"Passage of the Civil Service Reform Act was controversial, and
there is still controversy over its effectiveness. A book of this
sort will be well received and anxiously read by specialists in
public administration, public policy, and public personnel
administration."-H. George Frederickson, University of Kansas
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 was the most far reaching
reform of the federal government personnel system since the merit
system was created in 1883. "The Future of Merit" reviews the aims
and rates the accomplishments of the 1978 law and assesses the
status of the civil service. How has it held up in the light of the
National Performance Review? What will become of it in a
globalizing international system or in a government that regards
people as customers rather than citizens?
Contributors examine the Senior Executive Service, whose members
serve between presidential appointees and the rest of the civil
service. These crucial executives must transform legislative and
administrative goals into administrative reality, but are often
caught between opposing pressures for change and continuity. In the
concluding chapter Hugh Heclo, many of whose ideas informed the
1978 reform act, argues that the system today is often more
responsive to the ambitions of political appointees and the
presidents they serve than to the longer term needs of the polity.
On the other hand, the ambition of creating a government-wide cadre
of career general managers with highly developed leadership skills
has not been fulfilled.
Other contributors helped to frame the 1978 act, helped to
implement it, or study it as scholars of public administration:
Dwight Ink, Carolyn Ban, Joel D. Aberbach, Bert A. Rockman,
Patricia W. Ingraham, Donald P. Moynihan, Hal G. Rainey, Ed
Kellough, Barbara S. Romzek, Mark W. Huddleston, Chester A.
Newland, and Hugh Heclo. Six former directors of the Office of
Personnel Management commented on early versions of these chapters
at a 1998 conference.
General
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