A Government Ill Executed: The Decline of the Federal Service and How to Reverse It (Hardcover)

~ Paul C. Light (Author)
Key Phrases: budget circular, energetic federal service, past appointees, White House, Spirit of Service, Posts of Honor (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A brilliant and insightful analysis and action plan to make our government work. Bravo!
--Donna Shalala, Former Secretary of Health and Human Services and President of the University of Miami (20080622)

Ever since Hurricane Katrina, we have bemoaned the costs of incompetent government. But Paul Light has done much more: he has focused his enormous energies and brilliant mind on exactly how to create a government that works well. That's why Light's voice is so important in our national debate, and why this is such an important book. Whatever your ideology, you need to pay attention to what Light says about how to achieve competence and even excellence in government. The next president needs to read this book, and so do the voters who have a right to expect something better in the coming years.
--E. J. Dionne, Jr., author of Why Americans Hate Politics and Souled Out

Paul Light has made a major contribution to rethinking federal bureaucracy at a crucial time in its evolution. With the retirement of the baby boom bureaucrats there will be a greater opportunity to rethink and reshape the federal government than at any time since the New Deal. If it is done with the kind of thoughtfulness Light proposes it could profoundly improve the delivery of government services and the quality of the federal work force.
--Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House

[A] book that ought to be read by every candidate for federal office this year...[It] goes beyond the complaints to describe what’s happened inside federal agencies to make them less effective. (Minneapolis Star Tribune )

Not only the presidential candidates, but everyone running for Congress should read this book. If our political leaders do not confront this pattern of desperate concern, says this sober scholar, "they are likely to preside over a string of meltdowns that will make the federal response to Hurricane Katrina look like a minor mistake."
--Bill Moyers (Bill Moyers Journal, PBS )

The book is A Government Ill Executed. I urge you to read it. It is an important book, and I hope that Senators Obama and McCain are looking at that book as we speak.
--Lou Dobbs (CNN )

The next administration had best heed Light's call to focus on getting a coherent, shorter nomination and confirmation process that encourages talented people to sign up for government service.
--Al Kamen (The Washington Post )

I urge you to read A Government Ill Executed. It is an important book, and I hope that Senators Obama and McCain are looking at the book as we speak.
--Lou Dobbs, Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN

So, not only the presidential candidates, but everyone running for Congress should read this book. If our political leaders do not confront this pattern of desperate concern, says this sober scholar, "they are likely to preside over a string of meltdowns that will make the federal response to Hurricane Katrina look like a minor mistake."
--Bill Moyers, Bill Moyers Journal on PBS

The next administration had best heed Light's call to focus on getting a coherent, shorter nomination and confirmation process that encourages talented people to sign up for government service.
--Al Kamen (Washington Post )

This book provides an important contribution to the literature on federal personnel, and it should be required reading among scholars who study the federal bureaucracy, the U.S. presidency, and public administration.
--A. L. Warber (Choice )

Product Description

Hear commentary by Paul Light on why young, talented workers are steering clear of jobs in the federal government (from National Public Radio).

The federal government is having increasing difficulty faithfully executing the laws, which is what Alexander Hamilton called “the true test” of a good government. This book diagnoses the symptoms, explains their general causes, and proposes ways to improve the effectiveness of the federal government. Employing Hamilton’s seven measures of an energetic federal service, Paul Light shows how the government is wanting in each measure.

After assessing the federal report card, Light offers a comprehensive agenda for reform, including new laws limiting the number of political appointees, reducing the layers of government management, reducing the size of government as its baby-boom employees retire, revitalizing the federal career, and reducing the heavy outsourcing of federal work. Although there are many ways to fix each of the seven problems with government, only a comprehensive agenda will bring the kind of reform needed to reverse the overall erosion of the capacity to faithfully execute all the laws.

(20080514)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (May 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674028082
• ISBN-13: 978-0674028081
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #190,982 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #19 in	Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Political Science > United States > Federal System
  #94 in	Books > History > World > 21st Century

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reversing the decline of the federal service, July 15, 2008

By	Dwight Ink (Leesburg, Virginia) - See all my reviews

"A Government Ill Executed" by Paul Light is the most useful book I have read recently concerning the operation of our federal government. He finds it plagued by poor execution, citing such familiar examples as negligent medical care of veterans, contract problems in Iraq, and the Katrina debacle, a decline he is eager to reverse.

Light goes back to Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, finding traces of each in the strengths and weaknesses of our modern government. In fact, the theme of the book is similar to that of Alexander Hamilton when he argued in Federalist Paper No. 70 that "a government ill executed is a bad government."

Much of this very readable book is devoted to problems that Light believes have led to a significant decline in the effectiveness of the federal government. For example, he describes the increased layering of the federal government and the growing number of low-level political appointees that slow government processes and dilute accountability. Light laments the current conditions that reduce the ability of government to attract talented men and women to the federal career service, and once in government, reduces their incentive to remain.

In citing these and other growing deficiencies, Light suggests the need for a bold attack to reverse this decline, pointing out that addressing only one problem at a time will have little impact. To move beyond merely tinkering with change, he urges a packaging of actions that address a number of interrelated problems. His agenda lists 28 specific changes designed to restore a more energetic federal service. Recognizing the challenges in building sufficient consensus to achieve this ambitious goal, Light suggests that it may take a national commission on government restructuring to advance a successful comprehensive reform.

Paul Light's timely package of reform ideas deserves careful consideration by the presidential transition teams of both Senators McCain and Obama.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why public service matters, June 10, 2008

By	Future Watch Writer (Washington, D.C. Area) - See all my reviews

This is a very important book. Public service is nothing short of a life and death matter for any country. Unfortunately, there is little attention in official Washington to finding ways to make the civil service better. Paul Light is an exception. He used to run a program at a major Washington think tank dealing with this subject. Many people might be shocked to know that when administrations change our system is so archaic that many agencies are not fully staffed for up to two years. I don't agree with everything here but this is a rare and detailed study of a subject that is vitally important. For more information check my Listmania list on the subject of public service.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read for federal government management, July 14, 2008

By	Richard J. Stillman - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Paul Light's "A Government Well-Executed" is a must-read, not only for students of government, but for anyone who wants the federal government to perform better. It astutely synthesizes the managerial issues that need to be addressed today and lays out realistically what must be done to remedy these urgent problems. There is no book available that does a better job -- clearly, concisely, comprehensively.

Richard Stillman
Editor in Chief
Public Administration Quarterly