Contained in this bibliography are listings dating from 1974 through 1975 on political science, politics, and public administration. The bulk of the documents are committee reports, conference proceedings, guides, commercially published books, and project reports. Arrangement is by author. Some entries are annotated; all citations include title,…

Describes current activities and trends in the academic area of policy studies and analyzes recommendations for improving policy studies activities, based on a 1976 national survey of chairpersons of political science departments and directors of interdisciplinary programs. (JG)

The author reports findings indicating that information resources management has not penetrated operations at the federal level successfully. Recommendations for practice include (1) changing the oversight focus to program support and long-term capacity, (2) developing a governance base, (3) providing incentives, and (4) revisiting the Paperwork…

Although local planning and budget departments are commonly separated, their decisions often interact. Using the concepts of club theory, the author addresses this interaction. He concludes that the optimum local budget and level of local development are interrelated. Marginal decision making and careful use of fiscal impact analyses are…

Presents survey data indicating that public administration education programs need to be more attuned to the professional requirements of international and U.S. students working in developing nations. Reviews instructional materials and techniques required to achieve this result.(JDH)

Describes how college students can develop a better understanding of the operation of county government as it is represented in the budget. Students analyze the budget for information relating to 1) organization and structure, 2) functions and services, 3) funding sources, 4) governmental priorities, 5) intergovernmental relationships, and 6)…

Provides an overview of public administration and its similarities to library and information science, and notes research themes in public administration (innovation, organizational development and change, decision-making and evaluation, personnel, financial concerns, marketing, dissertations). Future of public administration research and its…

Recommends that library administrators turn to public administration models in preference to business administration models for network management; this choice is predicated on the not-for-profit aspects of public service organizations. (RAA)

Argues that incrementalism's weakness is that it is another rational approach to problem solving when what is needed is a nonrational approach--creativity. Offers guidelines for improving creativity in oneself and in the work environment. (IRT)

Data were collected from 12 states with Certified Public Manager training programs to establish benchmarks. The 38 benchmarks were in the following areas: program leadership, stability of administrative/financial support, consistent management philosophy, administrative control, participant selection/support, accessibility, application of…

A survey of 462 alumni of schools that require public administration students to complete an ethics course indicates that ethics education is having a positive influence on graduates but that other factors are also influential. The ethical environment of the program must also be taken into account. (JOW)

Discusses Harmon's Accountability Paradox in relation to the accountability of public officials. Promotes the use of dialogue because its advantage outweighs its cost as a mechanism of accountability when officials confront problems that defy definition and solution and when traditional solution methods have failed. (Contains 54 references.) (JOW)

Presents a rationale for conducting training needs assessment and discusses types of analyses: organizational, task, and individual. Compares advantages and disadvantages of the following assessment methods: surveys, interviews, performance appraisals, observations, tests, assessment centers, focus groups, document reviews, and advisory…

The field of public administration is being assailed by the theory of rational voluntary action, ineffectual counterattacks to the theory, ongoing recalibration of politics and administration, and conflation and confusion of types of theories. Among 12 action items to advance the field are conceptual and operational definitions, goal-based…

U.S. cultural preoccupation with modernity has made public administration a field that emphasizes technical rationality, professionalism, and scientific rigor with little capacity to address critical societal questions. Greater attention to history would produce genuinely open inquiry. (SK)