Professor Thomas Klassen, from the School of Public Policy & Administration in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), is the lead editor of, and a contributor to, a new comprehensive, leading-edge guide for students, scholars and practitioners of public policy and administration. His book, The Routledge Handbook of Global Public Policy and Administration, surveys trends and reforms in the field, such as financial regulation, risk management, corruption, public health, e-government and much more at the local, national and international levels.
The 43 scholars and public administrators who contributed chapters to the handbook have a combined total of 1,000 years of know-how and wisdom in their respective areas. The authors are based in, and write about, all regions of the world, including Africa, Australia, Asia, the Americas and Europe.
“Public policy and administration are fundamental aspects of society, and flourishing areas of scientific study,” says Klassen. “A defining feature of public policy and administration is that for the first time in history there is a global component.”
A running theme throughout the book is that the politicians who create public policies, and public administrators who implement them, must pay greater attention than in the past to the regional, national and global context.
“When we started, it seemed impossible to write a book that covered developments in many disparate countries and regions,” says Klassen. “Yet, it quickly became apparent that politicians, administrators and citizens in all regions struggle with the same problems: how to regulate in the public interest, how to ensure high quality public services and how to foster collaboration between public administrators, individual citizens and other groups.”
The chapters in the handbook illustrate the common responses to these problems throughout the world.
In addition to Klassen, York contributors to this book include Professor Ian Roberge from the Department of Political Science at the Glendon campus, who co-authored a chapter of the book on global financial regulation.
“This book is a tremendous accomplishment since it is a truly global effort bringing scholars from all continents together to study topics that are of high relevance worldwide,” Roberge said.
Co-editors of the handbook include Public Management Professor Denita Cepiku, from the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy and a former visiting scholar at York University, and Public Administration Professor T. J. Lah of Yonsei University in South Korea.