ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the distinguishes public administration from the administration and management of private and nonprofit enterprises, focusing on the roles of the Constitution, the public interest, economic market forces, and government sovereignty. Some have argued that there is no field or discipline of public administration per se because the study of public administration is inherently interdisciplinary and overlaps a number of other disciplines, including political science, sociology, economics, psychology, anthropology, geography, and business administration. In blending traditional and new public management, contemporary public administration is cognizant of the extent to which administrative activities can be organized based on business practices and, where relevant, customer service. The expansion of the constitutional rights of individuals in relation to public administrators has been enforced primarily in two ways, both of which enhance the relevance of the legal approach to contemporary public administration.
