1. Government and Public Administration.
Government and the multiplicity of governmental functions.- Political power and public administration.- Politics and the market.- Public management and private management.- Public administration: a system and a venue for public policy management.- The role of public organizations in the political system. Levels of government and administrative structures in contemporary public administrations
2. Key factors in designing public administration structures
Horizontal differentiation and vertical differentiation in public administrative structures.- Administrative units: types and criteria to create administrative units groups. Public job duties.- Mechanisms to coordinate and control administrative processes and behaviour. Administrative decentralization: key factors. Weber¿s bureaucratic model: determinants, principles, features and critique. Alternative models.
3. Public organizations as venues of political power, conflict and management
Bureaucratic power and political management.- Relationships between political elites and bureaucratic elites. Sources of power, political capital and influencing strategies of political and administrative actors.- Conflict, interests and power networks in public administrations.- Public managers as political managers.
4. Public organizations as creators of public values
Administrative culture: concept, functions and approaches.- Elements and types of administrative culture.- Administrative culture and organizational change.- Social perceptions of public administrations.
5. From public management to public governance
Gerencialism and the post-bureaucratic model.- Strategies and instruments for the improvement of public management.- Outsourcing and privatization in public services.- Excellence and quality management models in public services.- Governance as an emerging model.- Governance, networks management and the relational public administration.
6. Public administrations in Spain. Levels of government and administrative structures.- Public employees and civil servants. Models of public sector and comparative administrative systems.- Analysis of several administrative systems with special reference to France, Germany, United Kingdom and USA.