Author Archive

Donald F. Kettl
Professor, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas
Donald F. Kettl is Professor in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, located at the LBJ Washington Center. He is the author of many books, including Escaping Jurassic Government: How to Recover America's Lost Commitment to Competence, The Politics of the Administrative Process, System Under Stress and The Next Government of the United States. Kettl is a two-time recipient of the Louis Brownlow Book Award of the National Academy of Public Administration. In 2008, he won the American Political Science’s John Gaus Award for a lifetime of exemplary scholarship in political science and public administration. He has a Ph.D. in political science from Yale University and has held appointments at University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Donald F. Kettl is Professor in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, located at the LBJ Washington Center. He is the author of many books, including Escaping Jurassic Government: How to Recover America's Lost Commitment to Competence, The Politics of the Administrative Process, System Under Stress and The Next Government of the United States. Kettl is a two-time recipient of the Louis Brownlow Book Award of the National Academy of Public Administration. In 2008, he won the American Political Science’s John Gaus Award for a lifetime of exemplary scholarship in political science and public administration. He has a Ph.D. in political science from Yale University and has held appointments at University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Biden Needs a Strategy for Strengthening the Federal Workforce
Mending the public service isn’t just one more thing to do—it’s the way to do everything that needs to be done.
- Donald F. Kettl
6 Lessons From 2020 Federal Leaders Should Apply in the Months to Come
As the embers of the dumpster fire that was 2020 burn away, important lessons provide light for the way forward in 2021.
- Donald F. Kettl
Schedule F Order Relies on a Myth the Private Sector Fires More People Than the Government
The notion that companies remove employees for cause more readily than federal agencies is not supported by the data.
- Donald F. Kettl
Why Merit Matters
Governance isn’t a solo act and it won’t work well if we don’t trust the experts who are giving us advice.
- Donald F. Kettl
Trump’s Order Sets the Stage for Loyalty Tests for Thousands of Feds
The president’s executive order sweeps aside 140 years of federal policy promoting professional expertise.
- Donald F. Kettl
Resilience Is Local, But Feds Can Help
In strengthening government’s response to COVID-19, nothing matters unless it matters at the community level.
- Donald F. Kettl
We Must Address the Crisis in the Merit System
The historic system for hiring and promoting federal employees is failing the nation, and the consequences are profound.
- Donald F. Kettl
A Federal Data Failure Is Making It Hard to Talk About COVID
Without a standard, trusted language of COVID data collection, it’s been hard to measure the disease, track its trend, and build effective policy.
- Donald F. Kettl
Building Trust in Government One Problem at a Time
Public administration needs a new social contract.
- Donald F. Kettl and Anne Khademian
A Leadership Reality Check
It doesn’t matter how good the plan is to combat the COVID-19 outbreak if leaders don’t lead.
- Donald F. Kettl
The Federalism Divide Is Shading Government’s Response to COVID-19
We can’t afford a government where the odds of an effective attack on the novel coronavirus depend on where citizens live.
- Donald F. Kettl
A Message for Trump: When Americans Lose Faith in Government, Presidents Pay a Price
The management failures that swirled around the government’s initial response to Katrina seriously damaged President Bush.
- Donald F. Kettl
No Matter What Happens In November, a Transition is Coming
Government leaders face enormous uncertainty in the coming months. It’s bound to be a wild ride.
- Donald F. Kettl
Behind Medicare for All: The Sleeper Issue No One Is Debating
If Medicare is expanded to cover all Americans, someone will have to do the back-office work the insurance companies now perform.
- Donald F. Kettl
Reconstructing the Administrative State
Five ways to recover from the shutdown.
- Donald F. Kettl and Paul Verkuil
The Lesson for Federal Leaders in ‘First Man’
NASA found the right man to be the first man because it understood the moon landing was as much a people problem as an engineering challenge.
- Donald F. Kettl
Solving the Right Problem with the Federal Workforce
We’re careening down the road, steering by looking in the rear-view mirror.
- Donald F. Kettl and Terry Gerton
Why ‘Fake News’ Matters to Feds
People are deeply mistrustful of those who develop, publicize, and use information.
- Donald F. Kettl
Reorganizing Welfare Programs Is a Very Big Deal
And potentially a very good idea—it’s tough for eligible families to navigate the complex system that sprawls across multiple departments.
- Donald F. Kettl
10 Things to Know about the President’s Management Agenda
It is different in virtually every respect from the plans of previous administrations.
- Donald F. Kettl