Perceiving the Distance within “The Wire”
Document Type
Panel Presentation
Start Date
20-4-2018 3:30 PM
End Date
20-4-2018 4:45 PM
Keywords
The Wire, Paradox of Distance Theory, City Management
Biography
I am a Master of Public Administration student from Wayne, West Virginia. I plan to pursue a Ph.D. in Political Science and eventually become a political science professor.
Major
Master of Public Administration
Advisor for this project
Dr. Arthur
Abstract
Currently, our cities are plagued with a host of management problems, from race relations, substance abuse, police brutality, budgets, and distrust in government as well as education. Public administration has theorized the solutions, complications, and origins of these barriers to social change and good, effective government. Yet, often, our discipline approaches these problems individually rather than comprehensively because the vastness is daunting. In this paper, we use HBO’s The Wire as a microcosm of the problems and connect Frederickson’s model of the paradox of distance and role differentiation to explain the tensions and conflicts that keep the problems in the status quo. This research offers a way to think creatively about local government and finding the defiant and daring, a focus on the realm of public perspective, in its solutions through a unique intersection of popular culture and public administration.
Perceiving the Distance within “The Wire”
Currently, our cities are plagued with a host of management problems, from race relations, substance abuse, police brutality, budgets, and distrust in government as well as education. Public administration has theorized the solutions, complications, and origins of these barriers to social change and good, effective government. Yet, often, our discipline approaches these problems individually rather than comprehensively because the vastness is daunting. In this paper, we use HBO’s The Wire as a microcosm of the problems and connect Frederickson’s model of the paradox of distance and role differentiation to explain the tensions and conflicts that keep the problems in the status quo. This research offers a way to think creatively about local government and finding the defiant and daring, a focus on the realm of public perspective, in its solutions through a unique intersection of popular culture and public administration.
