Editor's Introduction

• Author: Danny L. Balfour
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12770
• Published date: 01 May 2017
• Date: 01 May 2017

453

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 77, Iss. 3, pp. 453. © 2017 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12770.

D emocracy, Bureaucracy, and the Constitution:

arguably, these are the three most important

concepts that define the field of public

administration and the central topics of the three

books reviewed in this issue of Public Administration

Review ( PAR ). Michael Spicer ’ s review of Four

Crises of American Democracy: Representation,

Mastery, Discipline, Anticipation leads us through

the theoretical and historical landscape of American

democracy as explored by Alistair Roberts. His work

makes it clear that democracy needs continuous

care and renewal if it is to survive, and that public

administration plays an essential role in that process

as the means by which modern democracy realizes

the will of the people, and more importantly, by not

capitulating to demands for expediency that can

undermine democratic processes and values.

Roberts’s book dovetails nicely with the new volume,

The Constitutional School of Public Administration ,

edited by Newbold and Rosenbloom. Jos Raadschelders

offers us an expansive reflection on the contributions

and value of the Constitutional School, centering

on how the Constitution provides the essential

linkages between democracy and bureaucracy and

the basic framework for the study and practice of

public administration. In this view, bureaucracy (and

the public service) is not a neutral tool for enacting

public policy, but an active defender of Constitutional

government and the values expressed in the

Constitution, a stance that requires both conservation

and innovation to keep democracy alive and well at the

center of governance.

Laws and Forester ’ s book (reviewed here by Koen

Bartels) reminds us that the interplay of democracy

and bureaucracy is not a mere abstraction or

political theory, but a daily reality for the street level

bureaucrats who are challenged to uphold the law

and improvise to deal with the complex and changing

circumstances in the communities they serve. The

review highlights the value of and insights from the

many exemplars offered by Laws and Forester, and

the difficulty of defining a relational framework

that brings together the laws, values, adaptation,

and innovation needed to make democracy work in

contemporary urban settings and throughout civil

society.

Abraham Benevides’s review of A Decade of

Civil Service Reforms in Latin America highlights

the progress made and challenges still faced in

that region’s efforts to create more effective and

trustworthy civil service systems. While the concept of

civil service reform seems to have faded in the United

States, it remains a vital issue in Latin America and

central to advancing democracy and good governance.

All of these books provide the basis for further

research and experimentation on how to govern

democratically and effectively, how to conserve and

innovate, and how to protect our liberties while

meeting our obligations. The challenge for all of us

is how to bring their thoughtful deliberations into

the contemporary political discourse and “Make

Government Great Again” in the hearts and minds of

the people.

Danny L. Balfour

Grand Valley State University

Book Review

Editor’s

Introduction