Teaching Public Policy

The curriculum of public policy education is currently undergoing an introspective examination, as academics and practitioners develop programs to reflect the dramatic theoretical, informational, technological, and managerial changes of the 1980s. This book is a response to some of these creative and innovative instructional techniques. The text covers policy theory research and a number of substantive topics, including financial management, budgeting, ethics, computers, and experiential learning.The essays are grouped in seven separate areas, each emphasizing successful teaching strategies. Organizational theory is the first area to be treated, with discussions of public administration education and democratic values; a reflection-in-action model; and the role of ethics in public policy education. Research skills are covered through surveys of quantitative analysis skills of MPA students and bridging the gap between methods courses and real research studies. Surveys of information resource management and an active-reactive model of policy evaluation comprise the section on program evaluation and management, while financial core curriculum courses are considered in chapters on in-class budget simulations and fiscal management in the public sector. A computers and communications section focuses on computer literacy and the skills an MPA program should teach, and two contributions analyze comparative public administration. Finally, a concluding section explores the contemporary issues of the use of practitioners in the classroom, experiential learning, and the political science perspective on public administration. This volume will be a useful resource for courses in public administration, public policy, and political science, as well as a welcome addition to public and academic libraries.

Explores a wide range of topics in policy theory research and public administration education, covering organizational theory and ethics, research skills, program evaluation and management, financial management, communication skills, international developments, and contemporary policy issues.

PrefaceOrganizational Theory and EthicsThe Civic Education of Public Officials: The Founders and John Dewey by Hank T. Edmondson IIILessons from Experience: Action Theory in Practice in the Classroom by Ann-Marie RizzoThe Place of Whistleblowing in the MPA Curriculum by Judith A. TruelsonResearch SkillsAn Assessment of Research Skill-Building in MPA Curricula by William L. Waugh, Jr., Ronald John Hy, and Jeffrey L. BrudneyResearch Use in Policy and Decision Settings: Closing the Gap by Josephine M. LaPlanteProgram Evaluation and ManagementTeaching User-Oriented Program Evaluation by Kathryn E. NewcomerManagement Information Resources: Curricular Innovations for the 1990s by Sharon L. CaudleFinancial ManagementRole Model Simulation and the Government Budgeting Process by Peter J. BergersonPublic Financial Management Curriculum and Course Design: A Response to the National Task Force Report by L. R. JonesComputers and Communication Skills in Public AdministrationThe Lifeguard Approach to Teaching Policy Studies Educators About Computers by Frank W. Connolly and Thomas J. BerginCommunication Skills and Outcome Assessment in Public Administration Education by William L. Waugh, Jr. and Edith Kelley MannsComparative Public AdministrationThe Pedagogical Implications of the Internationalization of Public Policy by Curtis VentrissPublic-Sector Education and Training in Developing Countries by John E. Kerrigan and Jeffrey S. LukeContemporary Issues in Public AdministrationPractitioner-Teachers: Should They Teach? by Arthur A. FeltsThe Experiential Experience: Promise, Problems, and Possibilities by James S. BowmanPublic Administration: The Political Science Perspective by Rickert R. AlthausSelected BibliographyIndexes