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How the Italian army fooled us all during WWII
“You can’t do too well if you are creative or very imaginative, in Washington DC,” said the senior member of a Congressional staff who I was meeting in the nation’s capital. This was a few years ago, when I had just finished my Master’s degree and was managing a small nonprofit. I was the […]
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The world is doomed as a result of climate change – what will we do about it?
On a recent trip that I took recently, I turned on the screen on the airplane and watched Before the Flood, a well-made documentary, narrated by Leonardo Di Caprio. The documentary is a summary of what we already know : We are screwed. From a climate-change perspective, we are already well past the stage […]
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What you don’t know about Tipu Sultan’s connection to July 4th (and the wars with the British)
Part 1 “If the Sultan of Mysore had had a bit more luck, George Washington might be known as the Haider Ali of North America,” writes Blake Smith, a professor at the University of Chicago. Who is Haider Ali? You may be wondering. And why are we comparing him to the Founding father of the […]
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Corruption in the public sector – What do we know
I am moderating this webinar on June 29, 2021. Join us to learn more. Share this with your friends, as the event is open to all and free! The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) is proud to partner with its South Asian Section for Public Administration (SASPA) to present a BookTalk: Corruption in the Public […]
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Here’s how to Make America relevant again!
Is America’s standing in the world getting better, with President Biden at the helm? Initial data seems to suggest that this hasn’t yet happened. However, not all is lost. One of the ways that this can be accelerated is through vaccine diplomacy. As a recent media report pointed out, the commitment by the US to […]
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What is Environmental Justice?
~Jacqueline Phelps Pursuant to state law, environmental justice means “the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” (California Government Code, 2019). Many of us understand why the consideration of environmental justice in decision-making processes is essential, and […]
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How should we think about “development”?
I conceptualized a new course this term, to make up for the study abroad course that I could not offer. I ambitiously called it “understanding development,” keeping in mind the idea that we would discuss what this term means and what we should do about it. The reaction from students so far is pretty positive […]
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Resistance to mask-wearing: Can wearing masks be seen as not macho enough/“effeminate” behavior?
The latest issue of Administrative Theory and Praxis has an interesting article titled “Street-level bureaucrats under COVID-19: Police Officers responses in constrained settings,” by Rafael Alcadipani, Sandra Cabral, Alan Fernandes, and Gabriela Lotta. They point out, based on inductive qualitative analysis that in a major Brazilian metropolitan area, conflicts concerning political, occupational culture, and material […]
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How to tackle disinformation – the single biggest challenge of public administration?
~ Sabith Khan, PhD Imagine being in a once in a century pandemic. And miraculously, a group of scientists discovers a vaccine that actually works, all in a matter of months. Then, the vaccine starts to roll out. But there is one problem: a good segment of the population refuses to take it. This imaginary […]
