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Recommendations Forestalled or Forgotten? The National Commission on the Public Service and Presidential Appointments
Author(s) -
Light Paul C.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00724.x
Subject(s) - enthusiasm , presidential system , commission , politics , public administration , service (business) , public service , value (mathematics) , public relations , process (computing) , political science , business , law , psychology , marketing , social psychology , machine learning , computer science , operating system
Nearly two decades after the first Volcker Commission issued its report on the federal public service, the presidential appointment and confirmation process remains long, cumbersome, intensive, and embarrassing. As the evidence presented in this essay suggests, the process may attract people who are motivated more by personal rewards than by the intrinsic value of public service. Although recent administrations have displayed little enthusiasm for reforming the federal appointment process, the best hope for change may reside in future presidents’ desire to assert tight political control over executive departments.