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The article compares the plot of power, revenge and control in the play "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare to the modern system of governance, and talks of similarity between Utopia, the imaginary island and the imaginations of the society, role of professional administrators.

The article focuses on the relation between literature and decision making in public projects, and talks of factors of governance which includes openness to perceptions and opinions; public funding for public project such as Bay Bridge, San Francisco, California; and play "King Lear" by author William Shakespeare.

The article focuses on understanding leadership in public administration (PA) with the help of literature and poetry, and talks of German philosopher Leo Strauss and American political scientist Dwight Waldo, Henry V, character from author William Shakespear's play, and human elements of PA.

Managing investigations of official misconduct committed by one’s superiors is a particularly fundamental problem of administrative ethics. Frequently, such investigations include testing the integrity of the leader’s senior followers, including one’s closest colleagues. Shakespeare’sMacbethdramatizes the situation confronting senior executives who are convinced that their leader is corruptly abusing power but are uncertain how far this corruption has reached down into their own ranks. Macbeth’s opponents have to work out ways of testing the integrity of those who claim to be on their side. Shakespeare’s play includes a pioneering study of “integrity-testing” that remains relevant and instructive today. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An essay is presented which examines Justus Möser's paper "Kurze Geschichte der Bauerhöfe" in relation to Johann Goethe's play "Faust II." Topics include the concept of administration in both works, Goethe's interest in the writings of Möser and Möser's engagement in civil service and Möser's contribution to the failure of "Faust II" and representation of contingency and crisis are explored.

The zombie-plague apocalypse is a powerful social imaginary that focuses attention on the border between legitimate citizens and zombie "others." The surge in the number of zombie apocalypse films provides an illuminating area for studying the role imagined for public administration by popular culture. The response to zombies in apocalyptic films brings to fore new realities with the re-conceptualization of the legitimacy and authority of government. This re-conceptualization provides content for analyzing the portrayal of existing governmental institutions overwhelmed by the apocalypse, including local governments, the military, public health agencies, emergency services, and public utilities, as well as the governance structures that emerge to organize collective action once formal governmental institutions disintegrate. We explore these concepts using an iterative coding process and content analysis of 13 apocalyptic zombie films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A literary criticism of the book "Swaraj" by Arvind Kejriwal is presented. The book is recognized for exploring the deficiencies of Indic politicians and for suggesting major changes required for good governance in the country. The author suggests the participation of both the elites and rural poor in the governance. He also advises the government to bring transparency in the governance by empowering Gram Sabhas.

Discusses the strengths and weaknesses of European literature which stresses the importance of networks, partnerships and markets, and the application of these ideas to public administration in the United States. The ambiguity of the term `governance' in the discussion of public administration.

This article undertakes to identify the books in public administration that have had significant influence in the academic career of the author. The book "Administrative Behavior," by Herbert Simon, reflects the contribution of its author to public administration. To raise the question about directness of influence should take nothing away from Simon, but it does make one wonder how the message gets carried from the idea person to the hands-on doer. The awful thought is that the good ideas do not ever get translated into practice. They become an intellectual currency, which is seen as sufficient in itself. In any case, it is understandable why members of the panel raised questions about detecting and measuring influence. Some other books selected by the panel are "Functions of the Executive," by Chester Barnard, "The Administrative State," by Dwight Waldo, "Democracy and the Public Service," by Frederick C. Mosher, and "The Intellectual Crisis in American Public Administration," by Vincent Ostrom.

The article presents several reports on management. The reports serve three distinct purposes. The first is to show the business community that the public sector is taking its recommendations seriously and is implementing them as quickly as practicable. The second is to showcase agencies that have achieved notable implementation and put pressure on those which have not. The third purpose is to communicate in some depth to people outside this particular loaned-executive effort the type of changes stimulated by it. By limiting the number of management initiatives reviewed, the selected changes can be covered in narrative form-supported by ample charts and graphs, developed in a pleasing format, and portrayed in a high-quality publication. Cost savings measures are clustered by topic under communications, fiscal, personnel, transportation and automation. These reports are interesting in direct relationship to the reader's interest in the particular jurisdictions which they represent. Except for such personal involvements, these reports are like fabric softeners, they dry with a lot of fluff. Taken as a group, however, these reports document some priorities for reforms at specific levels of government, and they represent a potential for development of a significant information base.

Presents the table of contents to the June 1, 1988 issue of the periodical "Public Administration."

No abstract is available for this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]