Lesson-drawing in Public Policy introduces readers to a novel way of thinking about the familiar problems of public policy. It sets out the crucial questions that must be asked in order to draw logical and empirically sound conclusions from observing experiences in the past, or in other places.
Washington Information Directory is the essential one-stop source for information on U.S. governmental and nongovernmental agencies and organizations. WID provides capsule descriptions that help users quickly and easily find the right person at the right organization. With more than 10,000 listings, the 2011- 2012 edition of WID features: * Thoroughly researched coverage of the Obama administration, the Supreme Court, immigration, health care, consumer safety, mortgage/student loans, the housing and credit crises, privacy and security, and political participation * Information on groups involved with war and conflict issues, including lobbying groups active in international affairs and antiwar movements * Fully updated contact information for the 111th Congress, Second Session * At-a-glance boxes with Congressional committee and subcommittee information * Information on new agencies and posts PLEASE CONFIRM ALL OF THIS WID also features up-to-date contact information for the high-level advisory positions or "czar" appointed by President Obama that oversee: * The auto industry * Green energy * Health-care * Technology * Stimulus accountability WID provides contact information for: * Congress and federal agencies * Nongovernmental organizations * Policy groups, foundations, and institutions * Governors and other state officials * U.S. ambassadors and foreign diplomats Key Features * Contact information for Congress, federal agencies, international, national, and local organizations and offices * Reference boxes and organization charts augmenting the text * Three easy ways to find information: name, organization, and subject indexes
How Public Managers Can Take Control of Information Technology
Billions of dollars are spent each year on technology in cities and states, from desktop computers to mainframes. It is impractical for non-specialists to master the complex inner-workings of these new technologies, yet public managers' reliance on information technology to govern effectively make IT planning and implementation crucial. Two respected journalists from Governing magazine provide a unique, nuts-and-bolts guide to help current practitioners, as well as students who will become tomorrow's city and state managers, successfully oversee IT specialists and maximize the potential of IT systems. This first book in the Governing Management Series draws on the authors' involvement in the Government Performance Project (conducted by the Syracuse's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs). Barrett and Greene, after conducting nearly 100 interviews with practitioners on the front lines, look systematically at the best practices of cities and states that garnered high grades in the study. They offer real-world and up-to-the-minute guidance about procurement, strategic planning, training, out-sourcing, standardization, project management, cost-benefit analysis, and the appropriate use of the Internet in the public sector. Powering Up features summary take-away points and three in-depth case studies, pointing readers to both innovations to emulate and pitfalls to avoid.
Federal Education Policy Meets State and Local Realities
What happens when federal officials try to accomplish goals that depend on the resources and efforts of state and local governments? Focusing on the nation's experience with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Manna's engaging case study considers just that question. Beyond the administrative challenges NCLB unleashed, Collision Course examines the dynamics at work when federal policymakers hold state and local governments accountable for results. Ambitions for higher performance collide with governing structures and practices. Were the collisions valuable for their potential to transform education policy, or has the law inflicted too much damage on state and local institutions responsible for educating the nation's youth? The results have been both positive and negative. As Manna points to increased capabilities in states and localities, he also looks at expanded bureaucratic requirements. Collision Course offers a balanced and in-depth assessment of a policy that has sparked heated debate over a broad expanse of time- from NCLB's adoption through its implementation to the Obama administration's attempts to shift away. Federalism, the policymaking process, and the complexity of education policy all get their due in this accessible and analytical supplement.
The study of governance has risen to prominence as a way of describing and explaining changes in our world. The SAGE Handbook of Governance presents an authoritative and innovative overview of this fascinating field, with particular emphasis on the significant new and emerging theoretical issues and policy innovations. The Handbook is divided into three parts. Part one explores the major theories influencing current thinking and shaping future research in the field of governance. Part two deals specifically with changing practices and policy innovations, including the changing role of the state, transnational and global governance, markets and networks, public management, and budgeting and finance. Part three explores the dilemmas of managing governance, including attempts to rethink democracy and citizenship as well as specific policy issues such as capacity building, regulation, and sustainable development. This volume is an excellent resource for advanced students and researchers in political science, economics, geography, sociology, and public administration. Mark Bevir is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.
Publicness appears to be in decline or retreat in the face of markets, consumerism and individualism. Yet questions of public participation, public governance and the reform of public services are at the top of the political agenda in many countries. Publics, Politics and Power offers an innovative analysis of the changing fortunes of publicness. The book " Explores the emergence of new forms, sites and practices of publicness and the implications for public services. " Examines the remaking of the public in the context of new formations of the nation, where issues of migration, diversity and faith challenge traditional forms of solidarity and citizenship. " Traces the emergence of hybrid organizational forms and new strategies for governing publics and public services. " Assesses some of the ways in which the public domain is being recast around notions of civil society, community, and populist participatory politics. Chapters include vignettes illustrating the book's core concepts, making this a useful teaching resource and valuable reading for students of public management, public and social policy, sociology and cultural studies, and for those working in public services. Janet Newman is a Professor of Social Policy at the Open University, and Director of the Publics Research Programme within the Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance. John Clarke is a Professor of Social Policy at the Open University. His research has centred on conflicts over the future of welfare states, public services and citizenship in the UK and elsewhere.
Power, Politics and Ideology in the Remaking of Social Welfare
This work provides an analysis of the creation of new state forms in the remaking of social welfare. The authors examine critically the political forces that enabled "more and better management" to be presented as a solution to the problems of the welfare state; analyze the micro-politics of change within public services; present an incisive and dynamic account of the restructuring of the British welfare state by drawing links between politics, policies and organizational power; address the tensions and contradiction in the managerial state; and trace the emergence of new dilemmas in the provision of public services. They show that these dilemmas are connected to the recurring problems of defining "the public" that receives these services. In particular, they question whether the reinvention of the public as either a nation or consumers or a nation of communities can effectively address the impications of social diversity.
Publicness appears to be in decline or retreat in the face of markets, consumerism and individualism. Yet questions of public participation, public governance and the reform of public services are at the top of the political agenda in many countries. Publics, Politics and Power offers an innovative analysis of the changing fortunes of publicness. The book " Explores the emergence of new forms, sites and practices of publicness and the implications for public services. " Examines the remaking of the public in the context of new formations of the nation, where issues of migration, diversity and faith challenge traditional forms of solidarity and citizenship. " Traces the emergence of hybrid organizational forms and new strategies for governing publics and public services. " Assesses some of the ways in which the public domain is being recast around notions of civil society, community, and populist participatory politics. Chapters include vignettes illustrating the book's core concepts, making this a useful teaching resource and valuable reading for students of public management, public and social policy, sociology and cultural studies, and for those working in public services. Janet Newman is a Professor of Social Policy at the Open University, and Director of the Publics Research Programme within the Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance. John Clarke is a Professor of Social Policy at the Open University. His research has centred on conflicts over the future of welfare states, public services and citizenship in the UK and elsewhere.
This unique historical and genealogical resource draws on the extraordinarily intact legislative, judicial, religious, and personal records of members of the first Maryland legislature. The two-volume set contains profiles of nearly fifteen hundred men who served in the state's legislature in the first 150 years after Maryland's founding.The major ......