Hocbigg - Public Administration
Contents
Summary
The Public Administration curriculum is a complete education in Public Administration using online materials. It emphasizes a logical progression from foundational concepts to advanced applications, balancing theoretical understanding, practical skills, and synthesis.
Organization
This repository is organized into three main components:
- Core Curriculum (this page): the foundational knowledge of the field;
- Advanced Topics: focused study in specific areas;
Process: Learners may work through the curriculum independently or collaboratively, and either sequentially or selectively.
- For simplicity, courses in the Core Curriculum are ordered according to their prerequisites.
- The Core Curriculum provides a shared foundation and is intended to be completed in full.
- Advanced Topics are optional; learners are encouraged to select one area of focus and complete all courses within that topic.
Note: When there are courses or books that don't fit into the curriculum but are otherwise of high quality, they belong in extras/courses, extras/readings.
Communities
- Subreddits:
- You can also interact through GitHub issues. If there is a problem with a course, or a change needs to be made to the curriculum, this is the place to start the conversation. Read more here.
-
Join our Discord server (for discussions around this and other curricula):
Curriculum
- Foundations of Public Administration
- Public Organizations and Management
- Law, Ethics, and Accountability
- Policy Process and Implementation
How to use this curriculum
Core Sections
These four sections form the essential backbone of the discipline. Study them in this exact order:
-
Foundations of Public Administration
Start here. This section gives you the basic concepts, history, and context you need before anything else makes sense. -
Public Organizations and Management
Next, learn how public organizations actually work and how they are led and managed in practice. -
Law, Ethics, and Accountability
Then move to the legal rules, ethical standards, and oversight mechanisms that shape and constrain all public administrative action. -
Policy Process and Implementation
Finally, understand how public policies are created, decided upon, and carried out in the real world.
Foundations of Public Administration
| Subject | Why study? | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Public Administration | Establishes the field’s scope, history, paradigms, and role in governance. | Public Administration: Concepts and Cases (Shafritz et al.) – Archive.org |
| Public Administration Theory | Understands classical, New Public Management, governance, and public value paradigms. | Classics of Public Administration (Shafritz & Hyde) – Archive.org |
| Government & Political Systems | Provides institutional context for administrative action. | Introduction to Political Science – OpenStax |
| Economics for the Public Sector | Grounds decision-making in efficiency, incentives, and public goods. | Core-Econ: The Economy – CORE-Econ (free online book) |
Public Organizations and Management
| Subject | Why study? | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| Public Organizational Theory | Explains structure, hierarchy, coordination, and institutional behavior. | Organization Theory in Public Administration – NAPA open resources (Note: NAPA hosts various reports/resources; no single exact title match, but this is the organization's open portal for related materials.) |
| Public Management & Leadership | Distinguishes management from governance and leadership in public contexts. | Harvard Kennedy School – Public Leadership Lectures (YouTube) (Explore the channel for leadership-focused lectures and series.) |
| Human Resource Management (Public Sector) | Covers merit systems, motivation, labor relations, and ethics. | U.S. OPM HRM Overview (official site) |
| Performance Management & Public Value | Measures outcomes, accountability, and service effectiveness. | Mark Moore – Public Value lectures (Harvard Kennedy, YouTube) (Search results include key interviews and discussions on the concept.) |
Law, Ethics, and Accountability
| Subject | Why study? | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative Law (Foundations) | Ensures legality, due process, and limits on administrative power. | Cornell Legal Information Institute – Administrative Law |
| Ethics & Integrity in Public Service | Addresses corruption, conflicts of interest, and professional responsibility. | OECD Public Integrity Handbook (free PDF) |
| Accountability & Oversight | Understands auditing, ombudsmen, courts, and legislative control. | World Bank – Accountability & Governance resources |
| Transparency & Anti-Corruption | Examines openness, procurement integrity, and reform tools. | Transparency International – Anti-Corruption Knowledge Hub |
Policy Process and Implementation
| Subject | Why study? | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Process | Explains agenda-setting, formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation. | An Introduction to the Policy Process (Birkland) – Archive.org (Search Archive.org for available editions.) |
| Policy Implementation & Street-Level Bureaucracy | Understands real-world delivery and discretion. | Lipsky – Street-Level Bureaucracy (Archive.org) |
| Governance & Networks | Examines collaborative and multi-actor public action. | The New Public Governance? – Open-access journal articles (Key open-access article introducing the concept; search for related open papers.) |