Theories of Public Organization

"The text has an intuitive sequence based on a functional approach that is roughly chronological. It introduces the basic theories as they build and respond to one another. This sequence allows students to gain an appreciation for the sweep of the discipline's history through the prism of major theoretical schools of administrative thought." - Brett Sharp, University of Central Oklahoma

Robert B. Denhardt is Professor and Director of Leadership Development in the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California, Regents Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University, and Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Delaware. A past president of the American Society for Public Administration and a member of the National Academy of Public Administration, Dr. Denhardt has published twenty-two books, including THE DANCE OF LEADERSHIP, THE NEW PUBLIC SERVICE, MANAGING HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN PUBLIC AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, THEORIES OF PUBLIC ORGANIZATION, PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: AN ACTION ORIENTATION, IN THE SHADOW OF ORGANIZATION, and THE PURSUIT OF SIGNIFICANCE. Thomas J. Catlaw is the Frank and June Sackton Chair in Public Administration and an Associate Professor in the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University on the Downtown Phoenix Campus. His research centers on the application of political and social theory to problems of governance and social change. He is the author of Fabricating the People: Politics and Administration in the Biopolitical State and has published widely on matters of public administration and democratic participation. Dr. Catlaw was editor of Administrative Theory & Praxis, an international journal dedicated to innovative and critical analysis of governmental practice, and worked previously for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in Washington, DC on issues of federal audit policy.

1. Learning about Public Organizations.
2. The Intellectual Heritage: Marx, Weber, and Freud.
3. The Political Heritage: From Wilson to Waldo.
4. The Rational Model of Organization.
5. Organizational Humanism and the New Public Administration.
6. The Policy Emphasis and the New Public Management.
7. Public Administration and the New Public Service.
8. The Practitioner as Theorist.
Appendix.
Credits.