Handbook of Public Administration, 3rd Edition

Foreword

Paul A. Volcker

Those involved with this new Handbook—authors, students, scholars, practitioners—by definition share my preoccupation with effective governance.

I have spent most of my working life in government. I've seen enough of it from the inside to know something of the immense satisfactions and inescapable frustrations of public service. But beyond personal experience, I've never doubted either the importance of effective government or the need for constant vigilance by our public leaders, our educational institutions, and our citizens.

Regrettably, I have come to understand that for many people, the very words public administration conjure up a dull image of unimaginative bureaucracies mired in routine procedures. Rather, the ...