The Promise of Public Service

The Promise of Public Service
Author: Michael M. Stahl
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2022-07-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000584526

In the United States, new government employees begin their careers by pledging their allegiance to the Constitution and by committing to conscientious service dedicated to solving public problems. But what do public servants get in return? For many, a chance to serve provides public servants with a higher purpose as well as professional and personal meaning in their lives and careers. In The Promise of Public Service: Ideas and Examples for Effective Service, Michael M. Stahl, a 40-year veteran in the executive and legislative branches of state and federal service, demonstrates what makes public servants effective by offering useful ideas and examining the accomplishments of public servants throughout American history. The book blends theory with practice, exploring the role that attitudes and philosophy play throughout one’s career, offering practical implementation advice, and demonstrating how one can measure success. Undergraduate- and graduate-level courses will benefit from The Promise of Public Service as a resource, and practitioners of public service in all its forms will benefit from these ideas and examples at any stage of their careers.

Power to the Public

Power to the Public
Author: Tara Dawson McGuinness
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2021-04-13
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0691207755

“Worth a read for anyone who cares about making change happen.”—Barack Obama A powerful new blueprint for how governments and nonprofits can harness the power of digital technology to help solve the most serious problems of the twenty-first century As the speed and complexity of the world increases, governments and nonprofit organizations need new ways to effectively tackle the critical challenges of our time—from pandemics and global warming to social media warfare. In Power to the Public, Tara Dawson McGuinness and Hana Schank describe a revolutionary new approach—public interest technology—that has the potential to transform the way governments and nonprofits around the world solve problems. Through inspiring stories about successful projects ranging from a texting service for teenagers in crisis to a streamlined foster care system, the authors show how public interest technology can make the delivery of services to the public more effective and efficient. At its heart, public interest technology means putting users at the center of the policymaking process, using data and metrics in a smart way, and running small experiments and pilot programs before scaling up. And while this approach may well involve the innovative use of digital technology, technology alone is no panacea—and some of the best solutions may even be decidedly low-tech. Clear-eyed yet profoundly optimistic, Power to the Public presents a powerful blueprint for how government and nonprofits can help solve society’s most serious problems.

The Promise of Public Service

The Promise of Public Service
Author: Michael M. Stahl
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2022-06-15
Genre:
ISBN: 9781032209883

This title explores what makes public servants effective by offering useful ideas and examining the accomplishments of public servants throughout American history.

Possible Lives

Possible Lives
Author: Mike Rose
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 489
Release: 1996-09-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0140236171

"This big-shouldered book, full of ardor...offers us a reasonable hope that with attention and care we can again make public education what it was meant to be, and must yet be."—The Los Angeles Times.

Managing Collaboration in Public Administration

Managing Collaboration in Public Administration
Author: Eran Vigoda-Gadot
Publisher: Praeger
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2003-11-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Many people have always believed that more can be accomplished when government, business, and the general public cooperate with a common goal in mind. Unfortunately it has taken the recent manifestations of two of humankind's oldest scourges—terrorism and disease—to bring the point home. For example, the lack of collaboration among various government agencies prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001, has been found to have been of such an egregious nature that a new Homeland Security umbrella department was formed to ensure a new level of cooperation. And in China in early 2003, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was found to have spread far beyond initial reports, a discovery that led in April of that year to the unprecedented step of firing the mayor of Beijing for mishandling the situation. To handle potential future attacks and outbreaks of disease, as well as to maximize the results of collaboration when times are good, it is imperative for citizens, the private sector, and government agencies—especially at the local, regional, and state levels—to learn how, when and why they should share information, knowledge, and resources to get things done. Collaboration is the real challenge facing free democracies in the future, and the success of modern societies will hinge upon our meeting this challenge. The community level is a most promising arena in which to start and to practice many collaborative ventures. The power of citizens as individuals and within groups can be expected to increase dramatically, in line with more involvement of the media and academia. This book presents various examples of successful collaboration and partnership for inspiration and presents a theoretical typology among such closely related concepts as integration, partnership, coooperation, coordination, and association. Current thinking in the field is rather pessimistic about the actual willingness to collaborate among all parties. This book offers a more optimistic (but also realistic) pattern of alliance that is vital for modern societies that carry the heavy burden of citizens' growing demands and needs.

Leadership in the Public Sector

Leadership in the Public Sector
Author: Christine Teelken
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2013-05-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1136316884

In view of the approaching age of austerity for the public sector, leadership is likely to continue to become a key theme. This edited volume brings together a host of material from the public sector to analyze the issue internationally. Teelken, Dent & Ferlie lead a team of contributors in examining three key aspects of this increasingly important theme: the meaning of public sector leadership, and how this changes in different contexts the implications for leadership style given the growing role of the private sector the response to the leadership issue from professionals moving into senior management roles. With contributions from respected academics such as Jean-Louis Denis, Mike Reed and Mirko Nordegraaf, this book will be an invaluable supplementary resource for those undertaking studies across public sector management and administration.

The Promise of Access

The Promise of Access
Author: Daniel Greene
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2021-04-06
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0262542331

Why simple technological solutions to complex social issues continue to appeal to politicians and professionals who should (and often do) know better. Why do we keep trying to solve poverty with technology? What makes us feel that we need to learn to code--or else? In The Promise of Access, Daniel Greene argues that the problem of poverty became a problem of technology in order to manage the contradictions of a changing economy. Greene shows how the digital divide emerged as a policy problem and why simple technological solutions to complex social issues continue to appeal to politicians and professionals who should (and often do) know better.

Faithful Presence

Faithful Presence
Author: Bill Haslam
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2021-05-25
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1400224438

Two-term governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam reveals how faith--too often divisive and contentious--can be a redemptive and unifying presence in the public square. As a former mayor and governor, Bill Haslam has long been at the center of politics and policy on local, state, and federal levels. And he has consistently been guided by his faith, which influenced his actions on issues ranging from capital punishment to pardons, health care to abortion, welfare to free college tuition. Yet the place of faith in public life has been hotly debated since our nation's founding, and the relationship of church and state remains contentious to this day--and for good reason. Too often, Bill Haslam argues, Christians end up shaping their faith to fit their politics rather than forming their politics to their faith. They seem to forget their calling is to be used by God in service of others rather than to use God to reach their own desires and ends. Faithful Presence calls for a different way. Drawing upon his years of public service, Haslam casts a remarkable vision for the redemptive role of faith in politics while examining some of the most complex issues of our time, including: partisanship in our divided era; the most essential character trait for a public servant; how we cannot escape "legislating morality"; the answer to perpetual outrage; and how to think about the separation of church and state. For Christians ready to be salt and light, as well as for those of a different faith or no faith at all, Faithful Presence argues that faith can be a redemptive, healing presence in the public square--as it must be, if our nation is to flourish.

Renewing the Promise

Renewing the Promise
Author: Julius Fondong
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2022-09-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1942876963

n this very riveting and well-researched essay, Julius Fondong ruminates on the continued relevance of the promises and principles that underpinned the creation of the post-colonial Cameroon nation-state, sixty years after unification in 1961. Renewing the Promise: A Treatise on the Refoundation of the Cameroon Nation chronicles Cameroon's experiment in statehood; an experiment, which according to the author, sprung out of a desire and a promise to forge a new nation through the fusion of two territories with contrasting historical experiences and colonial legacies. Writing from the vantage position of a policy analyst, a governance expert, and a conflict management practitioner, Fondong contends that a combination of policy inconsistencies, imperial arrogance, institution capture, leadership deficiencies and the brazen travesties of the nation's foundational principles and promises has led to violent internal dissent, decreased state capacity for public service delivery and a development gridlock. So, what can be done to re-align the nation to its founding promises and save it from possible disintegration? Fondong proposes an overarching, governance-based praxis for the re-engineering of the Cameroon nation from the bottom up. His proposed remedy is predicated on the principles of decentralized governance, the redistribution of power in a manner that addresses the right to self-determination of Anglophone Cameroonians, enhanced public service delivery and a strategic shift from a transactional to a transformational leadership paradigm. Renewing the Promise is a thought-provoking and captivating political essay, written with exhilarating passion and prototypical clarity. It can serve as a blueprint for a much-needed reform of Cameroon's governance architecture.

City Schools and the American Dream 2

City Schools and the American Dream 2
Author: Pedro A. Noguera
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2020
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0807778559

Over a decade ago, the first edition of City Schools and the American Dream debuted just as reformers were gearing up to make sweeping changes in urban education. Despite the rhetoric and many reform initiatives, urban schools continue to struggle under the weight of serious challenges. What went wrong and is there hope for future change? More than a new edition, this sequel to the original bestseller has been substantially revised to include insights from new research, recent demographic trends, and emerging political realities. In addition to surveying the various limitations that urban schools face, the book also highlights programs, communities, and schools that are making good on public education’s promise of equity. With renewed commitment and sense of urgency, this new edition provides a clear-eyed vision of what it will take to ensure the success of city schools and their students. “City schools continue to play one of the most important roles in our quest to restore democracy. This is a must-read . . . again!” —Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin–Madison “The authors provide concrete examples of innovative strategies and practices employed by urban schools that are succeeding against all odds.” —Betty A. Rosa, chancellor, New York State Board of Regents “This is the book every teacher, parent, policymaker, and engaged citizen should read.” —Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, UCLA