Cornell University Press Strategies for Governing: Reinventing Public Administration for a Dangerous Century

With the fields of public administration and public management suffering a crisis of relevance, Alasdair Roberts offers a provocative assessment of their shortfalls. The two fields, he finds, no longer address urgent questions of governance in a turbulent and dangerous world. Strategies for Governing offers a new path forward for research, teaching, and practice. Leaders of states, Roberts writes, are constantly reinventing strategies for governing. Experts in public administration must give advice on the design as well as execution of strategies that effective, robust, and principled. Strategies for Governing challenges us to reinvigorate public administration and public management, preparing the fields for the challenges of the twenty-first century. Review Roberts is masterful at distilling complex concepts into a digestible format, through which both new students and senior scholars can engage and argue. The book provides an opportunity to have a critical conversation about the boundaries of Public Administration.-- "Governance" Roberts succinctly makes a timely case in favor of large concerns about governing... While dealing with currently urgent realities of the field, the analysis makes a contribution to last.-- "American Review of Public Administration" Strategies for Governing has broad implications for research, teaching, and practice in a variety of disciplines and subfields. The book's insights provide readers with fresh perspectives on important research questions in public administration, public policy, American politics, international relations, and comparative politics. Perhaps most notably, Roberts encourages us to return to first principles and to address the 'what' and 'how' of government.-- "Perspectives on Politics" This is a thought-provoking book, one that deserves the attention of everyone in the field of public administration-- "Teaching Public Administration" Overall, Strategies for Governing has broad implications for research, teaching, and practice in a variety of disciplines and subfields. The book's insights provide readers with fresh perspectives on important research questions in public administration, public policy, American politics, international relations, and comparative politics. Perhaps most notably, Roberts encourages us to return to first principles and to address the 'what' and 'how' of government.-- "Perspectives on Politics" Roberts has nudged us in the right direction to reawaken why public administration... is a field uniquely situated to link theory and practice at a macro-societal level... On that point alone, we all owe Roberts a great intellectual debt.-- "Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory" About the Author Alasdair Roberts is Director of the School of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is author of America's First Great Depression and The End of Protest. Follow him on Twitter @alasdairroberts.