Routledge Transformational Public Service: Portraits of Theory in Practice

Everyone who aspires to more effective public service should read this book. It provides a compelling antidote to the managerial focus of theory and practice in public administration. Written with the aim of inspiring and rekindling a mission for public service, Transformational Public Service weaves together theory and stories from actual practice to show that public service can (and does) advance the goals of democracy, inclusiveness, and social and economic justice. Eight practitioners from government and non-governmental organizations at all levels - from the street to the executive office - tell their personal stories of transformational public service. Theory, poetry, and popular culture references are woven around the stories. Both students and practitioners will discover new ways of thinking in this book that will enable them to transform their own administrative practices. As the authors note in their prologue: "As we listened to these stories, we heard people say that public service can be and is transformational (transforms institutions, practices, and people's lives and experiences) in ways that serve democracy, engagement, and social and economic justice. The public service they practice is collaborative, humanistic, emancipatory, inclusive, and diverse." Review "King and Zanetti challenge public servants to dream as do eight distinctly non-traditional change agents. The authors, and the role models they profile so well, force us to reconsider dated societal assumptions in favor of somewhat subversive commitments to the common good--such as justice, community and consensus. By transforming the assumptions under which we teach public administration and public service, this book will enliven the classroom, ultimately transforming careers, programs and outcomes in and out of government."