Public Administration Public Affairs ( Nicholas Henry ) free essay sample

Critical review of work on public management methodologies techniques policy formulation implementation. The purpose of this research is to review the book by Nicholas Henry, entitled Public Administration and Public Affairs (1995). This review will analyze the central themes of the work and address its strengths and weaknesses. Henry begins by explaining the role of public bureaucracy and public administration in democratic society. He notes that bureaucracy and democracy are in fact antithetical. Bureaucracy tends to be hierarchical in nature and elitist. Democracy, on the other hand, tends to be egalitarian in nature. But in order for a democratic society to function properly, the bureaucracy and democracy must be reconciled (p. 1). Bureaucracy represents the technological elite, the body of persons skilled in how to get things done. The democratic mass is charged with determining the direction of public policy, but it is the skilled..