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Managerial Discretion in Government Decision Making: Beyond the Street Level

Author(s): Jacqueline Vaughn, PhD, Northern Arizona University, Arizona
Eric Otenyo, PhD, Northern Arizona University, Arizona
Details:
  • ISBN-13: 9780763746568
  • ISBN-10:0763746568
  • Paperback    171 pages      © 2007
Price: International Sales $75.95 US List
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Overview

Managerial Discretion in Government Decision Making: Beyond the Street Level provides a comprehensive discussion of managerial and executive discretion at all levels of government. Beginning with a discussion of moving beyond street-level discourse, this book sets the stage for studying managerial discretion. It examines aspects of expertise in discretionary decision making at the federal level, including several case examples to account for the wide usage of executive orders in managerial positions, and examines the formal roles of managers at state government levels, while highlighting the variations among state managers in their usage of discretion, with examples of state managers with too much discretion. Next the book identifies key aspects of managerial discretion in local governments, including information on the applicability of discretion in school districts and its implications in decision making, discusses the myriad ways in which managers in local jurisdictions either individually or collectively make decisions within the parameters of state laws, board regulations, and/or council ordinances, and concludes with a discussion of how much discretion managers should have and dangers inherent in providing managers with too much discretion, and reinforces the discourses on accountability in public organizations.

ShowKey Features

Comprehensive coverage of discretion at all levels of government

Chapters include engaging examples and case studies

Balances theoretical approaches and practice

Explains how discretion is used by all executive levels, from mayors and city managers to the president

Includes information on the role of discretion in a democracy

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ShowTable of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: Beyond Street Level Discourse
Chapter 2: Managerial Discretion in Local Government
Chapter 3: Managerial Discretion at the State Level
Chapter 4: Managerial Discretion at the Federal Level
Chapter 5: Discretion and Managerial Accountability
Bibliography


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ShowAbout the Author(s)

Jacqueline Vaughn, PhD-Northern Arizona University, Arizona

Dr. Jacqueline Vaughn received her Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Her primary teaching fields at Northern Arizona University are public administration and public policy, with an emphasis on environmental policy. Prior to joining the faculty at NAU in 1997, Dr. Vaughn taught at Southern Oregon University and at the University of Redlands. Her recently published books include Conflicts in Natural Resources (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2007); Environmental Politics: Domestic and Global Dimensions, fifth edition (Belmont,CA: Thomson, 2007); and George W. Bush’s Healthy Forests: Reframing the Environmental Debate Boulder (University Press of Colorado, 2005), co-authored with Hanna J. Cortner. Dr. Vaughn’s work has appeared in PA Times, Review of Policy Research, and Policy Studies Review.

 

 

Eric Otenyo, PhD-Northern Arizona University, Arizona

Dr. Eric E. Otenyo has an MPA from Syracuse University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Miami University, Ohio. He teaches courses in public administration at Northern Arizona University and previously taught at Illinois State University. His scholarship is in numerous peer reviewed journals include the International Journal of Public Administration, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Public Organization Review, Cornell University IAD Occasional Paper Series, and Politics, Groups and the Individual. He is the co-editor of Comparative Public Administration: The Essential Readings (Oxford, UK: Elsevier, 2006).

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ShowAppropriate Courses

This book is an ideal text for courses in Public Administration (graduate seminars and introductory courses), Ethics in Public Administration, Public Accountability, Leadership/Executive Leadership, Public Policy Management, Public Affairs, Organization Theory, and Public Management. It also makes a great reference for those already working in the field.

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