Public Administration in the 21st Century

A Global South Perspective

Rumki Basu

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781000858334
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Public Administration has experienced a fundamental rethinking of its basic objectives, concepts, and theories during the 21st century.

This book examines transformations happening in global societies, the economy, and in politics, to trace the trajectory of public administration as an academic discipline, as well as being a focus of social science research. It presents a reassessment of governance in heterogeneous developing countries that goes beyond the traditional Weberian bureaucratic model, toward new models of organization and management informed by their legal, constitutional, economic, and political needs, aspirations, and ground realities. This is especially important in relation to the marginalized sections of society that primarily rely on citizen entitlements through public service delivery systems. The author looks at widening the range and scope of public administrative agencies with the gradual cooperation of multiple actors, such as civil society, people at large, and even the private sector, in a partnering role. The author revisits the discipline to tackle intellectual dilemmas that current governance theories and practices are confronting or will have to confront in future administrative situations in the context of developing countries of the South.

In the second edition, the volume brings into focus lessons on policy and governance learnt from the Global South in building administrative capacities in post-Covid-19 times.

An essential read on the mandates and challenges for the state regarding the rising South, this book will be indispensable to scholars and researchers of politics, especially governance and public policy, sociology, and development studies. It will also be of interest to bureaucrats, NGOs, and government officials.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Preface to the Second Edition
• 1 The Changing World of the 21st Century: Building New Administrative Capacities
• 2 The Discipline of Public Administration Today
• 3 The Public and Its Policies
• 4 Democracy, the State, and the Citizen: Paradigm Shifts in the Democratic Discourse
• 5 Governing Development Today: Need for Comparative Research
• 6 The Covid-19 Pandemic: Lessons from the Global South
• 7 India and China: Models from the South
• 8 Public Administration in the 21st Century: Dilemmas and Challenges
• 9 Does Model Building Work for the Global South?
• 10 Summing Up
• Index