PADM 500 Introduction to Public Management and Policy

Course Description

This seminar is an introductory-level graduate seminar introducing key concepts in public administration and policy. It is designed as an introduction to the Public Administration curricu-lum; to key elements in government; to key issues in systems of governance; and to the multiple environments within which public administrationists will work in the future, including the fiscal, ideological, social and cultural environments.

Course Objectives:

The seminar is organized around three broad themes, each of which has a number of specific objectives.

Theme One: Introducing Public Administration and Policy – Sessions 1 - 5
By the end of this section of the course, you should be able to demonstrate your understanding of:

• The multiple definitions and meanings of the phrase “public administration”;
• How public administration incorporates key disciplines including economics, finance, and budgeting; human resources; research and program evaluation, organizational theory, and others;
• Differences between “government” and “systems of governance”;
• The differences between “policy” and “administration” as these terms have evolved over time;
• The major elements of the public policymaking cycle; and
• The evolving relationship between different levels of government over the last two-plus cen-turies (“Federalism) and the implications of that evolution for citizens in the private sector and those who work in the public sector.

Theme Two: The Foundations of Public Administration and Policy – Sessions 6 – 9
By the end of this section of the course, you should be able to demonstrate your understanding of:

• The growing demand for data to design public policy and how that demand is changing the shape of public administration and management;
• The complexity of government in an era when the public sector is growing increasingly large; and
• The impact that technology is having on the public sector and the implications of that impact on how we govern ourselves as a nation.

Theme Three: The Evolution of Public Administration and Policy: Going Boldly Where No One Has Gone Before: Sessions 10 – 13

By the end of this section of the course, you should be able to demonstrate your understanding of how significant changes in key components of public administration and policy might have an impact on our profession in the future:

• How organizations shape the public sector and define effective public management;
• The role of sound financial management in planning, implementing and evaluating public policies and being an effective public manager;
• The role of effective personnel management in creating and maintaining effective public-sector organizations: and
• The importance of sound ethical judgment in protecting and preserving the public’s trust.