• Choice 1997 Outstanding Academic Book • Winner of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists 1997 Outstanding Book AwardThrough thoughtful essays linking historical concepts, current issues, and areas for future research, Matthew Holden, Jr., argues that the study of public administration is indispensable to understanding politics. Essentially, public administration consists of making decisions about information, money, and force-three crucial sources of power: politics and administration cannot be separated, and no political system can be sustained when its administrative core collapses.Holden explores issues in administration as reflected in political theory and discusses the specifics of organization, bureaucratic, and management theory. He considers such concepts as executive leadership and the emergence of administrative law and turns an unblinking eye on the practice of public administration today, buffeted by changes in communications technology and by ethnic diversity.