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Political Environment of Public Administration

Topics
bulletFederalism
bulletTrends in federal-state relations
bulletFiscal federalism
bulletCategorical vs. block grants
bulletMandates
bulletRevenue sources/expenditures
    

Readings
bulletStarling pp. 50 - 102; 106 - 148; 486 - 528;
bulletHerbert, et al.  "Challenges to State governments" (RES #2)
bulletRomzek & Dubnick "Accountability in the Public Sector" (RES #3)
bulletHandouts - Fiscal Federalism
bulletHandouts - Budgeting and Public Finance
bulletHandouts - State budget problems
bulletHandouts - Recession
     

Lecture Notes
bulletLecture Notes: Intergovernmental Relations
bulletLecture Notes: Budgeting
     

Web Resources
bullet U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) Presentation by David Walker - Saving Our Future Requires Tough Choices Today
bullet National Governor's Association (NGA) (2009). The Fiscal Survey of States. NGA, National Association of State Budget Officers. December.
bullet USA Today - Article about recent increases in the National debt (5/09)
bulletYou might want to look through the issue of Governing magazine that grades the states in terms of their level of government performance.
bulletFor information on the differences in management capacity among the country's major cities see this recent edition of Governing magazine. 
bulletWant to view the federal budget?  Click here
bulletConcerned about federal budget deficits or the national debt?  If you are, then you might want to check out the Concord Coalition.
bulletEver wonder how much the national debt is?  See what it is today by clicking here.
bulletLike to play games?  Want to explore some of the political issues and tradeoffs that are involved in the budget process?  Click here to play the National Budget Simulation.
    

Other Useful Information
One of the the things you will discover if you read the editorial pages is that many of the debates and arguments the authors raise are rooted in different perspectives about federalism and conflicting ideas about what the proper relationship between federal, state, and local governments ought to be.  A few web pages you might find of interest are:
bulletThe USA Today
bulletThe Washington Post
bulletThe Washington Times
bulletThe Drudge Report has a conservative take on political events with links to various news articles and original reporting.  It also has links to various columnists from around the country and the major newswires.
For those of you that like political cartoons, you might want to check out these web sites:
bulletThe USA Today
bulletThe Washington Post

 

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Page last modified 11/17/05

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