Matthew Holden Jr.'s New Book Explores Change
FACELESS GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS FACE 
NEW CHALLENGES 

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Nov. 7 -- Politics gets the press, but
public administration gets the job done.
	And an understanding of how the government functions can
provide a grasp of the operational side of politics, how and why
politicians succeed -- or fail -- to deliver on their promises. 
	In his new book, "Continuity and Disruption: Essays in
Public Administration," Matthew Holden Jr. argues that the study of
public administration is indispensable to understanding politics. 
A nationally recognized expert on public utilities, Holden is the
Henry L. and Grace M. Doherty Professor in the University of
Virginia's Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign
Affairs. 
	Public administration consists of making decisions about
information, money and force -- the three crucial sources of power,
according to Holden. Politics and administration cannot be separated
and no political system can survive when its administrative core
collapses, he believes.
	Holden explores issues in administration as reflected in
political theory and discusses the specifics of organization,
bureaucratic and management theory. He considers such concepts as
executive leadership and the emergence of administrative law,
exploring the practice of public administration today in the face of
changes in communications technology and growing ethnic diversity.
	Holden's book ($45, cloth) is part of the Pitt Series in
Policy and Institutional Studies, published by the University of
Pittsburgh Press. 
	A former commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (1977-81) and of the Public Service Commission of
Wisconsin (1975-77), Holden currently serves as a director of
Atlantic Energy Inc., a major power company based in Pleasantville,
N.J. 
	He has a number of publications to his credit and also is
the editor of the "National Political Science Review." 
	Holden received his bachelor's degree from Roosevelt
University and his master's and doctoral degrees in political
science from Northwestern University. Before coming to U.Va., he
taught at Wayne State University and the University of Pittsburgh.
Throughout his career, Holden has donated countless hours of public
service to government agencies, churches and civic organizations.
	Holden can be reached at (804) 924-3422, office; (804)
296-3649, home; and at mh3q@virginia.edu.
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November 6, 1996
	For more information about U.Va.'s government experts, call
Charlotte Crystal at (804) 924-6858.  Television reporters should
call our TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.