Resumen
Public Administration (PA) is no longer considered as essential as it once was for students from developing countries. In regard to both PA and Public Management (PM), much of the difficulty stems from a lack of an acceptable overarching theory. This is the objective of Political Elasticity (PE) Theory, as here introduced, including the concept of ?political software? (referring to the social relationships essential for effective governance). The usefulness of the theory is suggested by a series of American and Less Developed Country (LDC) urban case studies. At the conclusion, the analytical and foreign aid implications of using PE theory (emphasizing political software) are presented.