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| PSC 207 | Public Administration WEEKLY
TOPICS: (give priority to bold readings).
[Links to students' outlines.] |
Reporter |
| 8/22-26 | Starling
1, Lecture on Bureaucracy
Nature of Public Administration How can we define bureaucracy, and how is it separate from the other branches? How is public administration different from private management? How is the work of a public manager different from a businessman? |
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| Osborne,
(Library Reserve): Preface;
and Introduction: An
American Perestroika.
How do Osborne and Gaebler wish to reform American bureaucracy? What do they mean by entrepreneurial government? What are their qualifications for the job? What does Perestroika mean? What was the progressive movement? What is the 1992 environment of their writing? What services do they think government or business will perform better? |
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| 8/29-9/2 | Starling
2, The Political-Legal Environment
of Administration.
How do agencies connect their management strategy to a political strategy? What steps are needed to implement a program? How does an agency make an interpretive rule? How are agencies checked by the public, Congress and appointees? What does a court consider in checking an agency? What are the bases of individual powers in administration? |
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| McTigue, "Rolling
Back Government: Lessons from New Zealand".
OMBwatch, "The Budgetary Control Act of 2011: FAQs" |
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| 9/5-9 | Starling
3, Intergovernmental Relations*.
What types of jurisdictions are there in the US? What eras have existed of federal-state relations? How have federal grants evolved? How has the role of the Supreme Court evolved? |
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| Osborne
1, Catalytic
Government: Steering Rather Than Rowing.
How can government function best? Delivering services directly -- of directing those who do? |
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| 9/12-16 | Starling
4, Administrative Responsibility
and Ethics.
What to Madison were "auxiliary precautions"? What are the core values of public administration? What makes a customer-driven program? What are the key ideas of the New Paradigm? Can you sue a civil servant for wrong doing? |
|
| Goodsell 2, (Library Reserve): What
Citizens Experience from Bureaucracy.
How does reported citizen experience with bureaucracy differ from the ideological view of bureaucracy? In what ways do customer surveys support Goodsell's thesis? Are performance measures a better way to measure how well bureaucracies perform? What are the weaknesses (if any) of the data to support Goodsell's thesis? The AL constitution of 1901, preparing for Dr. Flynt's lecture NEW |
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| 9/19-23 | Tues. 20
Sep.: Prof. Wayne Flynt, Leading southern historian, will discuss with
207 and then lecture to the public, as part of President West's new Public
Affairs speaker series.
Biography on Wkpda | TEST 1 Thursday, Mixture of multiple choice, identifications and essays, covering all materials above this line. |
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| 9/26-30 | Starling
5, Planning.
What is the relationship of planning, policies and goals? What is the rational planning approach? What is the logical incremental approach? What are vision plans, urban & contingency plans? How should an organization manage a crisis? What is the trade-off between prevention and services? How can an agency measure performance? |
|
| Philip
Shenon, "The Terrible Missed Chance," Newsweek 12 Sep. 2011NEW
[Dbox]
Zev Chafets, "America's Mayor Wants a job," Newsweek 12 Sep. 2011 NEW [Dbox] web fun,The Dam: an official letter about an environmental problem in Pennsylvania |
John P
Zach
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| Howard
Balanoff (ed), Annual Editions: Public Policy & Administration
(2006),
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| Osborne
4, Mission-Driven Government:
Transforming Rule-Driven ...
How can agency missions be a better guide than detailed rules? How do formal reforms of agencies fail to improve them? Is it better to allow agencies to retain their savings instead of returning them? Should managers be able to move personnel down or sideways, not only upwards? How did the China Lake personnel experiment work? |
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|
| Goodsell 3, More
Bureaucracy Myths to Delete.
Does the nature of bureaucracy determine that it will always behave the same way? Does bureaucracy unfairly discriminate? Is business more efficient than bureaucracy? Is bureaucracy backward in the way it operates? |
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| 10/3-7 | Starling
6, Decision Making.
Lecture on the rational comprehensive model of decisionmaking versus the incremental model (with examples that are not in Starling). What steps must managers take to make decisions? What analytical techniques help in making decisions? How does a manager control for biases? What role does research play in decisionmaking? |
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| Inside the FBI: Fedoras to Flak Jackets (video, part) | ||
| 10/10-14 | Starling
7, Organizing.
What are the elements of organizational design? What are the scalar principle, and span of control? What are Max Weber's key features of the bureaucratic structure? What are the weaker characteristics of bureaucracy? How does a matrix organization function? How do teams differ from networks? What causes reorganizations? How should you design a new organization? |
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| Inside the FBI: Fedoras to Flak Jackets (video continued) | Nick | |
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10/17-21
|
Organizing, continued
Howard Balanoff (ed), Annual Editions: Public Policy & Administration (2006), NEW 28. Smart Growth: Why We Discuss It More Than We Do It, Anthony Downs, 2005 8. "There was no plan -- A Louisiana Perspective," Evan Berman, Thomas Lynch, et al. [DBX] 30. Rebuilding a Beautiful Mess, Clay Risen, 2005 [Hurricane Katrina] [DBX] 31. On the Gulf: Too Little, Too Late, Craig Pittman, 2005 [Hurricane Katrina] [DBX] NEW |
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- Abby
Brittney Ariel |
| Starling
8, Leading.
Distinguish between visible and invisible aspects of program management. What types of group objectives are there? What types of leadership style are there? What can motivation and training achieve? How does the humanist school improve performance? How can a manager lead change? How does organizational development bring cultural change? Inside the FBI: Fedoras to Flak Jackets (video continued) |
- - - - - - - Nick |
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10/24-28
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Leading, continued
Howard Balanoff (ed), Annual Editions: Public Policy & Administration (2006), 9. Abu Ghraib: A Case of Moral and Administrative Failure, Saundra J. Reinke, 2006 [DBX] NEW Dickey, Christopher. 2011. "Greece on the Skids" Newsweek 3 Oct. 2011. [DBX] NEW Gellman, Barton. 2011. "How the G-Man Got his Groove Back: Inside Bob Mueller's 10-year campaign to Fix the FBI." Time [DBX] NEW |
- Abby
Brandon Zach - |
| Starling
9, Implementation.
Why do new social programs create great challenges? How does game theory explain implementation? How does privatization affect government's role in society? What are the costs and benefits of contracting out? How is the acquisition process regulated? What is the Total Quality Management approach? How can the PDCA cycle improve administration? What is the objective of compliance management? How can backward mapping and reengineering change an organization? |
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| Howard
Balanoff (ed), Annual Editions: Public Policy & Administration
(2006)
35. The Community Communication Network, Louis Bezich, 2006 [DBX] NEW 15. GovBenefits.gov: A Valuable E-Government Tool for Citizens, Patrick Pizzella, 2005 [DBX] NEW 24. Moving Medicine Forward, Shane Peterson, 2006 [DBX] NEW Howard Balanoff (ed), Annual Editions: Public Policy & Administration (2006), |
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Nick Zach Brandon - - - |
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| TEST 2 Thursday, Mixture of multiple choice, identifications and essays, covering all materials above this line | |
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| 10/31-11/4 | Starling
10, Human Resources Management.
[Evaluation
Discontinued]
What have been the six periods of federal personnel management? Which statutes have reshaped personnel management? How has the US supreme court affected privacy rights? How does culture affect organizational performance? How can managers use symbolism to lead? What are the questions of human resource planning? What are the major personality traits? How does collective bargaining affect the public sector? |
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| Howard
Balanoff (ed), Annual Editions: Public Policy & Administration
(2006),
5. Performance Measurement: Test the Water Before You Dive In, Arie Halachmi, 2005 7. Managing High-Risk Outsourcing, Emanuele Padovani and David Young, 2006 12. Leadership in Your Midst: Tapping the Hidden Strengths of Minority Executives, Hewlett, Luce, and West, 2005 |
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- Nick - |
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| 11/7-11 | Note, Nov.
2011: This topic has switched with Financial Management, now in week 14.
JRT Lewis, Lecture on the development of federal information policy [PPT] JRT Lewis "From Formal-passive to Informal-active Transparency: Freedom of Information, eGovernance and WikiLeaks," [PDF] paper presented to the First Global Conference on Transparency Research, Rutgers University, 19 May 2011. JRT Lewis, "Electronic Access to Public Records," (2000b). How was the FOIA adapted to the Internet -- and how does the internet change the way official records are released to the public? [Lewis, 2000b, 2010a] In what ways did the W. Bush and Obama administrations contrast in their handling of official information? [Lewis, 2010b] Articles on open government, freedom of information |
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| 11/14-18 | Starling
12, Information
Management.
Distinguish between data and information. What makes for high quality information? What decisions do managers need to make about info tech? What factors reduce distortion in communications? What biases may occur in in/formal info networks? How can data mining reveal relationships? How can we secure info networks? Give six types of info tech used to share info. Give 8 "C"s of effective communications. What decisions do managers need to make about info tech? |
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| Howard
Balanoff (ed), Annual Editions: Public Policy & Administration
(2006),
20. Privacy Concerns, Merrill Douglas, 2006 22. E-Waste Epidemic, Sherry Watkins, 2006 23. Find It Fast, Adam Stone, 2006 ePaper: deliverable via email by Sun. 20 Nov. at 7 pm. |
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| Thanksgiving week: no classes | ||
| 11/28-12/2 | Starling
11, Public Financial management.
What are the four phases of the budget cycle? When did the federal budget become annual? What is the scale of the federal budget? What does the federal budget spend most money on? Whence does the federal government derive its revenue? Distinguish between traditional and new performance budgeting. What are the two types of strategies in the budget process? Give the three pragmatic concepts of a tax system. What are the two legal categories of federal spending items? |
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| Howard
Balanoff (ed), Annual Editions: Public Policy & Administration
(2006),
17. Our Nation’s Financial Condition and Fiscal Outlook: Shaping the Future of the Federal Government, David M. Walker, 2005 18. Enron/Andersen: Crisis in U.S. Accounting and Lessons for Government, Richard E. Brown, 2005 |
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| Comprehensive
final exam 0830 F 9 Dec., of multiple choice and essay questions,
in classroom.
Note: Owing to his 2011 conference presentation in Slovakia, Dr. Lewis will hold the 201 final exam in week 14, the written section on Tuesday and the multiple choice on Thursday. |