In an era filled with mistrust for big government and big business, Charles Goodsell goes against this grain to draw attention to public agencies admired for what they do and how well they do it. In his groundbreaking new book, Goodsell places renewed focus on organizational mission and its potential to be a strong energizing force in government—one that animates a workforce internally and attracts admiration and talent externally. He offers a normative template for the mystique that underlies this phenomenon and highlights—in six rich case studies—a driving sense of purpose, a cultural and motivational richness, and a capacity for tolerating dissent while still innovating and learning. Analyzing what works best (and what doesn’t), Goodsell provides a metric through which agency mystique can be evaluated and modeled.
Goodsell’s fresh take on public agencies not only defines good public administration in terms of ethical conduct, constitutional accountability, and performance effectiveness, but argues that the field must add the crucial standard of institutional vitality.
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Table of Contents
1. Mission Mystique and a Belief System Template
2. National Park Service: Caretaker of America’s Best Idea
3. National Weather Service: Daily Companion and Watchful Guardian
4. Centers for Disease Control: Stewards of the Public Health
5. Department of Social Services: The Delicate Business of Welfare
6. Virginia State Police: The Commonwealth’s Finest
7. Peace Corps: An Ethical Enterprise
8. The Significance of Mission Mystique
Testimonials
Charles Goodsell challenges us with a twenty-first century visionary perspective of a public administration that envelopes various public sector organizations and infuses them with a “mystique” or aura that generates a charismatic sense of purposefulness and clearly reveals what is meant by a service made public in the name of democracy. - Louis Gawthrop, University of Baltimore
Goodsell takes a path-breaking approach to understanding what makes successful public agencies tick. He spotlights the emotive nature of work, and the energy and passion that inspire individual commitment and motivation. Mission Mystique is a must read for those who champion excellence in governance and required reading for everyone else. - Meredith A. Newman, Florida International University
Mission Mystique is an uplifting work that is characteristic of Charles Goodsell over the years. Timely and full of passion for the public service, it is well researched, well written, and accessible for all students in public administration and political science. - Paul Posner, George Mason University
Bio(s)
Charles T. Goodsell , Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Charles T. Goodsell is Professor Emeritus at the Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His other books include The American Statehouse: Interpreting Democracy’s Temples; Public Administration Illuminated and Inspired by the Arts, co-edited with Nancy Murray; The Social Meaning of Civic Space: Studying Political Authority Through Architecture.
