“You’ll never convince me this is the only route to the city manager’s chair. I’d strongly encourage other degrees and alternative work experiences. It’s a dynamic and changing world - the profession must change with it.”Troy Body—City Administrator Why indeed? My answer is simple. True, it is not the only route to the city manager’s... Continue Reading →

Civics, Culture, and Public Service "in the early 1990’s the image of the faceless governmental bureaucrat, top-down, regulatory minded,  'Administrative Man' was hypothetically replaced. Enter the champion of the New Public Management, the market driven “Economic Man. He is Reinventing Government---" "An expanded educational approach to civics and cultural literacy may serve to combat this... Continue Reading →

By Stephen G. Harding "It’s no surprise that the governed are not happy with their government. Yet it would be naïve for state and local officials to think this attitude ends at the federal level. Governmental agencies are pressed to meet the conflicting expectations of elected officials and competing interests of a socio-economic diverse society.... Continue Reading →

What Still Applies? It's been thirteen years since I delivered this presentation at the annual conference of American Society for Public Administration in Washington, D.C. For a few years there after, I made the same presentation to graduate students of public policy and administration at Northwestern University, the University of La Verne, and the University... Continue Reading →

Viktor Orban Revisited Looking back to my Fall 2023 course offering at the UC Riverside Osher Lifelong Learning Institute-- "Let's Talk about Dictators of the 21st Century." As was discussed in class some 2 1/2 years ago, what happens to Orban and Hungary is a good indicator as to the struggle between democracy and autocracy.... Continue Reading →

Bureaucracy and the Challenge to Participatory Local Governance "The public needs to be a part of public administration. Beyond meeting statutory requirements or political expectations, sincere public engagement needs to be a part of the development of policies and programs that result in effective public service delivery systems. Historically, a number of bureaucracies have distanced... Continue Reading →

A Short Weekly Newsletter for Linkedin Members From the classroom to city hall, a weekly short focused on local governance! The notion, "It's a Group Project," came from a Q & A session between noted New York Times journalist Jamelle Bouie and Mysha Cherry, Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. The forum... Continue Reading →

2015-2023 The genesis for my intial attempt at blogging came with retirement. By 2021, 300+ posts, and without any marketing effort, it hit 25,000+ views from 10,000 visitors from 89 nations. After being hacked, and my shift in focus to teaching political history at the UC Riverside Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, my effort in developing... Continue Reading →