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Why do some governments implement more sustainability practices than others? Based on a national survey of U.S. cities, this article finds moderate levels of sustainability efforts and capacity in U.S. cities; about one-third of the sustainability practices identified in this article have been implemented. The authors conclude that, first, capacity building is a useful conceptual focus for understanding sustainability implementation in U.S. cities. Capacity building involves developing technical and financial support and increasing managerial execution. Second, sustainability is strongly associated with managerial capacity, which includes establishing sustainability goals, incorporating goals in operations, and developing a supportive infrastructure. Third, getting stakeholders involved furthers the capacity for sustaining sustainability efforts. Citizen involvement is strongly associated with securing financial support for sustainability.

A state-of-the-art, one-stop resource, Public Administration in South Asia: India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan examines public administration issues and advances in the Indian subcontinent. The book fulfills a critical need. These nations have the largest public administration programs in South Asia, yet existing knowledge on them is fragmented at best. Bringing together leading scholars from these countries, this book provides both an insider perspective and a scholarly look at the challenges and accomplishments in the region. Focusing on the machinery of government, the book explores questions such as: What is the history of public administration development? How are major decisions made in the agencies? Why are anti-corruption efforts so much a challenge? What is the significance of intergovernmental relations? What is the success of administrative reform? What are examples of successful social development programs? How successful is e-government, and what are its challenges? Why is civil service reform difficult to achieve? How is freedom of information being used as a means to combat corruption and invoke grassroots activism? What can be learned from the successes and failures? While public administration practice and education have become considerably professionalized in the last decade, a sufficiently in-depth and well-rounded reference on public administration in these countries is sorely lacking. Most available books tackle only aspects of public administration such as administrative reforms, civil service, economic developments, or public policy, and are country specific. None provide the in-depth analysis of the sphere of public action in South Asia found in this book. It supplies an understanding of how public administration can be either the source of, or solution to, so many of the problems and achievements in the Indian subcontinent. Meghna Sabharwal is an Assistant Professor in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas where she teaches human resource management. Her research interests are focused on workforce policy as it relates to job satisfaction, productivity, and diversity. Her expertise lies in studying these issues with special attention to the scientific enterprise of the United States. Her work is published or forthcoming in academic journals such as Public Administration, Review of Public Personnel Administration, The Social Science Journal, Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, Government Information Quarterly, and Research in Higher Education. Her book chapter about gender differences in scholarly productivity of faculty in public administration and policy will be published in late 2010. She received her doctorate in public administration from Arizona State University, and worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the City College of New York, City University of New York before joining the faculty at the University of Texas at Dallas. Evan M. Berman is university chair professor at the National Chengchi University (Taipei, Taiwan) Doctoral Program in Asia-Pacific Studies, and the Department of Public Administration. He is recognized among the most productive scholars of his generation. He is also the editor-in-chief of the American Society for Public Administration's (ASPA) book series in public administration and public policy (Taylor & Francis) and senior editor of Public Performance & Management Review. His areas of interest are public administration performance, human relations and motivation, and emerging forms of governance. He has published in the leading journals of the discipline. He is also editor-in-chief of the third edition of the Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy (2007). Before joining NCCU, he was the Huey McElveen Distinguished Professor at Louisiana State University, past recipient of a Distinguished Fulbright Scholarship at Yonsei University (Seoul, South Korea), and taught at the University of Central Florida (Orlando) and the University of Miami. He has previously served as a policy analyst for the National Science Foundation and as a consultant to the National Academy of Sciences and U.S. Congress. Public Administration in South Asia, Meghna Sabharwal and Evan M. Berman India History and Context of Public Administration in India, R.K. Mishra Public Policy Processes and Citizen Participation in India, Dolly Arora Intergovernmental Relations in India, Rekha Saxena Public Service Ethics in India, Sangeeta Sharma Freedom of Information in India, Rumki Basu Administrative Reforms in India, Mahendra Prasad Singh Civil Service System and Reforms in India, Krishna K. Tummala e-Government in India, Mohammed Badrul Alam Bangladesh History and Context of Public Administration in Bangladesh, Mohammad Mohabbat Khan Public Policy Processes and Citizen Participation in Bangladesh, Salahuddin M. Aminuzzaman Public Service Ethics and Corruption in Bangladesh, Mobasser Monem and Hasan Muhammad Baniamin Freedom of Information in Bangladesh: Policy Dynamics, Present State, and Challenges, Pranab Kumar Panday and Golam Rabbani Administrative Reforms in Bangladesh, Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, A.K.M. Reazul Hassan, and Mohammad Golam Kebria Sarkar Civil Service System and Reforms in Bangladesh, Mohammad Mohabbat Khan and Mohammad Ashraful Haque e-Government in Bangladesh: The Dawn of Citizen-Centric Public Administration? Noore Alam Siddiquee Public Agencies Initiatives for Social Development in Bangladesh, Quamrul Alam Pakistan History and Context of Public Administration in Pakistan, Muneer Ahmad Public Policy Processes and Citizen Participation in Pakistan, Mohsin Bashir Intergovernmental Relations in Pakistan, Muhammad Amjad Public Service Ethics in Pakistan, A.R. Jafri Administrative Reforms in Pakistan, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal Jadoon and Nasira Jabeen Civil Service System and Reforms in Pakistan, Nasira Jabeen and Muhammad Zafar Iqbal Jadoon Sri Lanka History and Context of Public Administration in Sri Lanka, A.M. Navaratna-Bandara

While public administration practice and education in general has become considerably professionalized in the last decade, existing knowledge on public administration in Southeast Asia is fragmented at best, and often devoid of a useful reference. While journal articles and government reports provide decentralized information, Public Administration in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Macao takes a comprehensive and comparative look at the major components of administration systems. The selection of countries and regions included reflects the diversity of Southeast Asia. Organized by Country The handbook fills a critical need by bringing together leading scholars who provide an insider perspective and viewpoint on essential and advanced issues. Divided into five sections, each dedicated to a particular country, the text outlines topics relevant to modern public administration, including History and Political Context of Public Decentralization and Local Governance Public Ethics and Corruption Performance Management Reforms Civil Service System Focusing on recent developments in public administration in these countries which are among the fastest growing economies in the world, the book explores their practices and innovative approaches in public administration. For many years people have been fascinated by the cultures, peoples, and governments of Southeast Asia, and now they have a book that discusses the apparatus of government in Southeast Asia-their agencies, contexts, processes, and values.

This study examines how cities help social entrepreneurship-the activity of private individuals and organizations taking initiative to address social challenges in their communities. Based on a national survey and in-depth interviews among jurisdictions with populations over 50,000, the authors find that municipalities help social entrepreneurs by increasing awareness of social problems, and by helping them to acquire resources, coordinate with other organizations, and implement programs. Nearly three-quarters of cities provide active or moderate support, which is positively associated with the perceived effectiveness of nonprofit organizations in their communities.

An exploration of the ways in which people skills can be acquired and developed, this book discusses new career development tools, the role of professional commitment statements, psychological contracts, and how to work with difficult people. Each chapter elucidates the development of a specific skill and includes examples, sets benchmarks, and examines how the particular skill's relationship to the other skills presented in the book. The author covers how to improve interpersonal relationships, communications, job performance, and dealing with people of different ages, gender, and backgrounds.

Special districts are increasingly important in the landscape of public organizations and now constitute about 40percent of all U.S. jurisdictions. Yet little is known about the public value commitments of managers in special districts. This systematic study of senior managers in large special districts finds that support for public values is strong and simihr to that of senior managers in cities. This study explores the effect of concomitant commitments to \"businesslike\" values on public values and the impact of concomitant commitments on perceived organizational outcomes. Though a positive rehtionship exists between commitments to public and businesslike values among senior managers, the authors find evidence that both too much and too little commitment to businesslike values has a negative impact on perceived organizational outcomes, which are furthered by strong commitment to public values. This article demonstrates that special districts are a relevant but underresearched area of public administration.

Present day knowledge about public sector reforms in Asia is quite scattered and seldom focuses on the challenges of leadership. This edited collection seeks to address this issue by presenting country cases that reflect the great diversity of the region.   Home to roughly one-third of the world's population, Asia-Pacific governments typically play leading roles in social and economic development, yet by measures of expenditures or civil servants per capita, most are among the smaller ones in the world. These regimes include democracies, one-party states and unstable systems; there is a broad range of cultural legacies including Confucian, Buddhist, and Western, and vastly different levels of economic development; the region includes some of the very least corrupt countries and those with high corruption levels; it includes the world's most populous country, as well as some of the smallest.   Public sector reforms are very relevant to these countries and their leaders. In Asia, a strong government is invaluable and public sector reforms are relevant to helping modern states meet their goals and performance. This collection explores what is known about these reforms with an eye towards helping leaders responsible for reforms. Clearly, there is very large variation; some Asia-Pacific countries are leading in public sector reforms, while others are not, and this book also seeks to further our understanding what leaders might need to do to be successful.