Effective Continuity of U. S. Government Operations in Jeopardy

Abstract

The executive branch of the federal government is in great danger of losing its capacity for effective continuity of operations. This results primarily from two developments: (1) scapegoating government bureaucracies has reached a new high with extraordinary impetus from the top of our body politic during the last two administrations, and (2) certain provisions of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) relating to career executives and the structure for central personnel management are adversely affecting human resource competence and utilization. The stability of our government derives, for the most part, from citizen confidence: confidence in the values and overall fairness of the Constitution and laws; and confidence that there will be continuity and effectiveness in the execution of public policy through changing administrations. This essay addresses the deteriorating ability of federal agencies to assure the latter and proposes actions for reversing the disastrous course now being followed.