CONTEMPORARY DEBATES IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Public administration is reeling under complex challenges and pressures in the face of the changing trends in liberalization, privatization and globalization. As a pertinent area of social sciences, it is in search of a new identity in the form of theoretical bases, conceptual clarity and contextual applicability. The development of the discipline is characterized by failed, semi-developed and recycled narratives, which are unable to provide any well-defined epistemological parameters. Whatever one finds in the form of conceptual and applied growth in public administration, especially pertaining to the Third World, appears to be borrowed, imitated and implemented out of context. The discipline of public administration must therefore reinvent itself in the wake of new developments in the areas of theory building, organizational reforms, information technology, participatory development, corporate ethics, humane governance, responsive administration, non-state organizations and administrative capability. This book makes an attempt to grapple with some of these contemporary concerns in order to generate a debate on the impact of globalization on public administration. A collection of diverse topics that address various facets of public administration, the overall thrust is on developing indigenous approaches for meeting the growing demands of the changing scenario. The wide range of issues covered in the volume makes for a comprehensive view of the various perceptions within the discipline of public administration. The book will be of immense use to students, academicians, researchers, policy makers and practitioners in public administration.