The Foundation of Merit

by Ingraham, Patricia W.

• ISBN13: 9780801851124
• ISBN10: 0801851122
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-10-01
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr

Summary

The first systematic examination of the federal civil service in nearly forty years, "The Foundation of Merit" analyzes the historical development of the civil service in the context of the political and democratic environment that is central to its effectiveness and legitimacy. Patricia Ingraham describes theincremental and disjointed growth of the federal civil service and explains how, and why, it came to be a system with control in the wrong places, with discretion in the wrong places, and why--in its current form--it has little hope of meeting the enormous challenges of the next century.The book concludes with an examination of the need for reform, the challenges that have shaped that need, and the lessons from the past that should guide the reforms of the future.

Table of Contents

Series Editor's Foreword
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction
Civil Service Systems and Government: The Critical Links	p. 1
The Origins of the Merit System	p. 15
The Evolution of the Merit System	p. 30
Adding On to the System	p. 55
Reforming the System	p. 73
Presidential Management Strategies: Political Executives and the Higher Civil Service	p. 92
Changing Work, Changing Workforce, Changing Expectations	p. 112
Transforming Merit	p. 129
Notes	p. 145
Index	p. 163
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