What is the relationship between changes in modern states and the current practice of public administration, on the one hand, and recent developments in the sciences of administration on the other? The contributors to this unique book address this fundamental question by surveying the origins, evolution and the contemporary state-of-the-art of administrative sciences in Europe and the United States.A distinguished group of international authors presents the historical development of the study of administration in their respective countries and an analysis of how particular national approaches to the study of administration or 'the way of thinking' influences and are influenced by various national institutions. The authors make comparisons between each country and more generally between Europe and United States Public Administration. This book will introduce American audiences to the various European approaches to administrative sciences and vice versa, and Europeans to contemporary American public administration theory. For many American as well as European students in the field, this volume offers a unique comparison between the large, established field of research in the United States and more recent, less well known European administrative sciences.

The Modern State and Its Study will be of great interest to scholars of public administration throughout the world. Practicing public administrators as well as new students of this field will find this volume to be a helpful survey of the current vast and rapidly growing body of public administration research on both Europe and the United States.