A further purpose of this book is to describe in some detail several theories
and analytic approaches that contribute to what we know about public administration.
We also aim to describe areas of public administration theorizing that
are underdeveloped. If we can accept that each approach to the subject of public
administration is guided, at least in some rudimentary way, by a theory or set of
theories, the questions are these: Which theories or approaches are the most
promising, the most influential? Which are the most important now and likely
to be the most important in the future? What phenomena in public administration
and governance are not yet adequately described or explained? One particular
area that is in need of greater study is the “shadow bureaucracy”—the
extensive network of private and nonprofit enterprises that exist to carry out public
programs. The purpose of this book is to set out a detailed description of the
authors’ selection of key theories in contemporary public administration in the
hope of improving the reliability of our knowledge and our understanding of
public administration.