Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pftt2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-05T01:12:45.725Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

“You Talking to Me?” Accountability and the Modern Public Service

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2005

Patricia Wallace Ingraham
Patricia Wallace Ingraham
Affiliation:
Syracuse University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

My topic today is accountability of the federal public service. Democratic accountability is at the core of both public administration and political science because, inherently, democratic government is accountable government. For that reason, it is worrisome that present definitions and systems of accountability are out of date, perhaps even seriously broken.

Type
Special to PS
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , January 2005 , pp. 17 - 21
Copyright
© 2005 by the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aberbach J. D., Robert D. Putnam, and B. A. Rockman. 1981 Bureaucrats and Politicians in Western Democracies. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Ban C., and Patricia W. Ingraham. 1990 “Short-timers: Political Appointees in the Reagan Administration.” Administration and Society. Spring.Google Scholar
Choi Y., and C. Heinrich. 2004 “Privatization and Performance-Based Contracting in Public Welfare Programs.” Conference Paper Presented at 26th Annual APPAM Research Conference, Atlanta, GA.Google Scholar
Daily Briefing. 2001 Government Executive. Washington DC: July 26.Google Scholar
Frederickson G. 1999 Gaus Lecture to the American Political Science Association at the 95th Annual Meeting.Google Scholar
Gaus J. M. 1936 “The Responsibility of Public Administration.” In The Frontiers of Public Administration, eds. J. M. Gaus, L. D. White, and M. E. Dimock. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Guttman D. 2002 “Who's Doing Work for Government? Monitoring, Accountability and Competition in the Federal and Service Contract Workforce.” Testimony before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC: March 6.Google Scholar
Ingraham Patricia W. 1995 The Foundation of Merit: Public Service in American Democracy. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Kettl D. F. 1988 Government by Proxy: (Mis?) Managing Federal Programs. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Lewis D. E., and J. B. Gilmour. 2003 “Political Appointees and the Quality of Federal Program Management.” Working Paper. Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University.Google Scholar
Maranto R. 2001 “Politicals Deserve Praise.” Government Executive. August.Google Scholar
Mosher F. 1968 Democracy and the Public Service. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
National Academy of Public Administration. 2004 The 21st Century Federal Manager: Final Report and Recommendations. Washington, DC: NAPA, 2004: 27.Google Scholar
National Commission on the Public Service. 2003 Urgent Business for America. Washington, D.C: The Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Nelson W. R. 1968 The Politics of Science. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Partnership for Public Service. 2003 “Leading through Tragedy: Leadership Development in NASA Headquarters.” Case study available online: www.ourpublicservice.org.Google Scholar
Pfiffner J. P. 1996 The Strategic Presidency: Hitting the Ground Running, 2nd ed. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.Google Scholar
President's Committee on Administrative Management. 1937 Administrative Management in the Government of the United States, January 8, 1937. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Project on Government Oversight. 2002 “Federal Contractor Misconduct: Failures of the Suspension and Debarment System.” Washington, D.C.: Project on Government Oversight.Google Scholar
Romzek B. 2000 “Accountability of Congressional Staff.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 10 (2): 413– 446.Google Scholar
Romzek B., and J. Johnston. 2002 “Contract Implementation and Management Effectiveness: A Preliminary Model.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 12 (3): 423– 453.Google Scholar
Romzek B., and M. Dubnick. 1987 “Accountability in the Public Sector: Lessons from the Challenger Tragedy.” Public Administration Review 47: 227– 238.Google Scholar
Rosenbloom D. H., and S. Krislov. 1981 Representative Bureaucracy and the American Political System. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
U.S. Government Accountability Office. 2003 Performance and Accountability Series. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. January. Accessed online http://www.gao.gov/pas/2003/d03114.pdf.Google Scholar
U.S. Government Accountability Office. 2001 Senior Executive Service: Diversity Increased in the Past Decade. Washington, DC: GAO-GAO-01-377.Google Scholar
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. 2004 Federal Civilian Workforce Statistics Employment and Trends as of January 2004. Table 2, http://www.opm.gov/feddata/html/2004/january/jan04.pdf.Google Scholar
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. 2002 A Fresh Start for Federal Pay: The Case for Modernization. April. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Waldo D. 1948 The Administrative State. New York: Ronald Press.Google Scholar