ORGANIZATIONAL HUMANISM: A set of organization theories stressing that work holds
intrinsic interest for the worker, that workers seek satisfaction in their work, that they want to work
rather than avoid it, and that they can be motivated through systems of positive incentives (such as
participation in decision making).
PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY: A political and philosophical belief in direct involvement by
affected citizens in the processes of governmental decision making; believed by some to be essential
to the existence of democratic government; related term is citizen participation.
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: Specific evaluation with respect to an individual's progress in
completing specified tasks.
PERFORMANCE AUDITING: Analysis and evaluation of the effective performance of agencies in
carrying out their objectives.
PERFORMANCE BUDGET: Budget format organized around programs or activities (rather than
the objects it purchases), including various performance measurements that indicate the relationship
between work actually done and its cost.
PLANNING-PROGRAMMING-BUDGETING SYSTEM (PPBS): Effort to connect planning,
systems analysis, and budgeting in a single exercise.
PLURALISM: A social and political concept stressing the appropriateness of group organization,
and diversity of groups and their activities, as a means of protecting broad group interests in society;
assumes that groups are good and that bargaining and competition among them will benefit the
public interest.
POLICY: Statement of goals and intentions with respect to a particular problem or set of problems.
POLICY ANALYSIS: Process of researching or analyzing public problems to provide policy
makers with specific information about the range of available policy options and advantages and
disadvantages of different approaches.
POLICY ENTREPRENEUR: A person willing to invest person time, energy, and money in pursuit
of particular policy changes.
POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: A general political and governmental process of carrying out
programs in order to fulfill specified policy objectives; a responsibility chiefly of administrative
agencies, under chief executive and/or legislative guidance; also the activities directed toward
putting a policy into effect.
POLITICAL ECONOMY APPROACH: Focusing on politics and economies as categories for
analyzing organizational behavior.