| Bemerkung: |
Being assigned with both the making and implementation of public policies, public administration is a core ingredient of modern democratic rule. Public servants working in ministries write legislation and coordinate public programs between different departments, political actors and interest groups, while subordinated state agencies and local administrations are responsible for implementing policies across the country. Eventually, at the intersection of government and society, street-level bureaucrats, such as police officers, social workers and teachers, determine the delivery of public services to the individual cases of citizens and shape the ways in which mass publics experience and are affected by the execution of state authority.
For understanding the inner workings of political systems and the societal outcomes they produce, it is thus inevitable to gain empirical insights on public administration. Against this background, the overarching aim of the seminar is to learn about and apply instruments and methods for generating empirical knowledge in the field of public administration.
After a short conceptual introduction to the field, we address the basic considerations for developing research designs. We then deal with the different methodological approaches and avenues for data collection that can be used in public administration research. We thereby place a special emphasis on the perspective of behavioural public administration and experimental approaches, that is, the systematic study of individual behaviour of bureaucrats and citizens as well as their interactions with each other. |
