From the early postwar period until his death at the turn of the century, Dwight Waldo was one of the most authoritative voices in the field of public administration. Through probing questions, creative ideas, and novel insights, he perhaps contributed more than any other single figure to the development of public administration as a discipline in the mid-20th century, from his classic, masterful debut The Administrative State (1948) to his last published book, The Enterprise of Public Administration (1980). In this new look at Dwight Waldo’s writing, Richard Stillman offers a representative selection of Waldo’s most important works alongside introductory essays to help a seasoned public administration scholar as well as the novice student alike appreciate and comprehend Waldo’s remarkable contribution to this critical field of study.

Selections have been chosen for their ability to speak to current and ongoing concerns of the field in the 21st century as well as for their utility, readability, and importance. This anthology provides new generations of readers with a fresh look at the work of this prolific, profoundly influential author, while offering both administrative scholars and practitioners renewed access to many of his hard-to-find works. This book will be required reading for all those interested in public administration as a field of inquiry and practice.

"This anthology of Dwight Waldo’s work is a generalist and philosophically oriented breath of fresh air in a time that specialist, quantitative-statistically oriented scholarship dominates. Throughout his career, Waldo asked big questions, but never answered them knowing that any answer about the role and position of government in society could not be but illusive given the constantly changing social environment. The study of public administration has too little attention for the kind of normative, conceptual questions which Waldo 'circled.' The author of this volume did an excellent job in selecting pieces representative of Waldo’s wide-ranging thought, providing a really good introduction to Waldo as human being and PA-scholar, and with solid introductions to the seven parts in which the 18 pieces have been placed. Digesting the content of this volume will be beneficial to anyone seeking to understand America’s administrative state."

Jos C. N. Raadschelders, Ohio State University, USA

"Stillman’s innovative book provides homage to one of the illustrious founders of our field, Dwight Waldo. Stillman creatively weaves the written works of Waldo into a compelling composition of what public administration is, its political and managerial nature, and its significance in a democratic society. This ingenious book is essential reading for students and scholars of public administration and management."

Norma M. Riccucci, Rutgers University Newark, USA

Richard J. Stillman II is a professor of public administration at the School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado, Denver. He taught on the faculties of George Mason University and California State University-Bakersfield and is the author and editor of several books. Stillman is an elected fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration and his textbook, Public Administration: Concepts and Cases, 9th edition, is used in over 400 universities and colleges. His books have been translated into Chinese, Korean, and Hungarian. He received the William E. and Frederick C. Mosher Award for distinguished scholarship and served as Editor in Chief of the Public Administration Review (PAR). During his editorial tenure, 2006–11, PAR was ranked by Google Scholar as the number one journal in the field according to its academic impact worldwide. His book, Preface to Public Administration, also was recently selected as the third most influential book published in the field since 1990. In 2020 Stillman received the American Society for Public Administration’s Dwight Waldo Award for his lifetime scholarly contributions to the field of public administration.