Author Archive
Workforce
The Trump hiring plan wants to fix federal jobs, but it might just make things worse
COMMENTARY | The administration’s new approach promises faster, fairer hiring. But with old-school rules and political essay tests, it could actually make the process harder for everyone. There is another, better way.
Workforce
Trump’s push for executive order loyalty risks undermining the federal workforce and the Constitution
COMMENTARY | Federal workers are being asked to prove their loyalty to Trump’s agenda, but history shows that when politics overtakes merit, government performance suffers.
Management
The DOGE-acolypse
COMMENTARY | All of Washington is a stage as the drama between DOGE and the three branches of the federal government play out in real time.
Transition
The DOGE risk to fighting waste
COMMENTARY | We all want to get rid of waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement in the federal government, but this is not the way to do it, argues one observer.
Transition
What to do on the day after?
COMMENTARY | Once Elon Musk and crew burn it all down, here’s how we might rebuild from the ashes.
Transition
An open letter to the public administration and public management communities
COMMENTARY | “We must reexamine the fundamental values that drive our work…[and] we need a vigorous debate about the basic principles of the field,” argues one expert.
Management
A Management Agenda for 2025 and beyond: Pivoting from outcomes to results
COMMENTARY | When it comes to creating a government that solves the country’s big problems, the people just don’t believe it’s happening. Here’s how to fix that.
Featured eBooks
Management
The Good Government Agenda for 2025 and beyond
COMMENTARY | A good presidential Management Agenda is, well, good. But a Good Government Agenda might be better.
Workforce
The positive impact of policy entrepreneurs in the public service
COMMENTARY | The rewards for entrepreneurial leadership by top government careerists are low. They shouldn't be.
Workforce
The MacGuffin of Schedule F
COMMENTARY | Plans to convert federal workers in policy-related positions into at-will employees leave the workforce dangling.
Management
10 surprising things about the ‘deep state’—starting with the Roman Emperor Caligula
COMMENTARY | There are basic truths that never go away, a former dean at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy explains.
Management
Will an attack on federal employees swing the election? Probably no
COMMENTARY | A closer look at what a recent series of focus groups revealed.
Workforce
‘Neutral competence,’ partisanship and efforts to overhaul the civil service
COMMENTARY | One scholar argues that a radical movement to shift powers to the president would be disastrous for the federal workforce.
Management
'Long, long overdue': An oral history of the Government Performance and Results Act
Thirty years ago this month, a landmark piece of legislation aimed to change the very culture of the federal government.
Featured eBooks
Workforce
What the United States can learn from Australia’s recent catastrophic failure to listen to career government experts
COMMENTARY | A hastily launched 2016 program to reduce overpayment of government benefits was plagued by “unfairness, probable illegality and cruelty,” an Australian commission later found.
Management
The People Behind the Federal Spending Cut Dilemmas
Before slashing federal jobs, lawmakers should think about the mission voters would like the government to perform.
Management
The Gathering Storm Threatening the Civil Service
Conservatives are gearing up for a big debate and attacks that could upend the civil service as we know it.
Management
The Federal Workplace Is Changing Rapidly, But Merit Principles Must Remain Untouched
The merit system should be at the core of any reforms agencies make to adapt to fast-changing workplace dynamics.
Management
How the Supreme Court’s West Virginia v. EPA Decision Will Upset the Administrative World
The ruling will likely sow confusion and gridlock, and shift the balance of power in an unintended way.
Management
It’s Time to Bridge the Divide Separating Policymakers and Researchers
President Biden’s management agenda provides the perfect opportunity for government officials and public policy researchers to help one another solve pressing problems.
