Review of The Handbook of

Public Administration

By B. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre (Eds.)

Review by Muhittin Acar

Hacettepe University

The Handbook of Public Administration was originally published in 2003. Its first
paperback edition was published in 2007 and then reprinted in 2009 and 2011.
This is a voluminous joint product; even this concise paperback edition of the
Handbook is almost 400 pages long. Its length is quite understandable, given the
Handbooks scope and content: It covers a broad set of issues related to public
administration, ranging from human resources management to administrative
history, from administrative reform to intergovernmental relations, from implemen-
tation to accountability. All in all, the Handbook is organized around 14 thematic
sections and a total of 30 chapters, each covering an important issue concerning
the theory and/or practice of contemporary public administration. In fact, at the
beginning of their introductory chapter, entitled The Role of Public Administra-
tion in Governing, editors Peters and Pierre emphasize their aim to address the
major issues in, and perspectives on, public administration (p. 1).
They also state in the introduction that The Handbook is an international
treatment of this subject, with scholars drawn from a wide range of countries and
intellectual traditions. In looking at the existence of such an impressive list of
contributors, coming from different countries with diverse academic and admini-
strative traditions, one would agree with the editors on this point. Yet, the Handbooks
international or global characteristics could have been improved further by the
inclusion of contributions on and by different countries and regions from around
the globe. One may ask, for instance, why public administration traditions, struc-
tures and problems of some countries, regions, even entire continents (e.g., Turkey,
Middle East, Asia, Africa, etc.) do not get enough attention in these kinds of
books. Similarly, is it really too difficult to find scholars from Latin America or
Central and Eastern Europe to write chapters about those regions? In short, the
Handbook could have enjoyed a more diverse and truly international outlook
than it currently does.

JPAE
19 (4), 773775 Journal of Public Affairs Education 773
M. Acar

As any experienced editor would tell us, the task of neatly organizing edited
books (in fact, any book for that matter) is almost always challenging, often
involving professional or personal, sometimes not so easy choices. Therefore,
readers are expected to respect and live with the discretionary decisions made by
the editors concerning the design and layout of their books. Nonetheless, as the
reviewer of the Handbook for JPAE, I might say a few words about its organization.
First of all, a couple of sections with closely related topics might have been merged
(e.g., chapters in sections 1113, covering issues of comparative and international
public administration, could have been organized in a single section with an
all-inclusive title). Secondly, some chapters could have been assigned to different
sections than they currently are (e.g., Chapter 2, Measuring Public Sector
Performance, should have been located in Section 9, Budgeting and Finance).
Finally, sections and chapters addressing general, core theoretical and practical
issues of public administration might have come first, followed by sections and
chapters dealing with issues related to management of public organizations (e.g.,
Section 8, especially Chapters 1819 therein, should have reversed location with
Section 2).
As the editors themselves have noted: No single volume could hope to cover
in any comprehensive manner the full range of concerns about public administra-
tion. It is unfortunate to note that many issues becoming increasingly important
for understanding and functioning of public administration, such as networks
and partnerships, were not included in the Handbook. Maybe more important
(and ironic), although the editors frequently point out in their introductory
remarks the need for public servants to develop new mind-sets as well as a new
sets of skills to deal successfully with changing, complex relations in their sur-
roundings, the Handbook does not have a specific chapter focusing on public
administration education and training, one that would inform the students and
practitioners of contemporary public administration on how to survive and
serve best in the age of decentralized, globalized, networked, multisector, and
multilevel governance environments.
Nevertheless, this concise paperback edition of The Handbook of Public Admini-
stration covers an array of important issues concerning contemporary public
administration. Peters and Pierre, themselves being achieved and acclaimed
academicians, bring together in the Handbook pieces written by respected and
reputable scholars with diverse academic perspectives and approaches. Almost all
chapters in the Handbook provide clear and accessible discussions of their subject
matters, along with extensive lists of references available for further reading and
research. I highly recommend the Handbook for use in undergraduate and
graduate teaching courses as well as in faculty professional development and
executive training programs.

774 Journal of Public Affairs Education

 Book Review

Note
1. Publishing information:
394 pp. (pbk)
Sage (2011)
London
ISBN: 978-1-4129-4539-4 (pbk)

Dr. Muhittin Acar is a professor of public administration at Hacettepe University,

Turkey. He earned his MPM from Carnegie Mellon University and his PhD from
University of Southern California. His major research topics are accountability
and integrity in public governance.

Journal of Public Affairs Education 775