Top bureaucrats and the distribution of influence in reagan's executive branch
By: STREHR, Steven D
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ArticlePublisher: malden, MA : Blackwell Publishers, jan./feb.1997Public administration review: PAR 57, 1, p. 75-82Abstract: Hoe did career executives think influence was distributed in their agencies during the reagen administration? Who would top bureacrats have preferred to exercise influence? Which actors did career executives believe had too much influence and which too little? This article investigates the attitudes of a sample of career members of the senior executive service regarding these questions. The dominant view of presidential-bureaucratic relations in the public administration literature emphasizes the influence exercised by bureaucrats, key members of congress, and representatives of interest groups at the expense of hierarchical guidance by agents of the president. The fundings reported here suggest that top bureaucrats (1) thought that political appointees were very influential in their agencies and, (2) wanted more influence to be exercised bu key political executives. the reagan team's administrative strategy was apparently successful in gaining the support of top members of the higher civil service.
Hoe did career executives think influence was distributed in their agencies during the reagen administration? Who would top bureacrats have preferred to exercise influence? Which actors did career executives believe had too much influence and which too little? This article investigates the attitudes of a sample of career members of the senior executive service regarding these questions. The dominant view of presidential-bureaucratic relations in the public administration literature emphasizes the influence exercised by bureaucrats, key members of congress, and representatives of interest groups at the expense of hierarchical guidance by agents of the president. The fundings reported here suggest that top bureaucrats (1) thought that political appointees were very influential in their agencies and, (2) wanted more influence to be exercised bu key political executives. the reagan team's administrative strategy was apparently successful in gaining the support of top members of the higher civil service.
Public administration review PAR
Jan./Feb. 1997 Volume 57 Number 1
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