The Future of Governing

by B. Guy Peters

Global politics have been transformed by revolution and reformation in the last two decades. As political systems crashed or teetered precariously and entire governments and national boundaries dissolved, even the relatively stable industrialized democracies have been forced to reorganize their governments in the face of the increasing discontent of their citizens. Peters provides a concise and insightful guide to the fundamental ideas underlying these reform movements and their future impact on governance.

This revised edition includes three new chapters that add valuable analysis and perspective to current debates surrounding the political and administrative change in less-developed countries, the deficiencies of public administration theory, and the ways in which reform begets further reform and creates a belief in the desirability of continuous reform.

Genres: Political Science

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad to see this has a 2 star rating. So I'm not the only one. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, so why do I have read every sentence 5 times to understand it. Ironically the other textbook for this class is a quick and easy read. Go figure!

Update: Now that I've read more of the book, it's slowly growing on me. He actually has some interesting theories that are causing me to re-evaluate how I feel about certain issues. It still bothers me that he quotes himself as an expert to back up his own opinions.

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can tell that Peters is brilliant when reading this book; the problem is that I am definitely less brilliant and not well versed in this topic. It is definitely not a very easy read. I had to read each sentence about twice to get the gist of what he was saying, and even then I wasn't always sure, but what I did get was fairly interesting. I had to read this book for a class, otherwise I never would have finished it.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another public policy/administration theory book - I taught my classes from this book so perhaps that is why I liked it better than others.

[Eka Prasetya · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book