In an attempt to instil trust in their performance, credibility, integrity, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and good governance, many public organizations are in effect viewing tax-paying citizens as consumers. Little research exists to explore synergies between the market economy, public administration reformation, and their complex bilateral effects. This book takes a timely look at the heightened need for public administration reform as a result of the economic challenges currently faced by nations across the globe. In particular it explores the roles of eGovernment and a citizen-centric focus in this transformation. Public Administration Reform examines several commonly-held assumptions about public administration: the public sector is slow and bureaucratic; government employees are frequently disengaged; and government agencies are sometimes wasteful. eGovernment is proposed as a key tool in the improvement of both public services and reputations of public organizations.

In an attempt to instil trust in their performance, credibility, integrity, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and good governance, many public organizations are in effect viewing tax-paying citizens as consumers. Little research exists to explore synergies between the market economy, public administration reformation, and their complex bilateral effects. This book takes a timely look at the heightened need for public administration reform as a result of the economic challenges currently faced by nations across the globe. In particular it explores the roles of eGovernment and a citizen-centric focus in this transformation. Public Administration Reform examines several commonly-held assumptions about public administration: the public sector is slow and bureaucratic; government employees are frequently disengaged; and government agencies are sometimes wasteful. eGovernment is proposed as a key tool in the improvement of both public services and reputations of public organizations.

Women are still underrepresented as public-sector organizational leaders, despite comprising half of the United States public-sector workforce. To explore the factors driving gender imbalance, this Element employs a problem-driven approach to examine gender imbalance in local government management. We use multiple methods, inductive and deductive research, and different theoretical frames for exploring why so few women are city or county managers. Our interviews, resume analysis and secondary data analysis suggesting that women in local government management face a complex puzzle of gendered experiences, career paths and appointment circumstances that lend insights into gender imbalanced leadership in this domain.