School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs
Public Administration Comprehensive Examination
August 20, 2014
Instructions: Answer one question from each of the three sections below.
I. Research Methods
1. Imagine that you are a journal referee or book reviewer who has been asked to critique
an empirical public administration study (or studies). As part of this critique, you must
(1) assess the value of the study’s contribution to public administration theory; (2) assess
the quality of the study’s design, including its internal validity, external validity, and
measurement validity—in short, discuss its strengths and weaknesses and whether you
find it credible; and (3) propose how it might be improved. You may focus on one study
or on a group of studies that are conceptually/theoretically linked (e.g., a group of studies
from the empirical literature on political control).
2. Consider two approaches to empirical public administration research—quantitative
and qualitative. The former approach is typically large-n and employs statistical and
econometric methods (e.g., OLS regression, ANOVA), while the latter approach is
typically small-n and employs interviews and ethnographic methods (more generally, it
involves the close and detailed observation of research subjects). Which of these two
approaches do you think are more fruitful for public administration research? Put
differently, which of these two approaches hold more promise for answering public
administration’s most pressing research questions and contributing to theory
development?
II. Public Policy Process, Policy Implementation, and Third Party Governance
1. Describe and critique three models/theories of the policy process. What insights do the
models provide regarding the policy process surrounding the enactment of health care
reform several years ago (i.e., the Affordable Care Act)? Instead of applying the models
to health care reform, you are welcome to substitute another policy issue of your
choosing.
2. What are some of the major current theories about policy implementation? How has
our understanding of implementation changed in recent decades? What are some
remaining gaps in knowledge about policy implementation?
3. What is "third party governance," and what are its causes and consequences? What
management skills are especially appropriate for managing in the context of third party
governance? Please be sure to refer to relevant theories and empirical findings regarding
third party governance.
III. Administrative Theory, Budgeting, Management, and Ethics
1. In contemporary public administration literature, it is common to see references
to administrative theory, organization theory, and bureaucratic theory. Is there a
distinct literature for each, or is there substantial overlap in these literatures? Use
at least five authors, and at least five books or articles, to support your answer to
this question.
2. Many scholars view incrementalism as the dominant theory of public budgeting.
What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of incrementalism as a budgetary
theory? Does the debate over whether incrementalism is the best theory of public
budgeting distract scholars and students of public administration from other
important topics in public budgeting? For example, an alternative approach to the
study of public budgeting could focus on the principal sources and uses of revenue
at the national state and local levels, the changes that have occurred in the sources
and uses of revenue at each level over the past two decades, and the key drivers of
those changes. Assume you are going to focus your budgeting class on these topics.
How would you structure the class? What published articles or books would you
use to teach the class? What other sources or resources could you use to
supplement these scholarly works, or, use as primary material if you cannot find
sufficient published work on these topics?
3. In his 1887 article “The Study of Administration,” Woodrow Wilson took the
position that American public administration had to be separated from politics and
policy-making in order to ensure the effective, efficient, and economical
implementation of public law. What was the basis for Wilson’s claim? How did
Wilson propose to separate administration from politics and policy? In
contemporary American government, are politics, policy, and administration
separate domains? Should they be separate domains? How should senior
administrators respond to an elected official or political appointee who instructs
them to take an action that they believes will result in the violation of the letter or
spirit of the law, violate their professional ethical values, and/or violate their
personal ethical values?