The Three Ages of Government

June 24 | 1 p.m. ET

Government emerges almost automatically in imagined communities of people. The question, what drives these imagined communities and their governments, has focused on the rational element in our species, with little—if any—regard for the extent to which emotional responses and group identification influence the structuring and functioning of government. Authoritarian systems operate upon a rather primal set of institutional arrangements; democracy, on the other hand, truly calls upon the quality of rational thinking Homo sapiens sapiens likes to claim it has. The Three Ages of Government traces the emergence of government in societies in the past 10,000 years and helps understand how novel and difficult it is to “run a democratic political-administrative system” because we still do not quite understand the challenges of primal inclinations.

Presenters:
Aimee L. Franklin, Moderator, Professor, University of Oklahoma
Jozef C. Raadschelders, Associate Dean, University of Leiden

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Corruption in the Public Sector: An International Perspective

June 29 | 10 a.m. ET In Partnership with ASPA's South Asian Section for Public Administration

This panel brings together a group of scholars to discuss insights from a book edited by Dr. Krishna Tummala, Corruption in the Public Sector. Providing a broad overview on public sector corruption, including local and national perspectives, this edited collection examines case studies from across the globe, from Hong Kong to India, from South Africa to Brazil. The contributions also cover themes that are not studied often, including corruption in government procurement, the nascent issue of the "right to privacy" stemming from e-governance and the proclivity of governments to hide behind Official Secrets Acts to withhold information—ostensibly guaranteed under the "right to information," which is vital in the fight against corruption. Presenters will discuss insights from research and praxis, and help attendees understand the phenomenon of corruption and how it manifests itself in various ways in the public sector across the regions.

Presenters:
Sabith Khan, Assistant Professor and Program Director (MPPA), California Lutheran  University, USA
Amanda M. Olejarski, Discussant, MPA Director and Department Chair, West Chester University and Editor-in-Chief, Public Integrity, USA
Meghna Sabharwal, Professor and Department Head, Public and Nonprofit Management, University of Texas at Dallas, USA
Krishna K. Tummala, Professor Emeritus, Former Director, Graduate Program in Public Administration, Kansas State University, USA
Pardhasaradhi Yarlagadda, Professor, Former Director, RCUES, Osmania University, India

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