Product Description

While skepticism about government is n enduring feature of American political culture, today's climate of anti-government sentiment has grown aggressive and even violent. Not only do citizens feel distrustful and powerless, but many public administrators too are demoralized, alienated, cynical, and even frightened. Furthermore, proposals to "reinvent government" appear to exacerbate the problems by taking government ineptness and efficiency as a given and offering solutions designed more appropriately for corporate business.

Although the question of the legitimacy of public administration has been widely addressed in scholarly literature, it is often theory-based and fairly divorced from actual administrative practices. And it is mired in the enduring tension between "beaurocracy" and "democracy". This volume, made up of a community of prominent voices in public administration theory and practice, will examine the current anti-government climate and its effect on the working lives of administrators and their relationships with citizens. It will document the sources of citizen discontent with government, explore its effects upon career civil servants' ability to do their work and attempt to understand the implications for public administration practice in an anti-government area.