Advanced Public Management

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2012:

Intensive

None

None

Political Science at Undergraduate level

166-527 Advanced Public Management

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject explores the strategies and instruments that public managers use to implement public policy. We will review several key aspects of the management role including: how public managers support the development and implementation of good public policy; how the management role fits within the framework of government and governance in different systems; how questions of responsibility, accountability and performance are defined in the public sector as compared to private enterprise. We will examine the wider influences that frame the manager's experience, including shifts from traditional notions of bureaucracy to contemporary approaches involving contracting, performance management and networked governance. To understand the manager's perspective we will draw variously on case studies, theoretical and evidence-based texts from Australia and elsewhere. Emphasis will be placed upon developing strong analytical and practical management skills, a detailed understanding of debates concerning the public manager's role in a system of democratic governance, and an ability to strategize from a public management perspective.

• have a thorough knowledge of contemporary theories and methods of public sector management.
• have skills in evaluating current policy trends, programs and management practices.
• be familiar with issues of privatisation and contracting out, the monitoring of contracts and broader accountability issues.

1. 1500 word response to a public management problem (15%) due end of March;

2. 1000 word Mini-thesis plan (10%) due mid-semester and;

3. 7500 word Mini-thesis (75%) due during the semester 1 examination period.

Hurdle Requirement: As this is an Intensively-taught subject, Lecture/Seminar attendance is compulsory on all 4 days.Students who fail to meet this hurdle requirement will be deemed ineligible to submit the final piece of assessment for this subject.Regular participation in class is required.

Assessment that is submitted after the due date and up to 10 working days late without an approved extension will be marked on a pass/fail basis only. Assessment that is submitted later than 10 working days will not be accepted or marked. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

Required readings will be made available electronically via LMS prior to the commencement of the subject's intensive teaching period.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• be able to demonstrate competence in critical, creative and theoretical thinking through essay writing, seminar discussion and presentations, conceptualising theoretical problems, forming judgments and arguments from conflicting evidence, and by critical analysis.
• be able to demonstrate proficiency in the application of policy analysis skills to empirical problems.
• be able to demonstrate an understanding of the academic protocols of research and presentation.

PPMN90006 is a compulsory subject in the Master of Public Policy and Management, and the Master of Policy Studies (ASST).