Value and Virtue in Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective(Governance and Public Management)

The aim of this book is to clarify the ground on which public service scholars, practitioners and advisers stand in relation to values and virtues in public administration. It explores assumptions, the unspoken and unexamined things that are taken for granted in the field of serving the public good. Accordingly, Value and Virtue in Public Administration gives an account of the recent developments and progress in public sector management and public service. It describes the progress made in the discipline of public administration, in theories related to public administration and in the practice of public administration in tackling the questions surrounding values and virtues. These trends, descriptions, theories and comparisons make it possible to answer the question of how administrative ethics vary and what this variance depends upon. Featuring contributions from scholars in several different disciplines and in-depth case studies, the book concludes that under New Public Management instrumental values and consequential ethics have become dominant and more fundamental values have been neglected.

Table of Contents:
Introduction to Value and Virtue in Public Administration; M.S de Vries & Pan S. Kim Governance and Values in Contemporary Public Service; C.Garofalo Public Virtue Approaches; B.Tholen Ethics and Globalization in Historical Perspective: The Relevance of Socrates in our Days; D.Argyriades The Cultural-Economic Perspective on Values and Virtues; E.de Jong The Social Psychology Perspective on Values and Virtues; I.Sobis & M.S. de Vries The Institutional Perspective on Values and Virtues; E.Ostrom & V.Ostrom Public Administration as a Menetype B: Re-discovering Trichotomies; B.Cutting & A.Kouzmin Contemporary Trends and Dilemmas of Administrative Ethics in the Developing World; M.Shamsul Haque The Value Profile of Civil Servants in New European Democracies through the Lens of Embedded Ethics; J.Palidauskaite The Evil and its Cure: Clientelism, Corruption and their Institutional Remedies in Latin America; C.W.Andrews Perils and Prospects in Four African Countries; M.Sindane Public Sector Value and Virtue and the OECD; C.E.Lynch & T.D.Lynch Values and Virtues in the Japanese Public Sector; H.Kudo Conclusions; M.S de Vries & Pan S. Kim

About the Author :
MICHIEL S. DE VRIES Chair in Public Administration at the Radboud University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. His research interests include policy evaluation, policy change and comparative public administration. He is Vice-President of IASIA and a member of the editorial board of I.R.A.S and other journals on Public Administration. He is also the chair of the IASIA working group on Local Governance and Development and the chair of the NISPACEE working group on Public Administration Reform in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. His latest books are The Importance of Neglect in Policy Making (Palgrave, 2010), Improving Local Government (Palgrave, 2008) and The Story behind Western Advice to Central Europe during its Transition. His work has been widely published in journals. PAN SUK KIM Underwood Distinguished Professor of Public Administration in the College of Government and Business at Yonsei University, South Korea, and the Director of the Institute for Poverty Alleviation and International Development (IPAID) at Yonsei University. He is also President of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) and the Vice Chairman of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration (UN/CEPA). He previously worked in the Korean central government as a Secretary to the President for Personnel Policy. His articles have been widely published and his most recent edited books are Public Administration and Public Governance in ASEAN Member Countries and Korea (2009) and Civil Service System and Civil Service Reform in ASEAN Member Countries and Korea (2010).

Review :
'Values and Virtues in Public Administration is a timely volume that brings together contributions from world-class scholars who remind us that values are the core of public administration. Professors Pan Suk Kim, Michiel De Vries and their collaborators offer the foundations for a post-New Public Management era in which fundamental public service values will be reasserted by both public officials and citizens.' - James L. Perry, Distinguished Professor and Chancellor's Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA 'This excellent volume addresses the enduring problem of why 'values and virtues in public administration are not easily accomplished' although 'everything public administration does is value-bound' and 'virtuous behavior' is often 'crucial.' Seeking answers from theory and practice across the globe and time, the editors and contributors have produced an outstanding book of major importance to all who seek a deeper understanding of public administration that goes well beyond the conventional putative pillars of efficiency, economy, and effectiveness. This book is a must read for faculty and graduate students in public administration and public management.' - David H. Rosenbloom, Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, American University, Washington, DC, USA.