Admission requirements
Only students admitted to the Minor Public Administration: Multi-Level Governance are entitled to follow the course.
Description
This course provides an introduction to public organisations and organisational theories. Understanding the workings of public organisations is an integral part of understanding the functioning and output of the public sector. Public organizations are complex phenomena as they operate in a context where expectations are high and interests are diffuse. In this course, we answer questions such as: Are public organizations equipped to execute their tasks properly? How do they interact with citizens, politics and administration? To which sets of norms do they have to adhere? What is the role of leadership and motivation in public organisations? The issues that we cover are:
The relations between politics and administration
Distinction between public and private sectors
Theories on the organisation of the public sector
Performance in the public sector
Leadership and Motivation
Course objectives
After successfully completing this course, students should be able to:
Understand theoretical concepts and models that are used to study public organisations
Apply key theoretical concepts and models to a real life organisation
Formulate concrete policy recommendations to policy-makers
Critically review scientific readings in the field of public management
Timetable
On the right-hand side of the programme front page of the Prospectus you will find links to the timetables and uSis.
Mode of instruction
TBA
Assessment method
TBA
Reading list
During the course, we will primarily use the following book: Hal Rainey (2014), Understanding and Managing Public Organizations. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass. 5th edition. The fifth edition is available as a free e-book through the university library. Students need to use the 5th edition or a newer edition.
We will also use additional readings that will be communicated prior to the start of the course via Brightspace. Additional readings should be located through the university library catalogue. Readings that cannot be found online will be provided by the course instructor.
Registration
Registration via MyStudymap is possible from Tuesday 14 July 2026 13:00h after registration for the entire minor. Register for every course via MyStudymap. Some courses of the minor have a limited number of participants, so register on time. Registration for the exam is mandatory.
Please note 1: Registration for the resit of an exam is mandatory, this has to be done by the student and can be done from TBA until 10 days before the exam. Until 5 days before the exam you can email OSC and fill in a form.
Please note 2: guest-/contract-/exchange students do not register via MyStudymap but via uSis. Registration via uSis is possible from Thursday 16 July 2026 after registration for the entire minor.
More information on registration via MyStudymap can be found on this page.
Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. After enrolment for the course in MyStudymap you will be automatically enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course.
Contact
Dr. Martin Sievert m.c.g.sievert@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
N/A