This topic involves the comparison of public administration practices and systems in different countries or regions, with a focus on their similarities and differences.
Definition and scope of Comparative Public Administration: This topic covers the differences and similarities between public administration systems and the various aspects of comparative public administration.
Evolution of Comparative Public Administration: This topic takes a look at how Comparative Public Administration has evolved over time and its various stages of development.
Approaches to Comparative Public Administration: A discussion of various theoretical and empirical approaches to comparative public administration, such as structural-functionalism, neo-institutionalism, culturalism, and others.
Models of Comparative Public Administration: This topic discusses typologies or models of Comparative Public Administration, including the Anglo-Saxon model, the French model, the Germanic model, and the Scandinavian model.
Public administration systems: A focus on the organizational structure, functions, and key characteristics of different public administration systems, such as the bureaucracy, parliamentary systems, presidential systems, and mixed systems.
Public policy processes: This topic examines the policymaking processes of different public administration systems, including agenda setting, policy formulation, policy implementation, and policy evaluation.
Political culture and Comparative Public Administration: This topic explores how different political cultures influence and shape the development and functions of public administration systems.
Public administration reform: A discussion of the factors that promote or hinder public administration reform, such as globalization, democracy, performance measurement, accountability, and citizen participation.
Globalization and Comparative Public Administration: A focus on how globalization has affected public administration systems worldwide, including the role of international organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Case studies in Comparative Public Administration: This topic provides an analysis of different cases of Comparative Public Administration, such as the British and US systems, Scandinavian welfare states, and East Asian developmental states.
Public-private partnerships: A discussion of how public-private partnerships (PPPs) have emerged as one of the key strategies for public administration reform and service delivery.
E-government: An analysis of how e-government systems have developed and how they are transforming the functions of public administration systems around the world.
Public administration and democracy: This topic takes a look at how the development of public administration systems relates to the growth of democratic political systems.
Accountability and transparency: An examination of the importance of accountability and transparency in public administration systems, including its various mechanisms and methods of ensuring performance.
Public sector innovation: A focus on the role of public sector innovation in driving public administration reform and improving public services.
Traditional/Classical Approach: This approach is paradigmatic in which principles of administration are developed from the experience of developed countries. It primarily focuses on organizational structure, planning, budgeting, and decision-making.
New Public Management: This approach is a result of criticisms of traditional approaches. It focuses on enhancing efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of state agencies. The theoretical concepts were largely driven by business thinking and management principles of the private sector.
Development Administration: This is an approach that primarily examines how public administration can be used as a tool for development in developing countries. This approach tries to address the issues of poverty and underdevelopment by combining economic development strategies with administrative strategies.
Critical Theory: This approach examines the political and economic structures that determine public administration systems. It is critical of traditional and new public management approaches and tries to develop alternative models that consider power relationships and social structures.
Comparative Institutionalism: This approach examines the impact of institutional differences on public administration systems. It tries to find commonalities and differences between countries and the impacts of these differences on administrative systems.
Governance Approach: This approach shifts the focus from government to governance. It seeks to position public administration as a facilitator of governance by addressing inter-organizational and inter-sectoral collaborations.
Cultural and Administrative Analyses: This approach examines the effects of culture on administration. It seeks to identify cultural values and norms that impact administration and to develop management strategies that accommodate these values.
Evolutionary Theory: This approach examines the historical development of public administration systems. It tries to understand why and how administrative systems change over time due to changes in social, economic, and political contexts.