The earliest scholars of public administration often struggled with the exact definition of bureaucracy. Is it the invisible fourth branch of government? Do bureaucrats derive their power politically or managerially? I believe bureaucracy is best defined when we reach to the constitutional undertones and examine government “by the people, for the people.” How do practitionersRead… Read more »
The weather sure has been hot lately. Want to get a good picture of the weather over the past year? Then get NOAA’s National Climate Data Center recently published report on the weather and climate occurring around the world in 2009. Because weather fascinates many of us and is experienced by all of us, theRead… Read more »
Join CivSource and Caspio for a free webinar to learn how the latest cloud-based technologies are enabling state and local agencies to publish databases and deploy interactive web applications on their websites without programming. Topics to be covered: * How cloud technology is used for a variety of Gov 2.0, open government, and e-gov apps.Read… Read more »
Public managers within a single organization commonly define fundamental terms differently. Since public managers come from diverse backgrounds and have different experiences, it’s not unexpected that they interpret the world around them differently. Are these differences in understanding detrimental to the public organization? How should public managers react to these situations? Perhaps hermeneutics is theRead… Read more »
The Federal Resume Toolboxä is not a book per se, but rather a collection of brief, concise articles that contain the essential information you need to rebuild your resume so that it grabs the attention of the HR Specialist and tells that person that you are most definitely qualified for the position. Make no mistakeRead… Read more »
We are developing a running list of the most recent government policies on social media, networking, and privacy. If you see that we are missing a policy memo, or guidelines from a government agency, please let me know. Take a look at our list so far (it’s small but it’s growing!): http://thedigitalmediacenterblog.blogspot.com/p/government-20-policies-guidelines-and.html
In a Federal News Radio conversation with reporter Francis Rose and two other guests – Robert Shea, a former OMB executive, and Jon Desenberg, with the Performance Institute – we talked about the Obama Administration’s performance initiatives to date, and the potential implications for agency efforts to measure performance. Shea said “people miss some ofRead… Read more »
If you are like most other people that has applied for federal employment, you submitted your resume package for several government positions and may have got word back that you did not qualify – or in most cases, you did not hear anything. Unlike the private sector in which the purpose of a resume isRead… Read more »
Wading through all the Gov 2.0 tweets that fill my stream, I happened to come across a recent venn diagram cartoon making the rounds in the higher education circuit that struck a chord with me as a local government webmaster. The cartoon is a diagram showing two circles: the first titled “Things on the frontRead… Read more »
Of course, “best practices” depends on what your objectives are. Generally, they are what most efficiently and effectively fulfill your objectives. However, best practices should not be seen as a final condition. When improvements can be made, they should be made. Currently, there is something like six million Americans overseas who are eligible to vote.Read… Read more »