Motivation in Public Management: The Call of Public Service

Are public servants self-interested, or motivated by a sense of duty and commitment far above what we would expect given their often modest compensation and frequent public criticism? This book looks at research on this and related questions in assessing the current state of our scientific knowledge.

James L. Perry is Chancellor's Professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), Indiana University, Bloomington. He also holds adjunct appointments in Philanthropy and Political Science. He has held faculty appointments at the University of California, Irvine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, University of Hong Kong, and Yonsei University. He received M.P.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Perry's research focuses on public service motivation, national and community service, and government reform. He is author and editor of many scholarly articles and books, among them Civic Service: What Difference Does It Make? (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2004), co-authored with Ann Marie Thomson, and Quick Hits for Educating Citizens (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006), co-edited with Steven Jones. Annie Hondeghem is Professor at the Public Management Institute of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven). Her research deals with public personnel management, change management, and equal opportunities policies. She is coordinator at the KU.Leuven of the Policy Research Centre "Governmental Organization in Flanders", a research program commissioned by the Flemish government. She is the coordinator of the Public Management Programme, which is an intensive training program for public servants of the federal administration in Belgium.

Hondeghem's most recent publications include Competency management in the public sector: European variations on a theme (with Sylvia Horton and David Farnham,2002), Staff participation and and public management reform: Some international comparisons (with Sylvia Horton and David Farnham, 2004) and De Copernicushervorming in perspectief. Veranderingsmanagement in de federale overheid (with Roger Depré).