Strategies for Governing

Alasdair Roberts is Director of the School of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is author of America's First Great Depression and The End of Protest. Follow him on X @alasdairroberts.

Overall, Strategies for Governing has broad implications for research, teaching, and practice in a variety of disciplines and subfields. The book's insights provide readers with fresh perspectives on important research questions in public administration, public policy, American politics, international relations, and comparative politics. Perhaps most notably, Roberts encourages us to return to first principles and to address the 'what' and 'how' of government.(Perspectives on Politics) Roberts has nudged us in the right direction to reawaken why public administration... is a field uniquely situated to link theory and practice at a macro-societal level... On that point alone, we all owe Roberts a great intellectual debt.(Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory) This is a thought-provoking book, one that deserves the attention of everyone in the field of public administration(Teaching Public Administration) Roberts succinctly makes a timely case in favor of large concerns about governing... While dealing with currently urgent realities of the field, the analysis makes a contribution to last.(American Review of Public Administration) Strategies for Governing has broad implications for research, teaching, and practice in a variety of disciplines and subfields. The book's insights provide readers with fresh perspectives on important research questions in public administration, public policy, American politics, international relations, and comparative politics. Perhaps most notably, Roberts encourages us to return to first principles and to address the 'what' and 'how' of government.(Perspectives on Politics) Roberts is masterful at distilling complex concepts into a digestible format, through which both new students and senior scholars can engage and argue. The book provides an opportunity to have a critical conversation about the boundaries of Public Administration.(Governance) The argument's timeliness is uncanny, given the COVID19 pandemic, police violence, and racism plaguing the nation today... Roberts's book is a real bottomless well of research ideas ready to be pursued by scholars, especially junior ones. The book would also be useful for directors of graduate programs in PA interested in equipping students with the mindset and tools to address the big picture.(Political Science Quarterly) Roberts succeeds in setting forth his charge for public administration to deemphasize the technical, efficiency-driven, myopic view of theory and practice and to urgently take on a new, bold view to meet the dangers facing us in this new century. This brief, clearly written book is a must read for academics and an essential addition to the required reading for public administration graduate students. Overall, it makes an important contribution to understanding the significance of a much-needed shift toward a macro-level analysis and the renewal of the state as we hurtle into the face of powerful change.(Journal of Military and Political Sociology)

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Time for a New Approach1. Summary of Propositions2. Acknowledging the State3. States and Societies4. Leaders and Their Goals5. Strategies for Governing6. Factors and Forces7. Laws, Organizations, Programs, and Practices8. Aspects of Institutional Stewardship9. Challenges in Strategy-Making10. The Struggle for Mastery11. Danger, Strategic Fragility, and Realism12. Time and Progress13. Unexceptionalism14. Efficiency or Extravagance15. Tight or Loose Control16. Separation or Connection17. Present or Future18. Commitment or Equivocation19. Planning or Improvisation20. Research21. Teaching22. PracticeConclusion: Grand ChallengesA Glossary of StatesFurther ReadingNotesIndex