International Handbook of Practice-Based Performance Management

It may sound cliche, but I always wanted to help government do better. I've always felt that government's role is to ensure a good quality of life for citizens. Otherwise, what's the point of government? But to do this, government (everywhere) needs tools. In particular, government needs tools that can provide adequate knowledge to improve decisions that will impact the quality of life of citizens. My profession and my field have allowed me to contribute to this knowledge through my contact with students and colleagues and through my research. But more recently, as I've reflected on my life growing up in the Dominican Republic, my efforts to establish a public administration program there, my travels around the world and the situation in the United States, I've become convinced that ethics is the most critical tool that government needs. Although I don't teach a course on ethics, I include the concept in all my classes. Also, I've started a line of research that looks for ways to integrate ethics in every aspect of government and especially in program performance measurement. In my mind, the more ethical government is, the more likely it is to succeed in providing a good quality of life for all citizens. Maria P. Aristigueta is the Charles P. Messick Professor, director of the School of Public Policy and Administration, and Policy Fellow in the Institute of Public Administration at the University of Delaware. Her teaching and research interests are primarily in the areas of organizational behavior, performance management, and strategic planning. She authored Managing Human Behavior in Public and Nonprofit Organizations, Managing for Results in State Government and Managing Behavior in Public and Non-profit Organizations; and was co-editor of the International Handbook of Practice-Based Performance Management. Dr. Aristigueta will be president of the American Society for Public Administration in 2015.