The Public Administration Workbook

Public administration is a craft that demands real-world application of concepts and theories often learned in a classroom. Yet many students find it difficult to make the leap from theory to practice unaided. The Public Administration Workbook, Ninth Edition is specifically designed with the theoretically grounded, practice-oriented student in mind. It reviews scholarship in political science, law, industrial psychology, and the sociology of organizations and then allows students to see how these intellectual fields inform the analytical and managerial tasks that comprise public administration. Where standard public administration textbooks examine the nature of public agencies and explain how bureaucracies relate to other institutions, this workbook promotes a more effective way of learning--by doing--and more directly prepares those who will pursue careers in public agencies.

Each chapter begins with a discussion of relevant concepts and scholarship before moving on to a hands-on exercise analyzing core analytical and management challenges. This edition incorporates nonprofit management into the discussion and examples in each chapter and explores the opportunities and challenges of AI for public administration. It also addresses the Trump presidency, recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, the effects of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work changes to workforce dynamics, and capital budgeting and public budgeting needs. The book is further supported by a detailed Instructor’s Manual written by the author to guide instructors on solutions, explanations, and ideas for using or modifying the exercises to fit a variety of course needs. The Instructor’s Manual for the ninth edition offers suggestions for incorporating AI into specific exercises and into public administration more generally.

The Public Administration Workbook, Ninth Edition is an essential textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses on public administration in continuing education and professional training programs, as well as degree courses.

Dennis L. Dresang is Professor Emeritus of Public Affairs and Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.