Product Description

While skepticism about government is n enduring feature of American political culture, today's climate of anti-government sentiment has grown aggressive and even violent. Not only do citizens feel distrustful and powerless, but many public administrators too are demoralized, alienated, cynical, and even frightened. Furthermore, proposals to "reinvent government" appear to exacerbate the problems by taking government ineptness and efficiency as a given and offering solutions designed more appropriately for corporate business.

Although the question of the legitimacy of public administration has been widely addressed in scholarly literature, it is often theory-based and fairly divorced from actual administrative practices. And it is mired in the enduring tension between "beaurocracy" and "democracy". This volume, made up of a community of prominent voices in public administration theory and practice, will examine the current anti-government climate and its effect on the working lives of administrators and their relationships with citizens. It will document the sources of citizen discontent with government, explore its effects upon career civil servants' ability to do their work and attempt to understand the implications for public administration practice in an anti-government area.

谢丽尔•西姆拉尔•金，现为华盛顿常春藤州立大学MPA项目总监，曾在阿克伦大学任职，主要从事公共行政和城市管理的研究工作。她受到的训练主要是心理学和公共行政，著作集中在性别对公共管理、领导、组织理论的影响以及公共行政理论方面。她研究兴趣广泛，主要包括社区研究、治理、组织理论、政治哲学与公共行政等等。在从事学术工作以前，她曾在社区组织与私人部门中担任过多项职务。

卡米拉•斯蒂福斯，在威斯理大学获得学士学位，南加州大学获得MPA，弗吉尼亚理工暨州立大学获得博士学位。她在公共和非营利组织从事了20年的行政工作，主要是卫生服务和社区发展。1986－1987年，她是《公共卫生的未来》——全国医疗报告学院的副研究主任。1987年以来，她在华盛顿奥林匹亚常青藤州立学院教授公共行政课程。她也是《重建公共行政》一书的合作者，她的研究在许多论文集、学术刊物上发表。她是《行政与社会》期刊的编委会成员，《文化与社会的女性研究期刊》的顾问委员会成员，美国公共行政全国委员会的成员。