Power Imperative, The: Taking Charge
Former heads of executive departments Robert Reich (Department of Labor) and James Baker (Departments of Treasury and State) talk about utilizing talent and building alliances with career civil servants. It was important at State, Baker remembers, t...
Power Imperative, The: Working With Congress
Government agencies depend on Congress for their very existence, but Congress can do little more than give the bureaucracy general instructions as it concentrates on its own legislative agenda. Members of Congress do expect agencies to respond to th...
Power Imperative, The: One Job; Many Masters
A manager in the private sector has a single constituency to serve, the stockholders, but a manager in the public sector has multiple sets of constituencies: the legislature and the executive at the federal level; state and local governments; and or...
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: Expert Knowledge Generates Power
In the corridors of the Capitol and the White House, bureaucrats achieve power because of their expert knowledge. These are civil servants who not only know where the skeletons are but also what needs to be done and the improvements that should be m...
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: Bureaucracy and the Courts, The
The judicial branch cannot initiate control over the bureaucracy on its own. The courts have to operate on the basis of cases brought to them, as occurred in relation to the government's conflicting policies on tobacco. When the court directs an age...
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...