PAD 500
Public Administration and Policy
500- Core requirement for the MPA
SUNY Buffalo State
Department of Political Science – Public Administration Division
Instructor / Dr. Laurie BuonannoDepartment / Political Science
Office Phone / 878-5037(voicemail)
Office Address / B214 Classroom Building
How to reach me:
PRIVATE MATTERS
PUBLIC MATTERS
OFFICE HOURS / Please communicate about private matters via MyMessages. (Located on the Navigation Bar.) Private matters are those that would typically be asked during my office hours (about your grades, class absences – that concern you only and not the class).
For any correspondence such as due dates for quizzes, a broken web link, questions regarding expectations concerning assignments – that is, anything that you would typically ask by raising your hand in a f2f class – post to the INTERNET CAFÉ.
Tuesdays 1:30-5:30 PM; Thursdays 4:30-5:30 PM
Course Description
This is the foundational course for graduate students of public administration in MPA programs. The course begins with an analysis of the different interpretations and definition of public administration in the American context particularly with respect to separation of powers and federalism. The next two modules take us “inside” public administration where we study street-level bureaucracy, bureaucratic organization, and public service culture. As we will learn in this course, it is often difficult to separate “politics” from “policy,” just as, especially among senior civil servants, it can be difficult to distinguish the “bureaucrat” from the “politician.” Therefore, the next module in this course introduces some policymaking concepts informing the study of US public policy. By the 1980s, “New Public Management” (NPM) was becoming an important approach that threatened to replace traditional public administration as the dominant paradigm in the field. We will examine NPM through its most influential contribution to public administration – that of performance-based measurement. The penultimate module focuses on government by proxy, which is a shorthand term used to denote a number of now well-established practices in which federal, state, and local governments contract out the provision of government services and forge collaborative private-public partnerships (P3s). The course ends with a consideration of present and future trends in the study of public administration: 1) the extent to which public administration should strive to achieve social equity in American society (sometimes referred to as “New Public Administration); 2) public governance (citizen participation, transparency, accountability); and, 3) future challenges arising from government by proxy.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
The Public Administration Division is an Associate Member of NASPAA[1]. This course is designed to meet NASPAA’s Learning Outcomes:
· To be able to lead and manage in public governance.
· To participate in and contribute to the public policy process.
· To analyze, synthesize, think critically, solve problems, and make decisions.
· To articulate and apply a public service perspective.
· To communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce and citizenship.
COURSE READINGS
Texts
All three of the course textbooks are available online through ebrary with your Buffalo State network ID and password. I also have included these books in an ebrary shared folder entitled PAD 500. I have listed all of the URLs below.
1. Kettl, Donald F. 2002. The Transformation of Governance: Public Administration for the Twenty-First Century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
http://proxy.buffalostate.edu:2055/lib/buffalostate/detail.action?docID=10021560
Originally published in 2002, Kettl recently (2015) published an updated edition. The only difference in the 2002 (available on ebrary) and 2015 is an Epilogue in the 2015, “Epilogue: Governance at the Boundaries.” Therefore, we can utilize the 2002 e-book. I have uploaded an article to Bb Kettl recently published examining the latest developments in the field of public administration. This article, which we will read in our final module, covers the same material as found in the 2015 Epilogue.
2. Steven Maynard-Moody and Michael Musheno. 2003. Cops, Teachers, Counselors: Stories from the Front Lines of Public Service. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
http://proxy.buffalostate.edu:2055/lib/buffalostate/reader.action?docID=10405224
Interest in studying front-line public servants as bureaucrats in their own right began with Michael Lipsky’s Street-Level Bureaucracy (1980), which in 2010 was updated in a 30th Anniversary Edition (2010). Cops, Teachers, Counselors: Stories from the Front Lines of Public Service is in this research tradition, and utilizes storytelling analysis to study the policymaking power of street level bureaucrats/workers.
3. Janet V. Denhardt and Robert B. Denhardt. 2015. New Public Service: Serving, Not Steering. 4th Edition. New York: Routledge.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/buffalostate/detail.action?docID=11032160
The article which inspired this book was recently voted as one of the 75 most influential articles published in Public Administration Review. Now in its fourth edition, this book stands as a leading defense of “New Public Service” (aka “New Public Governance”), a paradigm which arose in part to challenge NPM.
Shared Folder on Ebrary
These texts and other relevant books are also available through our shared folder “PAD 500” for this course:
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/buffalostate/viewFolder.action?sharedKey=AIBJOUXVVKMCTTBZFJDOJLLNHLUSSKOJ&userName=buonanl
Articles, Lectures, Book Reviews
Additional course readings are either posted to, or linked through our Bb course site. A complete list of articles is found in the Bb folder labeled “Course Readings.”
Learning Modules & DUE Dates* -
commentaries, quizzes, final paper
LEARNING MODULES / Module Open/Close / CommentaryDue Date -
1 per module / Responses
Due Date -
2 per module / Quiz
Due Date
Module 1
Public Administration in the American System / Monday, August 31/Saturday, Friday September 11 / Saturday, September 5 / Friday September 11 / Saturday, September 12
Module 2
Street Level Bureaucrats / Sunday, September 13/Friday, September 25 / Saturday, September 19 / Friday, September 25 / Saturday, September 26
Module 3
Bureaucrats and Bureaucratic Politics / Sunday, September 27/Friday, October 9 / Saturday, October 3 / Friday, October 9 / Saturday, October 10
Module 4
Policy Making / Sunday, October 11/Friday, October 23 / Saturday, October 17 / Friday, October 23 / Saturday, October 24
Module 5
New Public Management / Sunday, October 25/Friday, November 6 / Saturday, October 31 / Friday, November 6 / Saturday, November 7
Module 6
Government by Proxy? / Sunday, November 8/Friday, November 20 / Saturday, November 14 / Friday, November 20 / Saturday, November 21
Thanksgiving Week (November 22- 28) No assignments due
Module 7
Issues & Trends / Sunday, November 29/Friday, December 11 / Saturday, December 5 / Friday, December 11 / Saturday, December 12
Final Paper / Due Thursday, December 17
*All assignments due by 11:59 PM. (See late assignment policy, below.)
Course Requirements / POINTSModule Quizzes (7 @ 55 points each) / 385
Conferences (7 @ 55 points each) / 385
Final Paper (6-8 pages including APA 6th Works Cited,) – recommend CWUW EndNote (I will hold a lab session to demonstrate its use)
Students select from the topics listed on Bb. A required style guide and grading rubric is located in the assignment – click “Rubric.” / 230
TOTAL / 1000
Use this chart to compare accumulated points on Bb gradebook with your letter grade.
A / A- / B+ / B / B- / C+ / C / C- / D+ / D / E≥930 / 900 / 870 / 830 / 800 / 770 / 730 / 700 / 670 / 630 / ≤590
Required Readings in Each Course Module
Module 1 Public Administration and American GovernmentRequired Readings:
Wilson, W. (1887). The Study of Administration. Political Science Quarterly, June. (Bb)
Stillman, Chapter 1, The Search for the Scope and Purpose of Public Administration (Bb)
Stillman, Chapter 1, The Study of Public Administration in the US (Bb)
Denhardt and Denhardt. (2015). The New Public Service: Serving, Not Steering. 4th Edition. New York: Routledge. CHAPTER 1
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/buffalostate/detail.action?docID=11032160
Kettl, Chapter 1 – Administrative Paradoxes
Kettl, Chapter 2 – Administrative Traditions
Kettl, Chapter 3 – Administrative Dilemmas
http://proxy.buffalostate.edu:2055/lib/buffalostate/detail.action?docID=10021560
Madison, J.Federalist Papers #10 and #51. http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html
The US Constitution https://www.congress.gov/constitution-annotated/
Module 2 Street Level Bureaucrats
Required Reading:
Steven Maynard-Moody and Michael Musheno (2003). Cops, Teachers, Counselors: Stories from the Front Lines of Public Service. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. (ENTIRE BOOK)
http://proxy.buffalostate.edu:2055/lib/buffalostate/reader.action?docID=10405224
Module 3 Bureaucrats and Bureaucratic Politics
Required Readings:
Stillman, Chapter 7 – Key Decision Makers Inside Public Administration: The Concept of Competing Bureaucratic Subsystems/Inside Public Bureaucracy
Kettl, Chapter 4 – Boundaries within the Bureaucracy
Kettl, Chapter 5 – Boundaries outside the Bureaucracy
http://proxy.buffalostate.edu:2055/lib/buffalostate/detail.action?docID=10021560
Landau, M. (1969). Redundancy, Rationality, and the Problem of Duplication and Overlap Public Administration Review (Vol. 29, pp. 346-358).
Rourke, F. E. (1993). The 1993 John Gaus Lecture: Whose Bureaucracy Is This, Anyway? Congress, the President and Public Administration. PS: Political Science and Politics, 23(4), 687-692.
Module 4 Policy Making
Required Readings:
Lowi, T. (1972). Four Systems of Policy, Politics, and Choice.Public Administration Review, 32(4), 298-310. (Bb)
Kingdon, J. How Does an Idea’s Time Come? Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (Bb)
Stone, D. (2012) Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making. New York: W.W. Norton – Introduction & Conclusion (one pdf on Bb)
Lindblom, C. E. (1959). The Science of "Muddling Through." Public Administration Review, 19(2), 79-88.(Bb)
Module 5 New Public Management
Required Readings:
Holzer, Marc and Richard Schwester. (2011) Public Administration: An Introduction.New York: M.E. Sharpe. Chapter 7, Public Performance (Bb)
Sparrow (2015) Measuring Performance in a Modern Police Organization. New Perspectives in Policing, March (Bb)
Module 6 Government by Proxy? Private-Public Partnerships (P3s)
Required Readings:
Milward, H. B., & Provan, K. G. (2000). Governing the Hollow State. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 10(2), 359-379.
Kettl, Chapter 6 Administration and Governance
http://proxy.buffalostate.edu:2055/lib/buffalostate/detail.action?docID=10021560
Module 7 New Public Administration, New Public Governance & Trends in the Study and Practice of Public Administration
Required Readings:
New Public Administration – Social Equity
Frederickson, G. H. (2010). Chapter 5, The State of Social Equity in American Public Administration in Social Equity and Public Administration: Origins, Developments, and Applications. Armonk, NY, USA, M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
http://proxy.buffalostate.edu:2055/lib/buffalostate/reader.action?docID=10425390&ppg=24
New Public Governance/New Public Service – Citizen Participation
Nabatchi, Tina. (2010). Addressing the Citizenship and Democratic Deficits: The Potential for Deliberative Democracy for Public Administration. The American Review of Public Administration, 40(4): 376-388.
Denhardt and Denhardt. (2015). The New Public Service: Serving, Not Steering. 4th Edition. New York: Routledge. Chapters 2-12 (the remainder of the book – you read Chapter 1 in Module 1.)
Future Trends in American Public Administration
Kettl, The Job of Government (Bb)
Assessments
Quizzes
The module quizzes are a combination of objective and subjective questions. They are housed on Bb. Due by 11:59 p.m. No late quizzes are accepted.
Conferences (Discussion boards)
There is a conference (discussion board) for each course/content module.
Group Discussions – For classes enrolling 15 or more students, there are two discussion groups. To find your group, click “Groups Discussion Fora” in the Navigation Box. Click your group name (it will be 1 or 2), scroll down to “Group Tools” and click “Group Discussion Board.”
Required Number of Posts per Module - THREE (1 commentary and 2 responses)
Commentary: You are responsible for posting ONE commentary (about ½ page TimesRoman 12 or 250 words) to the conference (discussion board). You must cite assigned textbook readings.You may draw from outside readings and personal experience in addition (not in place of) assigned readings. Always cite your sources, even for assigned readings.
*If you are assigned a discussion question, it must be used as the basis for your commentary.*
(See discussion rubric, below, for detailed guidance.)
PRE-ASSIGNED DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
I post discussion questions and pre-assign questions (in classes enrolling 15 or more students I often assign questions, especially in the earlier modules).
Sometimes I will assign more than one student to the same question. If this is the case, check to see if your classmate has posted his/her commentary first – you should post your commentary as a “RESPONSE” to his/her commentary. Read his/her first and formulate your commentary as a direct dialogue.
This is a conference (discussion), and I am looking for engagement. If you are new to online conferencing, just keep in mind that conferencing is meant to simulate in-class discussion in f2f classes.
Responses:
TWO response posts are required in each module. Discussion grading rubric applies to response posts (MUST be substantive and sourced). The two responses should be posted as follows:
1. Response post must be made to a student who has responded to your commentary.
2. Other response posts in any other thread.
LATE POSTS: I do not grade commentaries and responses posted after the due date.
Commentary content & process (further elaborated)-
Your commentary must contain these components:
a. Must directly address the discussion question posed. (Cut and paste the question at the beginning of your commentary.)
b. Must have a central thesis/question that is subject to argumentation.
c. Must cite a required reading.
d. Compose commentary in Word or other word processing program.
e. Write 250-300 words, properly proofread: be sure to enable Word’s grammar (green line) and spelling (red line). Do not ignore the red and green lines—fix the problem before posting.
f. Cut and paste (CtrlC-CtrlV) into the discussion board.
g. Post Title: Should be descriptive of the question you are addressing from the discussion list.
Conferencing Roles: Students and Professor
Student’s Role in Conferencing
Conferences are primarily in the hands of the students.
Always cite sources and include URLs when obtaining material from the internet or Butler’s electronic sources.
In your responses, augment the information posted to the discussion with NEW and substantiated information. I want the web discussion to occur naturally rather than to be overly managed by me, the instructor. Get on the discussion board. See what people have written. Post as early as possible, but no later than the dates listed on the course calendar. This gives your classmates a chance to respond to your posts.
Professor’s Role in Conferencing
I read and assess all posts. I assign a grade after the module has closed and provide written feedback. You will see your grade in your gradebook – dropdown box when you hover over grade to read my feedback.