Introduction to Comparative Public Administration: Administrative Systems and Reforms in Europe

This innovative textbook provides an in-depth analysis and account of the state of public administration and recent administrative reforms in European countries.

It introduces key features of public administration in six European countries, by comparing current administrative reforms and highlighting the extent to which the different administrative systems have converged or continue to persist in their respective traditions. This textbook will make the students familiar with the concepts and empirical base of comparative public administration.

Key features include:

• The first comprehensive, comparative and systematic treatment of public administration and administrative reforms in key European countries;
• Empirical scrutiny of administrative convergence/persistence/divergence;
• Easy access for students to the comparative study of varied administrative systems by way of more than 80 graphs, tables and a detailed index;
• Comparison of typical European administrative traditions and their historical development; and
• A combination of country reports and comparative reform analyses.

This textbook should effectively assist undergraduate and post-graduate teaching at universities and institutions of higher education with courses on comparative and European public administration, administrative reform and public policy.

Sabine Kuhlmann, Professor of Political Sciences, Administration and Organization, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany and Hellmut Wollmann, Professor Emeritus of Public Administration, Social Science Institute, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany