| Summary: |
The essays collected in this volume address several of the most central and
enduring ideas in the field of public administration. All appeared originally
either in Public Administration Review or another of the journals sponsored
by the American Society for Public Administration. This volume focuses on
themes that cross subdisciplinary and topical boundaries in the field of public
administration. They are as relevant to public budgeting as they are to
performance measurement, human resource management, and issues of diversity.
They are what Dwight Waldo, a former editor of Public Administration
Review, referred to as "political theories," that is, they deal with issues
that are ultimately unresolvable yet crucial to a sound understanding of the
nature of public administration and to good practice. In a real sense, the existence
of this volume constitutes a tribute to Waldo, whose vision of public
administration as both a set of practical techniques and a political philosophy
contributed so much to the subsequent development of the field.
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