According to outspoken presidential scholar Cal Mackenzie, the
presidential appointments process is a national disgrace. It
encourages bullies and emboldens demagogues, silences the voices of
responsibility, and nourishes the lowest forms of partisan combat.
It uses innocent citizens as pawns in the petty games of
politicians and stains the reputations of good people. It routinely
violates fundamental democratic principles, undermines the quality
and consistency of public management, and breaches simple decency.
In short, at a time when the quality of political leadership in
government matters more than ever, the procedures for ensuring that
quality are less reliable than ever. How did we get into this
distressing condition? What is wrong with the current appointments
process? And, most important, what can we do to fix it? Innocent
Until Nominated brings together ten of the countrys leading
scholars of government and politics to explore recent changes in
the presidential appointments process and their effects on the
ability of contemporary presidents to recruit and retain talented
leaders. Each chapter provides a special focus on a range of topics
including presidential transitions, the obstacle course of Senate
confirmation, the morass of forms and questionnaires, and the
exasperating, exhausting, and humiliating experiences of recent
appointees. For scholars, students, and potential presidential
recruits, the book offers a candid and revealing look at the
failures of the appointments process... and how it has become a
serious impediment to effective leadership of the executive branch.
Contributors include Sarah A. Binder (Brookings Institution and
George Washington University), E. J. Dionne Jr. (Brookings
Institution and Washington Post), George C. Edwards III (Bush
School of Government and Public Service, Texas A& M
University), Stephen Hess (Brookings Institution), Judith M.
Labiner (Brookings Institution), Paul C. Light (Brookings
Institution), Burdett Loomis (Robert J. Dole Institute for Public
Service and Public Policy at the University of Kansas), James P.
Pfiffner (George Mason University), and Terry Sullivan (University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and James A. Baker III Institute
for Public Policy).
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