1This edited volume will reproduce abridged and revised versions of the best papers from the third Minnowbrook Conference, which was hosted by Syracuse University in the fall of 2008. The Minnowbrook Conference is a once-in-a-generation event. It's held once every twenty years to bring together the top scholars in public administration and public management to reflect on the state of the field and future directions. The contributors are a mix of senior, mid-level, and junior scholars. Topics covered in the book will include academic-practitioner relations; democratic performance management; financial management; international and comparative perspectives; information technology and management; law, politics, and public administration; leadership; methods; networked governance; and other topics. The volume will also look back at the previous two Minnowbrook conferences (1968 and 1988) to discuss how things have changed.