Public Administration Case Study

Evaluate the current moral, philosophical and worldview influences in a specific, researched public administration case study. Whatever source is used for the actual case study must focus on a real-world public administration situation that is being discussed and analyzed in the chosen article.

Explain how these challenges impact ethics, statesmanship and governance of public administrators.

Remember to synthesize your research and findings with the required readings and presentations for this week and a Biblical/covenantal model of statesmanship, leadership and organizational behavior.

Case Studies

There has been some confusion about what a case study is or is not—and it can be confusing. In my experience a case study is simply a scholarly, rigorous examination of some example we can learn from. The case study investigates what a public sector organization did or did not do regarding some social challenge, public policy development, action the organization took, or what the organization failed to do. The case study author objectively assesses what happened and what can be learned from the example. It is not a general article about some facet of public administration that an author is summarizing. It is an analysis and deeper dive on a specific organization than general comments.

For the case study, students are welcome to cite a scholarly source, but if they do, it must not be merely a theoretical/philosophical discussion. Instead, whatever source is used for the actual case study must focus on a real-world public administration situation that is being discussed and analyzed in the chosen article. Specific agency, specific challenge or problem being discussed, specific research/evaluation methods, and specific findings.

Here is a recommended outline:

Introduction/Context

In one brief paragraph, introduce/summarize the Case Study—name of the article, author(s), summary of the methodology, preview key public administration challenges/main points, etc. Help us understand the situation and context of the case study.

Body

• State (paraphrase) the central claim of the article/case study.
• Evaluate the current moral, philosophical and worldview influences in the specific case study.
• Explain how the challenges in the article impact the ethics, statesmanship and governance of public administrative concepts that are present in the course literature, presentations, and other scholarly peer-reviewed sources.
• State your agreement/disagreement with the author’s methods, findings, and conclusion.
• “Why” did you come to that conclusion? Do you think the claim of the author is biased or not?
• Relate the topic to Scripture/biblical principles where appropriate.

Conclusion

Succinctly summarize your conclusion by restating the central claim or thesis of your study; frame the importance of your study; highlight why the topic is traditionally significant, new contexts in which the topic is or may be important, or new applications for the ideas, approaches, or findings in your paper.

In addition, please answer this question: what role do you believe Christians should have in public policy and administration?