Books
Welcome to Governing.com's books page, a gateway to our many book offerings. Here you can access books for sale, two serialized books, excerpts from public-policy books, and supplementary information for Governing's textbook.
Books for Sale
Good Press, Bad Press,
De-Pressed
Governing's Media Survival Guide for Public Officials
The latest book in the Governing Management Series is a roadmap for public officials who want to do a better job of dealing with the media in all its forms, from getting the word out when good things happen to avoiding becoming media roadkill when something bad happens.
Author Jonathan Walters is in a unique position to help public officials understand how the press works and how to cope with it: In addition to being a veteran journalist, he is also a public official. And he brings the same irreverent approach to De-Pressed that made his Measuring Up books best-sellers.
Measuring Up 2.0
Governing’s New, Improved Guide to Performance Measurement for Geniuses (and Other Public Managers
Now available: a new, updated edition of the book that started it all — in government, anyway. Nearly a decade ago, the first edition of Measuring Up took an irreverent, entertaining approach to introducing public managers to a management tool with staying power: performance measurement. The new edition provides the same clear introduction to linking resources and results, while showing how managers, executives and policymakers at every level of government are putting the techniques to use to improve services across the board.
About the book | Read excerpts | Read a full chapter | Order copies
Governing States & Localities
An introductory textbook for students
Now in its second edition! In a unique collaboration, political scientist Kevin Smith and Governing journalists Alan Greenblatt and Michele Mariani present the most current information on states and localities in fresh, accessible prose. Similarities between states make meaningful comparison possible. But their differences — in terms of institutional structures, laws and regulations, culture and history, demographics, economy, and geography — provide the perspective students need to answer crucial questions about politics and government.
For more information or to order copies, click here
We Don’t Make Widgets
Overcoming the Myths That Keep Government from Radically Improving
Written for middle- and senior-level managers in state, city and county government, this new book by Ken Miller, an acclaimed state-government management expert and consultant, uses case studies from governments at every level — plus a generous helping of humor — to explode the myths that prevent dramatic improvement in government operations. Michael Lawson, director of the ICMA Center for Performance Measurement, says We Don’t Make Widgets "has the potential to change how you lead your work team or organization and provides concrete steps for doing so."
About the book | Read an excerpt | Order copies
More Governing books:
• Governing: Issues and Applications from the Front Lines of Government, second edition edited by Alan Ehrenhalt
• Powering Up: How Public Managers Can Take Control of Information Technology, by Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene
Online Books
Up the Bureaucracy
A satirical take on public administration
As H. George Frederickson makes clear in this satirical exploration of the world of public administration, bureaucrats and those critical of bureaucrats take themselves too seriously. With humor and wit, Frederickson has created an authentic and essential guide for those who aspire to serve the public.
Other online books:
• Playing with Fire, an online novel by Scott Lazenby
Book Excerpts
Governing by Network: The New Shape of the Public Sector
Reshaping public administration
Governing by Network examines, for the first time, government's transformation from centralized control over public programs to facilitating services through networks of nongovernmental entities, as seen through the experience of dozens of public innovators. In this model, the role of government is transformed from direct service provider to generator of public value.
Other book excerpts:
• The Price of Government: Getting the Results We Need in an Age of Permanent Fiscal Crisis, by David Osborne and Peter Hutchinson