Suchergebnisse

Policy decisions regarding investment in public works such as water systems, highways, or public buildings are important decisions for local public officials. The management of these investments over time is equally important. However, information about public works investments across a region is often inadequate. Individual jurisdictions and authorities often have good information about the public works for which they are directly responsible but far less complete information about public works that are the responsibility of overlapping or nearby entities that are relevant to the effective functioning of a region. Systematic analyses of the consequences of particular investment or management decisions on the region and its subareas can improve understanding of those choices.

During the 1999 "Building Bridges Tour" (see Stivers 2000), PAR readers encouraged the editors to focus more attention on the so‐called "Big Questions/Big Issues" of the field of public administration. In response to this suggestion, we created a new forum for scholarly discourse simply called "Big Questions/Big Issues." This inaugural forum begins with a context setting essay by John Kirlin,a leading proponent of the Big Questions/Big Issues perspective. Kirlin' essay is immediately followed by Laurence E. Lynn Jr.'s thought provoking piece, "The Myth of the Bureaucratic Paradigm: What Traditional Public Administration Really Stood For." Lynn' essay is important for it takes to task those who carelessly attack "traditional public administration." We asked J. Patrick Dobel (University of Washington), David Rosenbloom (American University), Norma Riccucci (State University of New York at Albany), and James Svara (North Carolina State) to respond to Lynn' essay. We invite PAR readers to join the conversation using PAR' message board online at ASPA's Online Community (http://www.memberconnections.com/aspa/) or by writing directly to theauthors and/or editors.—LDT

Kirlin reviews 'The New Regional Economies: The U.S. Common Market and the Global Economy' by William R. Barnes and Larry C. Ledebur.

AbstractWhen the community‐revitalization debate is shifted from the local to the regional level, advocates confront the fact that — despite recent reforms — regions have little standing in our federal system. Economically competitive regions offering a range of satisfying experiences for their residents will require a less coercive federalism and a re‐casting of our politics to favor balanced public discussion and encourage commitment to neighborhood and region.