Pittsburgh, 30 October - 1 November 1997

Taking the Measure of Government

Thursday, October 30

9:45 Session 1 -- Theoretical Considerations
Paper: Thomas Hammond, Michigan State University
"The Epistemology of Autonomy: If An Agency is Autonomous, How Would We Know It?"
Commentators: William Keech, Carnegie-Mellon University
Bert Rockman, University of Pittsburgh

13:30--15:00 Session 2 -- Roundtable on Methods and Techniques of Data Gathering on Bureaucracy, Public Organizations, and Public Administration
Participants: Joel D. Aberbach, University of California, Los Angeles
Colin Campbell, Georgetown University
Brian Hogwood, University of Strathclyde
Gillian Peele, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University

15:30--17:00 Session 3 -- Institutional Perspectives on Public Organizations
Paper: Albrecht Funk, University of Pittsburgh
Commentators: B. Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh
Hans-Ulrich Derlien, University of Bamberg

Friday, October 31

9:00--10:30 Session 4 -- Vital Statistics: Births, Deaths, and Marriages
Paper: Brian Hogwood, University of Strathclyde
"The Quantitative Analysis of Agency Accountability: What Can it Tell Us and What Does it Miss Out?"
Commentators: Raimund Germann (tentative)
William Coleman, McMaster University

10:45--12:15 Session 5 -- Centralization/ Decentralization
Paper: Ulrich Kloeti, University of Zurich
"Coordination in a Highly Decentralized System"
Commentators: Alberta Sbragia, University of Pittsburgh
Sandeep Shastri, University of Bangalore

14:00--15:30 Session 6 -- Networks and Communities
Paper: William Coleman, McMaster University
"Policy Network Analysis: Some Methodological Considerations"
Commentators: Michele Micheletti, University of Stockholm
Simon Reich, University of Pittsburgh

15:45--17:15 Session 7 -- Coordination, Control, and Policy Effectiveness
Papers: John Halligan, University of Canberra (tentative)
Sandeep Shastri, University of Bangalore
"Economic Liberalization and Administrative Reforms in India: An Assessment of the Policy Initiatives of the Federal Government"
Commentators: LeAnn Patterson, University of Pittsburgh

Saturday, November 1

9:00--10:30 Session 8 -- Public Employment and Personnel
Paper: Hans-Ulrich Derlien, University of Bamberg and B. Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh
Commentators: Carolyn Ban, University of Pittsburgh
Marick Masters, University of Pittsburgh

10:45--12:15 Session 9 -- A Roundtable on "The End of the Big State?"
Participants: Graham Wilson, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Alberta Sbragia, University of Pittsburgh
Mark Peterson, University of Pittsburgh
Gillian Peele, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University
Michele Micheletti, University of Stockholm