Numerous contemporary issues are addressed in this course, such as: Is government too large? Is bureaucracy "inefficient?" What type of behavior is appropriate in our elected, as well as appointed public servants? How can we judge public programs from a citizen's point of view and from the point of view of a government employee? How can political and policy- relevant statements by elected public servants be most accurately interpreted from the point of view of appointed servants and general citizens?

Critical thinking in this course is largely associated with making distinctions, comparing, identifying and weighing assumptions and choices, and ultimately evaluating alternative policy choices. Students practice these skills of critical thinking partly through their reading of related articles and book chapters, but more commonly through weekly in-class exercises. For example, critical thinking skills are practiced in class by:

1. Distinguishing public from private service & administration—Exercise #1
2. comparing bureaucratic and non-bureaucratic structures to alternative public problems—Exercise #2
3. identifying values associated with responsibility in public service and assessing the relevance of current codes of conduct in public service professions—Exercise #4
4. weighing alternatives that are involved in making public decisions are practiced in qualitative and quantitative terms in the collective bargaining , public budgeting, and public finance sections of the course—Exercises #10,11, and 12
5. evaluating public policy/programs is the topic for Week 14, which involves the identification of criteria for evaluation--Exercise #14; conduction job evaluations to comply with comparable worth provisions in state law in Exercise #9 also requires students to practice critical thinking skills.

B. Demonstrate effective oral and/or written communication of ideas, informed opinions, and/or values

Effective communication skills are very important for all public service occupations and/or volunteer service. Most in-class exercises in this course require students to prepare a brief written synopsis (sometimes in a memoranda format) in response to particular questions. Moreover, virtually all in-class exercises in which students are working in groups (currently, there are nine such projects) require that a spokesperson for the group be selected to present informally the results of the exercise to the class at large. In addition to the class routines that depend on oral and written communication, there are specific exercises and other course requirements that emphasize the communication of ideas, positions, and values. For example, students are required to:

1. write (in less than one page) a clarification of the difference between partisan and political behavior based available information in Minnesota law and rules--Exercise #3
2. contact (via e-mail) a Minnesota or Wisconsin state legislator to ask for support for a current legislative issue and/or to thank a state legislator for past service--Exercise #7
3. prepare positions for a public collective bargaining exercise. Students playing the role of public union employees attempt to negotiate with students playing the role of the public employer. Time available for all negotiations in this scenario is limited and conditioned in a role playing scenario which emphasizes the significance of their positions to a larger public audience of citizens and media--Exercise 10
4. investigate a public program and summarize the program and associated political problems in a brief (one page) written paper--Exercise #13
5. research and write a five page analysis and recommendation paper on a public program (this is currently an optional project)

3. Identify, find, and use tools of information science related to contemporary issues

Accessing traditional library resources along with e-mail and Internet sources, such as the Minnesota Legislative Home Page and the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library and/or comparable sites is essential for completing required exercises in this course. Students are exposed to these tools of information as they:

1. Conduct research to distinguish legal boundaries between partisan and political behavior--Exercise #3
2. Conduct research to explore a public program of their choosing--Exercise #13
3. Conduct research for optional program analysis.

D. demonstrate the ability to work effectively independently and/or in collaborative problem-solving groups

Whether exercised by elected, appointed officers, or general citizens in non-profit groups, problem solving skills are universally valuable. For some in public service, problem solving is understood as a technical challenge requiring more effective decision making techniques, and for others it is more of a challenge of leadership and building consensus to manage rather than solve problems. This course provides students with practice in both the technical and leadership perspectives on problem solving. Students are required to:

1. design an organizational structure to address both large-scale permanent and temporary public programs--Exercise #2
2. create a hypothetical non-profit organization (complying with state and federal law) and to develop financial ideas to support the non-profit organization--Exercise #5
3. apply their knowledge of public budgeting techniques to revise/improve an actual budget (currently, a budget for local government snow and ice removal is used)--Exercise # 11
4. read and discuss, as part of the last third of the course, alternative decision making theories, such as rational comprehensive, bounded rationality, and incrementalism
5. read and discuss, as part of the last third of the course, biographical studies of leadership in elected and appointed government positions.

Effective Public service by elected and appointed officers requires, at minimum, an understanding of equality and due process along with values normally associated with responsibility, such as accountability, responsiveness, integrity, competence, flexibility, and honesty. This is the primary subject of Week Four's course material, titled "Responsibilty & Ethics in Administration." In addition to lecture material devoted to the topic of responsibility in public service, there are selected exercises that also deal with closely related ideas. Students are required to:

1. prepare a response to hypothetical but realistic dilemmas for an individual faced with a choice to report not-so-obvious ethical violations
2. explore and discuss the relevance (to public employees and citizens) of the Federal Equal Pay Act and more recent Comparable Worth requirements under state law
3. discuss the significance of due process to the development of modern public bureaucracies

6. Participate actively (e.g., class discussion, volunteerism, etc.) in issues significant to citizenship in contemporary society.

All issues of governing for public servants, e.g. building political support, developing policy-relevant expertise, and managing personnel and financial resources are significant for citizenship today. Now more than ever before, citizens have the ability to explore the administrative dimensions of governing and how they may participate in governing through elected, appointed, and volunteer action. Each class session invites this type of discussion, and one week is especially devoted to the discussion of emerging reform issues and voluntarism. Further students are required to complete a community service project in late April. Tentatively, Lake Winona, Gilmore Valley, and/or Mississippi River clean ups and fundraisers for Minnesota Sate Parks are ongoing Spring projects that would be appropriate for the assigned project--Exercise #15.