Public administration
Public administration is the study and practice of organizing government agencies and carrying out public policies and programs.
Bureaucracy: An administrative system organized through offices, rules, specialized roles, and hierarchical authority. Government agencies use bureaucratic structures to coordinate work and apply rules consistently.
Public policy: A course of action adopted by government to address a public issue or pursue a public goal. Public administration operates within policies that define goals and authorized action.
Woodrow Wilson: The American political scientist and president whose 1887 essay helped establish public administration as a distinct field. His essay framed administration as a subject for systematic study and reform.
New Public Management: A reform movement that applies private-sector management techniques and market mechanisms to public services. It contrasts traditional public administration with its emphasis on competition, performance, and managerial autonomy.
Civil service: The permanent, professional workforce employed by government outside elected office and political appointments. Civil-service systems shape recruitment, expertise, neutrality, and continuity within agencies.
Policy implementation: The process of translating enacted policies into administrative actions, services, and outcomes. Implementation is where public administration turns formal policy into practical results.
Government agency: A public organization authorized to administer laws, deliver services, or regulate conduct. Agencies are the organizational units through which administration is performed.
Max Weber: The German sociologist whose account of rational-legal authority and bureaucracy shaped modern social theory. His ideal type of bureaucracy became a foundational model for analyzing administration.
New Public Governance: An approach that emphasizes networks and collaboration among public, private, and nonprofit organizations. It shifts attention from hierarchical agencies toward shared governance across institutions.
Regulatory governance: The institutions and processes through which governments set, enforce, and review regulations. Regulation is a major administrative function requiring rules, expertise, and oversight.