Naked Emperors: The Failure of the Republican Revolution [Hardcover]

Scot M. Faulkner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2007

Naked Emperors: The Failure of the Republican Revolution takes its place alongside All the President's Men and the novel Advise and Consent as a timeless classic about how Washington really works. It is a vivid and gripping eyewitness account about how the Republican Party failed in making government ethical and open. In the wake of the historic elections of 1994, there were great expectations that the new Republican majority would end congressional corruption while introducing twenty-first-century business practices to the most antiquated and dysfunctional of institutions.

Except for a small team of change management experts who battled the Democrats, the Republicans, and ultimately themselves, the promise of fundamental change went unrealized. While the corrupt ways of the Democrats ended, new forms of corruption arose.

The book follows the story to present day, including how the rise in corruption impacted the 2006 elections and will affect the 2008 campaign. The final chapters describe how the current wave of scandals arose from a well-entrenched system breeding power and greed inside the Capital Beltway. It concludes with a provocative solution that will inspire readers to challenge current governmental institutions and reinvent American democracy in the twenty-first century. The author weaves this into a suspenseful tale full of plot twists and multidimensional characters.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Scot Faulkner has given us an absolutely fascinating eyewitness account of the clash of ideas and personalities during the first Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in forty years. (Ray Smock, former Historian, U.S. House of Representatives )

It is very rare to be able to see through the experience of a prime actor the inner workings of a transformative change in any branch of the federal government. This account by Scot Faulkner is extraordinary – clear in its analysis, candid in its criticism, imaginative in its prescriptions. He lays out in detail the means by which the ego-driven self interests have long prevented both parties from serving the national interests. He shines a bright light of facts and reason on the secreted closets and hidden halls of the House of Representatives. He describes the key personalities and how their unrestrained avarice and libidos brought down the Republican leadership, including two successive Speakers, and led the party of fiscal conservatism to abandon their principles and to adopt the greatest spending spree in American history. Faulkner writes superbly well and for anyone interested in the reality of the American legislative process this is a must read. (Dr. George B. Weathersby, former president and CEO, American Management Association )

The book also provides helpful lessons about the best and worst ways to manage a large organization, especially one populated by people who are especially adept at playing politics. (The Washington Times )

Naked Emperors is notable not only for its reforming earnestness but for its candor. Mr. Faulkner does not hesitate to show government service in all its gritty unpleasantness and daily frustration. To his credit, though, he emerged from the experience a wiser man but not a cynical one. He still believes that government should be run more like a business — and can be. (The Wall Street Journal )

Naked Emperors shows us the reality behind the rhetoric. While politicians want us to believe they are focused on public policy, Mr. Faulkner documents that they are, in fact, obsessively pursuing personal perks and power. The book is a wake-up call for Americans to reclaim their government. (Ron Maxwell, producer and director, "Gettysburg" and "Gods and Generals" )

About the Author

Scot M. Faulkner was the first chief administrative officer of the U.S. House of Representatives. The business reforms he and his team introduced into the U.S. House saved $148 million, became a model for the operation of forty-four national parliaments worldwide, and were named one of the "Top 100 Innovations in American Government" by Harvard University and the Ford Foundation. He is currently senior partner for global operations with Phoenix Consulting Associates.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (December 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742558819
• ISBN-13: 978-0742558816
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 6.2 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,251,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mr. Faulkner is the author of the critically acclaimed bestseller, "Naked Emperors; The Failure of the Republican Revolution". He advises numerous corporations on strategic change and leadership including, the American Management Association, ANZ Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield, ConAgra, Hershey Foods, Independent Insurance Agents of America, Lockheed Martin, Marriott, O-Cedar, Prudential, RR Donnelly, the Smithsonian Institution, and the World Bank. He also works with governments and corporations in emerging economies, including Afghanistan, Bolivia, China, Dubai, Egypt, and Qatar. His articles on leadership, management reform, and global competitiveness are published in The New York Times, The Washington Times, and various business publications. He has appeared on Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, CSPAN, FOX, NPR, PBS, VOA, and numerous talk radio programs.

In 1995, Scot Faulkner was elected the first Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives. He oversaw a $1 billion annual budget and all nonlegislative operations, which served 14,000 employees and 3 million tourists. His business-based reforms rebuilt the integrity of House operations and saved over $148 million. His reforms became a model for the operation of 44 national parliaments around the world and were named one of the Top 100 Innovations in American Government by the Ford Foundation and Harvard University.

Mr. Faulkner was the National Director of Personnel for the Reagan Bush Campaign of 1980. He went on to serve in the Presidential Transition and on the White House Staff. During the Reagan Administration, Mr. Faulkner held executive positions at the Federal Aviation Administration, the General Services Administration, and the Peace Corps. His accomplishments have been recognized with 26 management awards and four letters of commendation from the President of the United States.

Mr. Faulkner earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration from American University and a Bachelors Degree in Government from Lawrence University. He studied at the London School of Economics and at Georgetown University. Mr. Faulkner has been a guest lecturer at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He serves on the boards of numerous corporations and foundations including: World Trade Partnership, Kinexum Pharmaceuticals, Peimex Trucking, The University of Maryland's Center for Leadership Innovation and Change (CLIC), the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership, and the George Washington Institute of Living Ethics.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Accurate, Riveting Account February 20, 2008

By Dr. Sunil Chacko

Format:Hardcover

Should an electoral tidal wave engulf Republicans in this year's Congressional elections, Scot Faulkner's 2008 book Naked Emperors: The Failure of the Republican Revolution likely will become required reading for activists as they stage the expected turnaround attempt that occurs every 4 to 8 years. But the points made by my friend Scot Faulkner about the failure of Congressional and Executive Branch oversight are totally applicable to both parties, signaling the potential for deep disappointment in failing to overcome many challenges unless the changes he recommends take root.

America's House of Representatives, Senate and the Executive Branch have been held up around the world as beacons of freedom, democracy and good governance. But Faulkner's insider's account paints a less-than-flattering picture, of sausage being made, mostly unsuccessfully, amid zipper-problems and ego trips.

Faulkner, a "Reaganite" has since been working for both party candidates in local campaigns, and offers a wealth of information and perspective on the near-absence of oversight, the perfunctory hearings with canned questions and even more canned and sometimes made-for-CSPAN answers. The book perceptively captures the dismay many feel about the listless oversight in the Congress during the leadership of both parties, and many in the Executive Branch most keen for business-as-usual. So how can huge challenges like ensuring affordable access to health care, reforming social security, overcoming the recession, the sub-prime lending crisis etc. be managed with those weak 18th century instruments for 21st century problems. That is the crux of the fascinating overview provided by Faulkner, who was the first Chief Administrative Officer of the US House of Representatives, until his self-described hounding out. The book's diagnosis is that the probability of major change/reform is miniscule. Towards the end, Faulkner offers suggestions for reform, including electronic means of oversight.

Full article at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sunil-chacko/oversight-in-the-internet_b_87100.html

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I lived this, and it's 100 percent accurate February 15, 2008

By J.Davison

Format:Hardcover

First, let me disclose that I was on Mr. Faulkner's staff and am one of the characters in this book. That being said, this book is 100 percent accurate in representing what we found, what we did and how those who wanted to stop us acted. The book is a fast read, somehow Faulkner has distilled two years of insanity and chaos into a few hundred pages. I find it amazing that, looking back almost 10 years and several elections, we were able to accomplish the things we did. This book has many of the elements of a "tell all" book you traditionally see from Congressional types but with some twists: a broad historical perspective on the institution and the office the author held, a 360 degree viewpoint and in a concluding chapter, the author offers some good insights into how Americans can take back a measure of control over our government. Perhaps it is also a book that proves that in government, it is possible to filter financial and management decisions and actions through the Quality prism, but no matter how smart or great those decisions and actions may be, they are still subject to the selfish nature of humanity...And to a previous comment, though the book accurately describes the waste and abuse we uncovered, we didn't find anything that could have been presented to a grand jury. Maybe next time.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars DC does it again! February 8, 2008

By Northern VA Native

Format:Hardcover

The story is age-old in Washington, DC. I.e., people with good ideas and committed to improving government, get sucked into the institutional bureaucracy or are stymied by it, and either little gets changed or the changes revert back to the "way things have always been done."

"Naked Emperors" is an interesting, first hand account of the inner workings of a small group of people committed to bring the House of Representatives into the 20th century...if not the 21st century.