Post-Traditional Public Administration Theory

This book describes what is argued to be the most effective way of doing public administration thinking. Its aim is to encourage governments to govern fundamentally better in terms of policy and administration. A better understanding of context and identities, imaginization, epistemic pluralism, anti-administration, and the context of economics are examples of what is critical for high effectiveness. The pieces included in this book have been handpicked from the vast academic collection that David Farmer has authored over the last thirty years and which were published in the Journal of Administrative Theory and Praxis and the Journal of Public Administration Education. Collectively, these chapters are intended to help governments use post-traditional public administration theory in order to achieve better praxis.

David John Farmer is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Public Affairs at the School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. He has worked as a budget, an administrative and an economic analyst. He was Special Assistant to the N.Y.P.D. Police Commissioner and a Division Director in the U.S. Justice Department.

Introduction 1. Contemplating Bureaucracies: A Tale of Identities - Essay 4 2. In the Pink? 3. Contemplating Cops: A Tale of Identities - Essay 1 4. Contemplating Cops: A Tale of Identities - Essay 2 5. Contemplating Bureaucracies: A Tale of Identities - Essay 3 6. Imagine! Preface to the Post-Traditional 7. Theorizing in Perspective: Epistemic Pluralism 8. The Allure of Rhetoric and the Truancy of Poetry 9. Because My Master Bathes Me 10. Mapping Anti-Administration: Introduction to the Symposium 11. Dogs of War: Fighting Back 12. Public Administration in a World of Economics 13. Coping With The Super-Abstract: Teaching About the Implications of Postmodernism for Public Administration 14. A Conversation Between Song Jinzhou and David John Farmer 15. The Ladder of Organization-Think: Beyond Flatland 16. Red Queen 17. Power Speaking v. Speaking to Power: A Discourse War? 18. Fractured Governmentality: A Night in the Emergency Room (E.R.) 19. Froglets or Fairy Tales? 20. Tonto and the Lone Ranger: Concepts Reveal, Concepts Mask 21. Expanding the Ethical Sphere 22. Medusa: Helene Cixous and the Writing of Laughter 23. Somatic Writing: Attending to Our Bodies 24. Silence 25. Power of Refusal: Introduction to the Symposium 26. Anti-Admin: With Help from Herbert Marcuse 27. Love and Un-Engineering 28. The Devil's Rope 29. Frigginomics Begins in Kindergarten: The Social Construction of "Normal" Citizens and Their Dreams 30. Wal-Mart®: Neo-Feudal (K)Night? 31. Change the Course, Neurons! 32. The Spirit of Our Age: PA-think as Uncovering 33. A Dancing Star: Arguments From Imagination