Value and Virtue in Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective (Governance and Public Management)

Palgrave Macmillan
Edition: 2011, 10/17/2011
EAN 9780230236479, ISBN10: 0230236472

Hardcover, 344 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English

The aim of this book is to clarify the ground on which public service scholars, practitioners and advisers stand in relation to values and virtues in public administration. It explores assumptions, the unspoken and unexamined things that are taken for granted in the field of serving the public good. Accordingly, Value and Virtue in Public Administration gives an account of the recent developments and progress in public sector management and public service. It describes the progress made in the discipline of public administration, in theories related to public administration and in the practice of public administration in tackling the questions surrounding values and virtues. These trends, descriptions, theories and comparisons make it possible to answer the question of how administrative ethics vary and what this variance depends upon. Featuring contributions from scholars in several different disciplines and in-depth case studies, the book concludes that under New Public Management instrumental values and consequential ethics have become dominant and more fundamental values have been neglected.

"Values and Virtues in Public Administration is a timely volume that brings together contributions from world-class scholars who remind us that values are the core of public administration. Professors Pan Suk Kim, Michiel De Vries and their collaborators offer the foundations for a post-New Public Management era in which fundamental public service values will be reasserted by both public officials and citizens."
- James L. Perry, Distinguished Professor and Chancellor's Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
 
"This excellent volume addresses the enduring problem of why 'values and virtues in public administration are not easily accomplished' although 'everything public administration does is value-bound' and 'virtuous behavior' is often 'crucial.' Seeking answers from theory and practice across the globe and time, the editors and contributors have produced an outstanding book of major importance to all who seek a deeper understanding of public administration that goes well beyond the conventional putative pillars of efficiency, economy, and effectiveness. This book is a must read for faculty and graduate students in public administration and public management."
- David H. Rosenbloom, Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, American University, Washington, DC, USA.