This Element explores Critical Race Theory (CRT) and its potential application to the field of public administration. It proposes specific areas within the field where a CRT framework would help to uncover and rectify structural and institutional racism. This is paramount given the high priority...

Traditionally, performance metrics and data have been used to hold organizations accountable. But public service provision is not merely hierarchical anymore. Increasingly, we see partnerships among government agencies, private or nonprofit organizations, and civil society groups. Such...

After the 2016 election upheaval and polarized public discourse in the United States and the rise of radical-right and populist parties across the globe, a new phenomenon in online charitable giving has emerged - donating motivated by rage. This Element defines this phenomenon, discusses its...

The question of how agencies can work together has been central to the field of public administration for several decades. Despite significant research, the process of collaboration can still be a fraught endeavour for practitioners. Nevertheless, agencies keep trying to work together because it...

Although countries differ tremendously in population size, comparative public administration has not considered this context factor systematically. This Element provides the most comprehensive theoretical and empirical account to date of the effects that country size has on the functioning of...

Interest in networks in the fields of public management and policy has grown to encompass a wide array of phenomena. However, we lack a stable and empirically verifiable taxonomy for delineating one network class from another. The authors propose all networks and multi-organizational...

What do frontline social service providers do during client interactions when they lack adequate formal organizational resources to respond to clients' needs? To answer this question, this Element presents two large-scale qualitative studies of Israeli frontline providers of social services....

Networks contain complex patterns of dependency and require multiple levels of analysis to explain their formation, structure, and outcomes. In this Element, the authors develop the Multilevel Network Framework. The framework serves as (i) a conceptual tool to think more deeply about network...

Why are some subnational governments more likely to lobby the national government than others? Extant research in social sciences has widely discussed lobbying dynamics in the private sector. However, governments lobby governments, too. In the United States, lobbying is a popular strategy for...

This Element explores the role of public managers as designers. Drawing from systems-thinking and strategic management, a process-tracing methodology is used to examine three design processes whereby public managers develop strategies for adapting to climate change, build the requisite...