Making analytically-grounded arguments is fundamental to the practice of public management. Such cognitive skills -- the ability to reason and explain -- are not always emphasized, whereas behavior skills -- supervision, teamwork, motivation, conflict management -- are regarded as essential. Those skills are essential, yet reasoned persuasion is also a vital part of managerial effectiveness.
Public Management: A Three-Dimensional Approach educates administrators and future managers by first looking at three distinct management dimensions (structures, cultures, and craft) within the bounds of what authors Hill and Lynn term a logic of governance -- where public management fits into the Constitutional scheme of governance and the rule of law that it establishes. They pair this analytic framework with a "method" of argument to demonstrate that the ability to think critically and to make analytically-grounded arguments can turn day-to-day managerial situations and "worst case" scenarios into real-world solutions, strategies, and decisions.