Power Imperative, The: Running the Show
Bureaucrats are often stereotyped as unaccountable because they are not easy to reach. Accountability, however, is much more subtle. It means being responsible to a number of constituencies beginning with the President and heads of the executive dep...
Power Imperative, The: Question of Effectiveness, A
The bureaucracy that was created in response to the challenges of the industrial revolution and the rampant spoils system that ensued may no longer be what is needed in the 21st century, both in terms of administrative structure and type of civil se...
Power Imperative, The: Co-existing With Other Departments
In addition to establishing leadership credentials within their own department, new executive leaders must figure out how to co-exist with each other in matters of mutual concern. The more departments in the mix, the more difficult it is to come to ...
Power Imperative, The: Attempts to Limit Size and Shape of Bureaucracy
There have been a number of attempts in the last 100 years to alter the size and shape of the bureaucracy and to improve its efficiency and effectiveness by "reinventing government." Most such attempts involve reducing federal employment and shiftin...
Federal Workplace, The: Pervasiveness of the Federal Bureaucracy, The
It is almost impossible to go through an hour of the day without coming into contact with some aspect of the federal bureaucracy. The government's enormous administrative capacity makes it possible for the United States to have an ambitious array of...
Federal Workplace, The: Civil Service Reforms
The Civil Service Reform Act, a Democratic initiative, created a senior executive service and a performance appraisal system that ties pay to performance. It created a means to enforce the laws and write the regulations that govern the hiring, firin...
Federal Workplace, The: Terms of Employment
The United States has fewer career public employees than most other countries but a larger layer of political appointees. Most federal employees are hired under the merit system at salaries considerably below jobs in the private sector. Constance Ho...
The Fourth Estate: License to Blame
Public officials and public bodies like Congress are criticized by the press. As Barbara Sinclair points out, "You want a skeptical media, but too often the media goes across the line and interprets everything that's done in Washington through the l...
Living Constitution, The: Tripartite Distribution of Powers
The Framers had no illusions that written words alone would restrain power. As a consequence they sought to check power with power by distributing the authority of government among three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. The powers of ...
The Fourth Estate: Common Carrier Role Impeded by Media Aggressiveness
The tendency of the media to carry the watchdog role to the extreme impedes its ability to function effectively as a common carrier. Civil servants, hostile because of the perception that the press misrepresents reality, are very guarded in their re...