Public Administration

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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.


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).


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?

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