Review of The Handbook of Public Administration

Review of The Handbook of Public Administration By B. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre (Eds.) Review by Muhittin Acar Hacettepe University

The Handbook of Public Administration was originally published in 2003. Its first paperback edition was published in 2007 and then reprinted in 2009 and 2011. This is a voluminous joint product; even this concise paperback edition of the Handbook is almost 400 pages long. Its length is quite understandable, given the Handbook’s scope and content: It covers a broad set of issues related to public administration, ranging from human resources management to administrative history, from administrative reform to intergovernmental relations, from implementation to accountability. All in all, the Handbook is organized around 14 thematic sections and a total of 30 chapters, each covering an important issue concerning the theory and/or practice of contemporary public administration. In fact, at the beginning of their introductory chapter, entitled “The Role of Public Administration in Governing,” editors Peters and Pierre emphasize their aim “to address the major issues in, and perspectives on, public administration” (p. 1). They also state in the introduction that “The Handbook is an international treatment of this subject, with scholars drawn from a wide range of countries and intellectual traditions.” In looking at the existence of such an impressive list of contributors, coming from different countries with diverse academic and administrative traditions, one would agree with the editors on this point. Yet, the Handbook’s international or global characteristics could have been improved further by the inclusion of contributions on and by different countries and regions from around the globe. One may ask, for instance, why public administration traditions, structures and problems of some countries, regions, even entire continents (e.g., Turkey, Middle East, Asia, Africa, etc.) do not get enough attention in these kinds of books. Similarly, is it really too difficult to find scholars from Latin America or Central and Eastern Europe to write chapters about those regions? In short, the Handbook could have enjoyed a more diverse and truly international outlook than it currently does. JPAE 19 (4), 773–775

Journal of Public Affairs Education

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M. Acar As any experienced editor would tell us, the task of neatly organizing edited books (in fact, any book for that matter) is almost always challenging, often involving professional or personal, sometimes not so easy choices. Therefore, readers are expected to respect and live with the discretionary decisions made by the editors concerning the design and layout of their books. Nonetheless, as the reviewer of the Handbook for JPAE, I might say a few words about its organization. First of all, a couple of sections with closely related topics might have been merged (e.g., chapters in sections 11–13, covering issues of comparative and international public administration, could have been organized in a single section with an all-inclusive title). Secondly, some chapters could have been assigned to different sections than they currently are (e.g., Chapter 2, “Measuring Public Sector Performance,” should have been located in Section 9, “Budgeting and Finance”). Finally, sections and chapters addressing general, core theoretical and practical issues of public administration might have come first, followed by sections and chapters dealing with issues related to management of public organizations (e.g., Section 8, especially Chapters 18–19 therein, should have reversed location with Section 2). As the editors themselves have noted: “No single volume could hope to cover in any comprehensive manner the full range of concerns about public administration.” It is unfortunate to note that many issues becoming increasingly important for understanding and functioning of public administration, such as networks and partnerships, were not included in the Handbook. Maybe more important (and ironic), although the editors frequently point out in their introductory remarks the need for public servants to develop new mind-sets as well as a new sets of skills to deal successfully with changing, complex relations in their surroundings, the Handbook does not have a specific chapter focusing on public administration education and training, one that would inform the students and practitioners of contemporary public administration on how to survive and serve best in the age of decentralized, globalized, networked, multisector, and multilevel governance environments. Nevertheless, this concise paperback edition of The Handbook of Public Administration covers an array of important issues concerning contemporary public administration. Peters and Pierre, themselves being achieved and acclaimed academicians, bring together in the Handbook pieces written by respected and reputable scholars with diverse academic perspectives and approaches. Almost all chapters in the Handbook provide clear and accessible discussions of their subject matters, along with extensive lists of references available for further reading and research. I highly recommend the Handbook for use in undergraduate and graduate teaching courses as well as in faculty professional development and executive training programs.

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Book Review

Note 1. Publishing information: 394 pp. (pbk) Sage (2011) London ISBN: 978-1-4129-4539-4 (pbk)

Dr. Muhittin Acar is a professor of public administration at Hacettepe University, Turkey. He earned his MPM from Carnegie Mellon University and his PhD from University of Southern California. His major research topics are accountability and integrity in public governance.


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