SUNY series in Public Administration – serie

This book analyzes the politics of state regulatory decision-making in telecommunications after the AT&T divestiture in 1984. The author takes a political-economy approach that explains how interest groups and institutional factors have shaped different state policies. He shows that the structure and composition of state regulatory institutions have important effects on pricing and competition in the telecommunications industry. The innovative methodology of this work combines qualitative empirical analysis from the entire U.S. with case studies of eight states. It identifies the deregulation winners and losers by examining the impact of changes in local and long-distance price structures on different groups, including users of telecommunications services, small businesses, residential consumers, and rural residents. The book includes recommendations for improving state policy.

This book provides descriptions, instructions, and exercises to help readers master government budgeting as it is actually practiced. University courses and training programs serving present and future state and local officials and staff will learn how to do public budgeting in this relevant, practical, and useful workbook. Each chapter presents techniques followed by step-by-step instructions complete with examples to help students learn the material. Self-test exercises conclude each chapter.

This book examines bargaining in the federal system from the perspective of a single state, New York. The central theme is mutual dependence under federalism, a dynamic relationship between states and the national government. Case studies are presented that focus on New York as influencer of, and reactor to, federal policies in the 1970's and 1980's. Cases of influence include New York's efforts to secure loan guarantees for New York City in 1975 and 1978, and to retain state and local tax deductions in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Cases of reaction involve New York's responses to the Reagan budget cuts of 1981 and to the siting of a Superconducting Supercollider near Rochester. The first book on American federalism written from the perspective of a single state, Bargaining Under Federalism makes a unique contribution to our understanding of the workings of federalism.

Viewing the public as owners rather than customers of government, this book argues that better performance by public agencies requires active and responsible citizens as well as efficient organizations.Challenging the assumptions of the "reinventing-government" movement now in vogue, this book unites a call for active citizenship with the current concern for improving public-agency performance. The author argues that citizens should not be viewed as customers of government, as reinventing-government advocates assume, but rather as government's owners. By analyzing a turn-of-the-century model of urban reform that depicts this relationship between citizens and government, Schachter shows how reinvigorating an active public is essential to increasing agency efficiency and responsiveness. She offers two strategies for moving toward active citizenship: better citizenship education, including service learning, and public agencies' provision of better-focused information for their owners. This book will spark much-needed debate on the role of active citizens in administrative reform.

Demonstrates how governmental structure and institutional rules determine who gets what in American cities.Institutional arrangements constitute the "rules of the game" for any civil and political society. To understand urban politics and policy making, including issues dealing with economic development, zoning, constituency representation, government borrowing, and service contract decisions, discovering institutional regularities is key. To achieve this the authors combine older institutional approaches emphasizing formal structure and governance organizations with newer approaches and transaction cost theory. Institutional Constraints and Policy Choice contends that institutional arrangements both shape and are shaped by human behavior, and when combined with contextual factors and the uncertainty associated with leadership turnover provide the basis of understanding how decisions are made at the level of local government.

In The Politics of State and City Administration, Abney and Lauth take a penetrating look at the relationships of state and city administrators to the people with whom they work: legislators, councilors, chief executives, and numerous interest groups seeking to influence administrative decisions and upon whom administrators depend to achieve their objectives. The analysis is based upon information obtained from national surveys of approximately 800 state and 600 city government department heads.The reader of this book will learn, for example, that governors are perceived by their department heads to be more interested in management than in policy leadership, interest groups are viewed as allies rather than enemies of state administrators, and the emergence of professionalism in administration has reduced the ability of mayors to be chief administrators. The Politics of State and City Administration will be of interest to scholars and students of public administration, state and local government, and public policy.

Examines the many issues raised by TIF, the most widely used tool of local economic and community development.This book brings together leading experts to examine the evolving nature of tax increment financing (TIF), the most widely used tool of local economic and community development. Originally designed as an innovative approach to the redevelopment of blighted areas, it has become a more general-purpose tool of economic and community development. Contributors offer case studies of the uses, structures, and impacts of TIF projects alongside more general discussions on the theoretical, financial, and legal bases for the use of TIF. They also explore its effect on overlapping jurisdictions such as cities, counties, and school districts. Some of the case studies capture TIF at its best-redeveloping areas that would likely never develop without substantial incentives. Other cases highlight questionable uses, especially where it has been used in new ways that those who developed the tool never envisioned.Originally published in 2001, the book was called "…a major contribution to the debate on the efficacy of such economic development financing tools as TIF…" by the journal Public Budgeting & Finance. Clear, comprehensive, and timely, this new edition features the latest research and thinking on TIF, including the political, legal, and even ethical issues surrounding its use.

This book argues that the "authoritarian" depiction of Frederick Taylor trivializes his important contribution. Schachter's analysis of Taylor's work shows that he actually originated many of the human relations insights that the literature attributes to Mayo, Maslow, and McGregor.Introduced are two major arguments. Through an examination of Taylor's work, a new way of understanding his actual approach to management is opened. Also discussed are the political and historical reasons that led to the distortion of his work.

Provides fresh perspectives on the teaching of ethics and values in public affairs, administration, and business in America's schools of higher education.This book offers a comprehensive selection of the latest work on teaching ethics in public administration. It presents in-depth original studies on contemporary innovations, strategies, and issues in ethics instruction and examines the most recent efforts to design ethics-education curricula that make an important difference in the lives of professional men and women. The volume features an interesting variety of program innovations from across the nation, and offers an eclectic group of pedagogical strategies, with particular relevance to on-campus learning. The contributors provide examples of ethics training in the field, focusing on three different kinds of practitioners in three different parts of the country, and deal with often-overlooked issues in the teaching of ethics such as program management, faculty-student relations, research, and consulting.

Demonstrates how governmental structure and institutional rules determine who gets what in American cities.Institutional arrangements constitute the "rules of the game" for any civil and political society. To understand urban politics and policy making, including issues dealing with economic development, zoning, constituency representation, government borrowing, and service contract decisions, discovering institutional regularities is key. To achieve this the authors combine older institutional approaches emphasizing formal structure and governance organizations with newer approaches and transaction cost theory. Institutional Constraints and Policy Choice contends that institutional arrangements both shape and are shaped by human behavior, and when combined with contextual factors and the uncertainty associated with leadership turnover provide the basis of understanding how decisions are made at the level of local government.

Assesses recent civil service reforms undertaken by state governments.Civil Service Reform in the States examines the critical importance of civil service systems in modern government and popular efforts to reform those systems. The book provides an up-to-date analysis and assessment of public personnel reforms undertaken by various state governments since 1990 and the extent to which these reforms have been implemented or resisted. With chapters written by nationally recognized experts on civil service and civil service reform, this book will appeal to public policy makers, practitioners, and students alike.Contributors include James S. Bowman, Chris Byrd, N. Joseph Cayer, Jerrell D. Coggburn, Stephen E. Condrey, Peter D. Fox, Sally C. Gertz, Steven W. Hays, Richard C. Kearney, J. Edward Kellough, Charles H. Kime, Donald E. Klingner, Robert J. Lavigna, Stefanie A. Lindquist, Katherine C. Naff, Lloyd G. Nigro, Hal G. Rainey, Norma M. Riccucci, Sally Coleman Selden, Jonathan P. West, and Samuel L. Wilkins

Assesses recent civil service reforms undertaken by state governments.Civil Service Reform in the States examines the critical importance of civil service systems in modern government and popular efforts to reform those systems. The book provides an up-to-date analysis and assessment of public personnel reforms undertaken by various state governments since 1990 and the extent to which these reforms have been implemented or resisted. With chapters written by nationally recognized experts on civil service and civil service reform, this book will appeal to public policy makers, practitioners, and students alike.Contributors include James S. Bowman, Chris Byrd, N. Joseph Cayer, Jerrell D. Coggburn, Stephen E. Condrey, Peter D. Fox, Sally C. Gertz, Steven W. Hays, Richard C. Kearney, J. Edward Kellough, Charles H. Kime, Donald E. Klingner, Robert J. Lavigna, Stefanie A. Lindquist, Katherine C. Naff, Lloyd G. Nigro, Hal G. Rainey, Norma M. Riccucci, Sally Coleman Selden, Jonathan P. West, and Samuel L. Wilkins

Challenges the limitations of modern public administration theories.In this conceptual guided tour of contemporary public administration, Jong S. Jun challenges the limitations of the discipline which, he argues, make it inadequate for understanding today's complex human phenomena. Drawing on examples and case studies from both Eastern and Western countries, he emphasizes critical and interpretive perspectives as a counterforce to the instrumental-technical rationality that reduces the field to structural and functionalist views of management. He also emphasizes the idea of democratic social construction to transcend the field's reliance on conventional pluralist politics. Jun stresses that public administrators and institutions must create opportunities for sharing and learning among organizational members and must facilitate interactive processes between public administrators and citizens so that the latter can voice their problems and opinions. The future role of public administrators will be to transcend the limitations of the management and governing of modern public administration and to explore ways of constructing socially meaningful alternatives through communicative action and the participation of citizens.

Challenges the limitations of modern public administration theories.In this conceptual guided tour of contemporary public administration, Jong S. Jun challenges the limitations of the discipline which, he argues, make it inadequate for understanding today's complex human phenomena. Drawing on examples and case studies from both Eastern and Western countries, he emphasizes critical and interpretive perspectives as a counterforce to the instrumental-technical rationality that reduces the field to structural and functionalist views of management. He also emphasizes the idea of democratic social construction to transcend the field's reliance on conventional pluralist politics. Jun stresses that public administrators and institutions must create opportunities for sharing and learning among organizational members and must facilitate interactive processes between public administrators and citizens so that the latter can voice their problems and opinions. The future role of public administrators will be to transcend the limitations of the management and governing of modern public administration and to explore ways of constructing socially meaningful alternatives through communicative action and the participation of citizens.

Legislating Bureaucratic Change is an in-depth analysis of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. This legislation, hailed by many as the major domestic achievement of the Carter presidency, was a far-reaching attempt to change and control the massive federal bureaucracy. Not since the passage of the Pendleton Act in 1883 had so major a reform been attempted.Legislating Bureaucratic Change reveals this process of change and reform. As a collection, its chapters advance our understanding of the dimensions and problems of bureaucratic change. In a larger sense, by focusing on civil service reform as public policy, the book also provides valuable insights into the ability of American policy institutions to address critical public problems.

Legislating Bureaucratic Change is an in-depth analysis of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. This legislation, hailed by many as the major domestic achievement of the Carter presidency, was a far-reaching attempt to change and control the massive federal bureaucracy. Not since the passage of the Pendleton Act in 1883 had so major a reform been attempted.Legislating Bureaucratic Change reveals this process of change and reform. As a collection, its chapters advance our understanding of the dimensions and problems of bureaucratic change. In a larger sense, by focusing on civil service reform as public policy, the book also provides valuable insights into the ability of American policy institutions to address critical public problems.

This is the first practical, step-by-step guide to a key management technique-the design of efficient, cost-effective programs. With social programs succumbing to the pressures of budgetary cutbacks and taxpayer opposition, it gives public administrators the skills to design programs that will endure even as resources decline.The author begins to bridge the gap between what is needed by society and what can be provided by government by assisting public managers in identifying and surmounting obstacles in the way of program change. He does so by synthesizing what is known about program planning as a body of knowledge with the application of programs under real life conditions. His how-to approach covers such tasks as selecting a problem for analysis, diagnosing the organizational setting, preparing a work plan, developing alternatives, collecting data, communicating results, and preparing for implementation. The exercises and exhibits included in this workbook are applicable to all areas of public service, including health and human services, social services, criminal justice, and education.

This collection is the first book-length work in many years to provide new theoretical direction to budget theory. Written by several of the most respected people in budgeting, including Allen Schick, Naomi Caiden, and Lance LeLoup, it explores such current topics as the scope of budgeting, the degree and source of variation in budgeting, and changes in budgeting process over time.New Directions will help to build a framework that is less confining than incrementalism, and will stimulate and guide future research. Some of the essays deal with the implications of looking at budgeting from a multi-year perspective, and the importance of allocating sources other than money (such as personnel ceilings); others pose questions about what a budget theory should look like, and how many budget theories are needed.

This is the first comprehensive study of the history, politics, and economics of the insurance industry in the United States. It is designed as a theoretical challenge to the conventional wisdom in political economy which says that regulation benefits the regulated. In fact, Meier shows that because the insurance industry is far too divided to impose its will on the regulatory system, the political economy of regulation is actually the product of a complex interaction of industry interests, consumer groups, insurance regulations, and political elites.Using both historical and quantitative approaches, the author examines a variety of insurance issues including the development of insurance regulation; the impact of regulation on the availability and price of insurance; the stringency of state regulation; and the product liability insurance crisis of 1985-86. The book concludes with a series of recommendations for reforming the regulation of insurance.

This is the first comprehensive study of the history, politics, and economics of the insurance industry in the United States. It is designed as a theoretical challenge to the conventional wisdom in political economy which says that regulation benefits the regulated. In fact, Meier shows that because the insurance industry is far too divided to impose its will on the regulatory system, the political economy of regulation is actually the product of a complex interaction of industry interests, consumer groups, insurance regulations, and political elites.Using both historical and quantitative approaches, the author examines a variety of insurance issues including the development of insurance regulation; the impact of regulation on the availability and price of insurance; the stringency of state regulation; and the product liability insurance crisis of 1985-86. The book concludes with a series of recommendations for reforming the regulation of insurance.