Unmasking Administrative Evil [Paperback]

Although social scientists generally do not discuss evil in an academic setting, there is no denying that it has existed in public administration throughout human history. Hundreds of millions of human beings have died as a direct or indirect consequence of state-sponsored violence. The authors argue that administrative evil, or destructiveness, is part of the identity of all modern public administration (as it is part of psychoanalytic study at the individual level). It goes beyond a superficial critique of public administration and lays the groundwork for a more effective and humane profession.

Although social scientists generally do not discuss evil in an academic setting, there is no denying that it has existed in public administration throughout human history. Hundreds of millions of human beings have died as a direct or indirect consequence of state-sponsored violence. The authors argue that administrative evil, or destructiveness, is part of the identity of all modern public administration (as it is part of psychoanalytic study at the individual level). It goes beyond a superficial critique of public administration and lays the groundwork for a more effective and humane profession.

Foreword - Curtis Ventriss
Introduction and Overview
The Dynamics of Evil and Administrative Evil
The Framework of Administrative Evil
Modernity and Technical Rationality
Administrative Evil Unmasked
The Holocaust and Public Administration
Administrative Evil Masked
From Mittelbau-Dora and Peenemünde to the Marshall Space Flight Center
Organizational Dynamics and Administrative Evil
The Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA, and the Space Shuttle <i>Challenger</i>
Public Policy and Administrative Evil
In the Face of Administrative Evil
Finding a Bal&