[Fesler 1; Stillman 1]  Describe the nature, scope and purpose of American public administration.

[Fesler 2; Stillman 2]  Explain the formal structure and functions of American public administration.

[Fesler 2; Stillman 2]  Explain the formal structure and functions of American public administration.  Does it bear a strong resemblance to the German bureaucracy described by Max Weber (in Curtis, ed)? 

[Fesler 3 & 4]  Contrast the classical foundations of organization theory with the reformist notions of organization theory.

[Fesler 3 & 4]  Contrast the classical foundations of organization theory with the reformist notions of organization theory.  

[Fesler 3 & 4] How far [Woodrow Wilson, Norton Long] can administration be separated from politics? 

[Fesler 3 & 4]  What do the causes of these disasters tell us about the strengths and problems of formal, hierarchical [Weber] public administration? 

[Fesler 3 & 4]  Compare [Charles] the Challenger space shuttle launch, Lardner’s case of a paroled murderer; and [John Bartlow Martin] the Centralia mine disaster. 

[Fesler 3 & 4]  Which better explains the disasters we have discussed this term: the classical model, reformist (reinvention) critique or [Norton Long] the ‘political environment’ critique? 

[Fesler 5]  How is the US executive branch organized and how does it operate?

[Fesler 5; Stillman 5]  How is the US executive branch organized and how does it operate [O’Toole] within the federal system of intergovernmental relations (IGR)?  

[Fesler 5; Stillman 5] What can [Rosegrant] the polluted aquifer disaster case study tell us about relations between administrative units?

[Fesler 6; Stillman 6] Explain the nature of organizational problems, highlighting the problem of catering to informal groups 

[Fesler 6; Stillman 6] Compare the [Mayo] case study of the production line and the [Copeland] case study of a city’s personnel management problems.

[Fesler 7; Stillman 7]  Is there really a unified bureaucracy?  Compare the formal structure of the civil service (Fesler 7, Civil Service) with information networks  (Stillman: Simon, Treasury Dept) and with informal competing subsystems (Stillman 7: Stillman and the Glaspie case study) and competing ethics (Stillman 16: Waldo and Morgan). 

[Fesler 6, 7]  What problems are found in modern public organizations and are these better treated by the traditional civil service system or by reinvention-type reforms?

[Fesler 8]  Even in democracy, must an elite develop in the civil service?  If so, can it be directed towards democratic goals?

[Fesler 9; Stillman 8, 10; Lindblom on incrementalism, Woodward on Gulf War, Nagel “MOVE disaster”]  Taking classic theories of decisionmaking, what examples could one draw upon to illustrate that the practice of incremental (branch) decisionmaking is superior to the theory of rational comprehensive (root) decisionmaking.

[Fesler 9; Stillman 8, 10; Lindblom on incrementalism]  Contrast the rational-comprehensive and the incremental models of decisionmaking.  Which of them is the dominant model for public organizations?

[Hints: Fesler 9; Stillman 8, 10; Curtis (ed) Plato, Burke, Machiavelli -- versus "Excellence in Public Sector", "Liberation Management" and "Prophet of Quality"]  Taking classic theories of elite decisionmaking, what is it that propels followers of Tom Peters or Edwards Deming towards decentralized decisionmaking at the middle and lower levels of bureaucracy?

[Fesler 10] Explain the budgetary process, its philosophical origins and its difficulties of practical implementation.

[Hints: Fesler 11; Stillman 13, Sabatier & Mazmanian, Dickert] Explain the problems of implementing public sector programs with traditional bureaucracies.  

[Hints: Fesler 11; Stillman 13, Sabatier & Mazmanian, Dickert]  Does implementation fail primarily because of limitations of the civil service or because diverse populations have become too sensitive?

[Hints: Fesler 11; Stillman 13, Sabatier & Mazmanian, Dickert; "GI Bill" and "Divided Highway" videos]  Explain the problems of implementing public sector programs with traditional bureaucracies.  

"[Hints: Fesler 11; Stillman 13, Sabatier & Mazmanian, Dickert; GI Bill" and "Divided Highway" videos] 
In the light of mass-scale successful programs of the 1940s and 1950s (such as the GI Bill and the Interstate Highway system), does this mean that implementation has worsened since 1960 or that populations have become more sensitive?

[Hints: Fesler 12-13]  Compare the influences on bureaucracy in the US emanating from  the courts and from the legislative branch.  By what instruments do these shape bureaucracies' behavior, to what effect -- and which influence is stronger?

[Stillman 3; Stillman 4]  Explain the ecology theory [Gauss] and the political environment [Norton Long] of American public organizations.  

[Stillman 3; Stillman 4] How [Aron] did ecology frustrate the Migrant Health Act of 1970 in the fields of Bakersfield, CA?

[Stillman 3; Stillman 4]  Explain the ecology and the political environment of American public organizations.
 

• Woodrow Wilson's theory of the scope and purpose of public administration.
• Max Weber's essay on bureaucracy.
• rational comprehensive model of decisionmaking
• incrementalism
• elite theory
• the concept of the ecology of bureaucracy [Gauss] 
• the case of the medical clinic for campesinos [Aron].
• Mayo's discussion of the informal work group in the Hawthorne experiment.
• The use of memos versus face-to-face communication with reference to Mills' case study about prison budgeting.
• the political environment of bureaucracies [Long]
• problems of implementation
• courts' influence on bureaucracy
• Adam Smith and the Utilitarians.
• The federal budgeting process.
• Heclo's concept of issue networks.