Preliminary communication

Context Matters: Pedagogy and Comparative Public Administration

Sheila Suess Kennedy ; School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, USA

Abstract

Those who teach public management increasingly encourage
students to consult resources from countries other
than their own, and to look around the globe as well as
around the corner for answers to local problems of service
delivery and agency administration. While the reference to
»best practices« has much to recommend it, it should not
be allowed to obscure important differences in national
legal and constitutional cultures – differences that reflect
the specific value criteria and political framework within
which each country’s citizens evaluate their government’s
performance. The challenge for public administrators and
those who teach them is to distinguish between the areas
that can benefit from best practices, and those where a
nation’s distinctive history and culture make importation
of a practice problematic.

Keywords

Best practices; comparative public administration; legal systems; legal and cultural context

Hrčak ID:

130641

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/130641

Publication date:

18.5.2013.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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