UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
School of Policy, Planning, and Development
Los Angeles
PPD 540: Public Administration and Society
Summer 2009 – Class 51305
Intensive Semester Syllabus Chet Newland, Professor
Module One Classes: 11-14 June 916-442-6911, ext. 24
Module Two Classes: 16-19 July
Public Administration and Society is to be completed among the first 12 units in study for the Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree. The USC catalogue description is as follows: Administrative concepts, institutions, legal systems, and practices; values; facilitation of responsibilities and rights; professional applications for personal, private sector, and public achievement.
This course is grounded in fundamentals of the field of public administration, focusing strongly on American experience, current practices, and future prospects but also embracing comparative developments of other nations and global trends and challenges. Complexities of the field that reach beyond passing movements and fads are stressed, while transitory realities – past and present and local to global – are probed.
Course Format
This intensive-semester course format is especially designed to meet scheduling needs of working adults and other busy students who have self discipline for concentrated individual study and shared work in all-day classes during four-day modules. The general schedule is as follows:
12 May – 10 June: Study all materials for Module One of the course and also examine those scheduled for Module Two to gain a strong sense of subjects and resources. Prepare short papers assigned for submission on Thursday, 11 June.
11 – 14 June: Classes meet eight hours each day, Thursday through Sunday. The first class will start at 9:00 am and end at 5:00 pm, with a late lunch break from around 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. Other days may begin earlier and/or continue later if students prefer to “bank time” to end class earlier on Sunday for the convenience of students who may need to travel long distances.
15 June – 15 July: Prepare for the second module of classes. Complete two-page outlines or initial drafts for the short two-part term paper and study to write two essays at the start of class on Thursday, 16 July. You may confer with Chet Newland, and it may be useful to consult with other students. In short, you are encouraged to collaborate with others in the class.
16 – 19 July: Classes meet each day, Thursday through Sunday. Closed-book essays will be written on Thursday from 9:00 am to 11:20 am, as explained later in this syllabus.
20 July – 19 August: Complete a two-part final term paper of 16 to 24 pages, which is explained later in this syllabus. Submit that via an email attachment to no later than 20 August. Your class essays and two-part term paper will be returned to you via Postal Service, along with evaluations, as quickly as possible after you submit your final paper.
Required Books
You may order the following books from the USC Trojan Bookstore.
1. David H. Rosenbloom and Robert S. Kravchuk, Public Administration: Understanding Management, Politics, and Law, 7th Edition (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009). For this class, please get the Seventh Edition, This book is cited in the course outline below as PA Text.
2. Jay M. Shafritz and Albert C. Hyde, Classics of Public Administration, 6th Edition (Boston: Thomson / Wadsworth, 2007). For this class, please get the Sixth Edition. Cited in the course outline below as Classics.
3. Anne-Marie Slaughter, A New World Order (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004; 2005 paperback). Cited below as Slaughter.
4. James K. Wilson, What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It (New York: Basic Books, 1989; 2000 or later edition). Cited below as Wilson.
Required Journal
The Public Administration Review (PAR) is a principal journal in the field. The Preliminary Course Outline below lists required articles from that journal. Additional, current PAR articles may be identified in the final syllabus and during class sessions. You may secure these and other journal articles on-line by using USC’s electronic library resources at http://library.usc.edu. One route there may be the SCHOLARS PORTAL, and then to eJournals, but access is frequently changed to updated portals. An alternative for PAR access is to join the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) at www.aspanet.org at a student rate. ASPA membership provides access to all back issues and current PARs, in addition to the PA TIMES. Also, the Los Angeles and Sacramento Chapters of ASPA are excellent for networking among professionals. Annual national conferences and other activities are also useful. San Jose is the site of the next national ASPA Conference, 9-13 April 2010.
Required On-Line Sources
1. On line, please study the U.S. Government’s site: www.firstgov.gov or www.USA.gov and similar sites (easily found via Google) for another nation’s government, for California State Government, for local governments of most relevance to you, and for profit and non-profit organizations related to social, economic, and political governance that define much of contemporary public administration.
2. Specifically, access printed or on-line copies of the American Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and The Federalist Papers. Those may be found at http://www.house.gov/house/Educate.shtml. In The Federalist Papers, especially examine #10, # 51, #70, and #78.
Related Books of Interest
Not required but useful for this course are vastly more publications than one may reasonably be expected to study for one course. Some that merit examination follow, and others will be recommended and summarized during class sessions.
Annenberg Democracy Project, A Republic Divided (New York: Oxford University Presss, 2007).
Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition (New York: Harper Collins Publishers/Barnes & Noble, May 2009).
Demetrios Argyriades et al., Public Administration in Transition (London: Valentine Mitchell, 2007).
Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1921).
Nicholas Carr, The Big Switch (New York: Norton, 2008)
Paul Collier, The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can be Done About It (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).
Robert B. Denhardt and Janet V. Denhardt, Public Administration: An Action Orientation (Boston: Thomson / Wadsworth, 2008/2009).
H. George Frederickson and Kevin B. Smith, The Public Administration Theory Primer (Boulder: Westview Press, 2003).
Carl Joachim Friedrich, The Philosophy of Law in Historical Perspective (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958; 1963).
Ignacio Pichardo Pagaza and Demetrios Argyriades, eds., Winning the Needed Change: Saving Our Planet Earth (Amsterdam & Washington, DC: IOS Press for IIAS, 2009).
Richard A. Posner, A Failure of Capitalism (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009).
Beryl A. Radin, Challenging the Performance Movement (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2006).
Preliminary Course Outline
This course outline identifies the general subjects of study and principal assigned readings for those. Study all the subjects and assignments by speed reading some, thinking through some in-depth, searching for additional sources of interest to you, and summarizing and reviewing key information.
Module One: 11 – 14 June 2009
I. Contemporary Public Administration Contexts, Concepts, Practices, and Sources.
A. Fundamental Contexts of the Field and Its Disciplined Study and Practice
1. Values and Standards of Constitutional Governance
a. Study the American Declaration of Independence. The U.S.
Constitution, and The Federalist Papers identified above.
b. Consider the Spring/Summer 2009 actions to appoint a new Associate
Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court. What are the criteria?
c. Consider proposals to create a new California Constitution. See
“California: The ungovernable state,” The Economist, 14 May 2009 print edition and on-line 20 May 2009 (Class Handout).
2. Contemporary Social, Economic, and Political Contexts
a. Consider the 2008 global economic collapse and subsequent, on-going
developments. Class Handout: Robert M. Solow, “How to Understand a Disaster.” Review of Judge Richard A. Posner’s book, Failure of Capitalism.
b. Governmental Budgets. Go to www.USA.gov or www.firstgov.gov and
examine President Obama’s proposed U. S. Budget for 2010, the Fiscal Year that begins October 2009. Go to www.lao.ca.gov and study reports of California’s Legislative Analyst, “Overview of the 2009-10 May Revision” (21 May 2009) and “California’s Cash Flow Crisis” (22 May 2009).
B. Sources for PPD 540 Study
1. In all four required books for this course, study the Tables of Contents,
Prefaces, Authors’ Identifications, and other useful Overview contents.
2. Examine electronic (or printed) files of the Public Administration Review
3. Learning Disciplines for PPD 540 and for a Lifetime.
a. Humility and Confidence
b. Giving and Getting Help
c. Reading and/or Studying
d. Speaking and Writing
See Merriam Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary section on
Composition Style, including Punctuation.
4. Review of Students’ Resumes and other initial papers.
C. Current Facilitative State and Contemporary Governance Frameworks. Preceding Administrative State Concepts; Garrison State Realities; Future Prospects.
1. PA Text, Chapter 1
2. PAR, Vol. 68, No. 1 (January/February 2008), pp. 36 – 60. “Junior-Senior
Exchange.” Four articles are on the American Administrative State.
3. Recent and Current Books. Several will be noted in class. Please see the book
review of one: PAR, Vol. 68, No. 4 (July / August 2008), pp. 775-777. Lawrence Jones, “Public Administration in Transition.”
4. Review pending PAR publication: IIAS book by Ignacio Pichardo Pagaza and
Demetrios Argyriades.
II. Historical Roots and Key PA Administrative State Developments.
A. Governance Prior to the Identification of Public Administration as a Distinct Field;
Late 19th Century and Early 20th CenturyReform Politics
1. Classical, Enlightenment Era, and Early Industrial Age Theories / Practices in
Europe and America.
2. Reform Politics from the American Centennial Era into the Progressive Era.
3. Asian and other Historical Developments.
B. The 20th Century Era of Big Governments Globally and the Rise of the American
Administrative State; 21st Century developments.
1. The ISMS Era in World History and Related P.A. Developments Globally.
2. The American Regulatory State>Welfare State>Garrison State>
Administrative State (& Organizational Models) > Facilitative State.
3. Timeline of Authoritative American Sources, 1887 – 1959
Classics, Articles 1 - 21.
4. PA Text, Chapter 2.
5. PAR, Vol. 67, No. 6 (November/December 2007), pp. 1041-1048.
“Administrative Management: Does the Strong Executive Theory Still Merit Our Attention?” This article by Herbert Kaufman is one of several in this PAR on The Brownlow Committee Report.
6. The Thatcher/Carter/Reagan Era of embrace of free-market economics and
view of government “as the problem,” not a problem solver. The rise of New Public Management in the U.K. and Commonwealth Nations and in America.
7. Global Market Failure in 2008 and beyond, noted above. Public Administration
prospects?
III, Structures of Governments and Other Governance Entities. Professional Roles.
A. Theories and Practices of Bureaucracy in Governments, Religious Organizations,
Businesses, etc. Classics, Articles 6 & 12 (studied earlier) plus 25, 27, 40, & 53.
B. American Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations. PA Text, Chapter 3.
Classics, Articles 24 & 51.
C. Comparative Examples: Unitary States; Confederations; International Non-
Governmental Organizations (NGOs: United Nations; World Bank; etc.)
D. The Disaggregated State (Slaughter, “ Introduction, pp. 1 – 35).
E. Theories and Practices of Local Metro-Government Conjunction (H. George
Frederickson; Councils of Government; International City/County Management Association, etc.). Google SCAG, the Los Angeles Metro Area Council of Governments and consider contents of its web site.
F. Local and State Governments
Counties, Cities, Special Districts, and other local governance frameworks.
PAR, Vol. 68, No. 2 (March/April 2008), pp. 380 – 386. “Turnover Among City Managers: The Role of Political and Economic Change,” by Barbara Coyle McCabe et al.
G. Private-Sector Governance Examples: Franchises; Subsidiaries; Equity Holdings;
Mixed Enterprises; Government-Created Organizations, etc.
H. Roles and Competencies of Public Administrators
IV. Historical and Contemporary Organization Theories and Practices.
A. Classics. Articles 4, 8, 9, 11, 16, & 18 (studied earlier) plus 22 & 48.
B. PA Text, Chapter 4.
C. Wilson, Chapter 1: “Armies, Prisons, Schools.” Except for this chapter, the Wilson
Book will be studied in Module Two of this course to provide a perceptive review via comparisons and contrasts with other materials studied.
V. Emerging and Prospective Contexts, Concepts, and Practices: Ideals / Realities?!?
A. 2009 American Political Contexts of Public Administration.
1. National/State/Local Government Officials & Parties’ Positions and Prospects
in 2009-2012.
2. Consider California voters’ rejection of all but one measure on the 19 May
2009 election. Consider Americans’ political involvements generally. What are implications for professionally expert public administration?
B. Anne-Marie Slaughter’s A New World Order. This entire book will be studied on
Sunday of Module One.
Module Two: 16 – 19 July 2009
From 9:00 am to 11:20 am on Thursday, two “closed-book”essays will be written.
VI. Private & Public Sector Human Resources (Human Capital) Management; Public
Personnel Administration and Collective Bargaining.
A. Human Resources Theories and Practices in Businesses, Governments, and Non-
Profits. Classics, Articles 14 & 20 (studied earlier) plus 36, 42, & 49.
B. PA Text, Chapter 5.
C. IIAS Book Review distributed in Module One. Consider the IIAS proposal for a
Global Public Service.
VII. Budgeting and Finance and/or Finance and Budgeting and/or Spend, Spend, Spend
and Bill Tomorrow’s Generations ?!?
A. Getting to Today
1. Government Budget Trends. Review challenging governmental financial and
budgetary struggles studied in Module One and on-going developments.
2. Classics, Articles 5 & 13 (studied earlier) plus 23, 28, 37, & 41.
B. Here and Now Concepts and Practices:
1. PA Text, Chapter 6.
2. PAR, Vol. 67, No. 4 (July/August 2007), pp. 608 - 617. “The Great Unraveling:
Federal Budgeting, 1998-2006,” by Irene Rubin, and “pp. 618 – 625, “A Comment on ‘The Great Unraveling,’” by G. William Hoagland.
VIII. Decision Making
A. Choices among Goods & Evils; Facing Contradictions; Embracing Paradoxes.
B. Practical Theory: Substantive Rationality and/or Procedural Rationality – Herbert
Simon’s concepts of Bounded Rationality and Artificial Intelligence.
Classics, Article 16 (studied earlier) and one-page handout of Simon’s June 1985
article in the American Political Science Review.