Knowledge of Public Administration
Throughout the program, a wide array of public administration concepts were covered, starting with their historical roots and continuing with arguments advocated by current practicioners and academics. Below is a sampling of several broad areas of public administration knowledge.
The Policy Cycle and Implementation of Public Policy
Using the policy cyle of agenda setting, formulation, adoption, implementation and evaluation, this framework gives a public administrator a powerful tool to analyze how policy comes to fruition. Above, I discuss Jeffrey Pressman and Aaron Wildavsky's classic Implementation: How Great Expectations in Washington are Dashed in Oakland; Or Why It's Amazing that Federal Programs Work at All to emphasive the importance of implementation. During the development of new public policy, careful consideration of how it will be implementation will determine the policy's success or failure.
Managing Human Resources within Government
The challenges government faces at all levels with the coming retirement wave is compounded by outdated methods to manage its employees. Here, a strategic plan to create a new (fictional) federal department employs innovative techniques in hiring, performance management, employee relations, classification and compensation, etc. to create a flexible government workforce capable of meeting new challenges.
As I have an interest pursuing a career in local government, it has been essential to understand the inter-realtionships between various levels and branches of government. This writing discusses some broader concepts of fiscal federalism.