Back to the Future? Senior Federal Executives in the United States

Based on findings from the 1970s, research literature on senior government executives emphasized a growing integration of politics and administration. This integration was reflected in what we called the “Image IV” bureaucrat wherein political role traits combined with those of traditional bureaucra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Governance (Oxford) 1997-10, Vol.10 (4), p.323-349
Main Authors: Aberbach, Joel D., Rockman, Bert A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
BUREAUCRACY
Civil servants
Decision-making
Executive
Executive departments
Federal Government
Future
FUTURE (PAST AND PRESENT ATTEMPTS TO DEPICT IT)
Government and politics
Policy making
Politicians
POWER-DOMINANT GROUPINGS OF A SOCIETY
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Public officials
Public policy
Public sector
Senior
State
U.S.A
United States
UNITED STATES, 1945 TO PRESENT
USA
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Summary:Based on findings from the 1970s, research literature on senior government executives emphasized a growing integration of politics and administration. This integration was reflected in what we called the “Image IV” bureaucrat wherein political role traits combined with those of traditional bureaucratic ones. Although this was by no means a dominant trend, we were led to speculate that traditional divisions between political and bureaucratic roles were eroding. Data gathered from the 1980s and 1990s, however, lead us to infer that divisions between political and bureaucratic roles have reasserted themselves and that integration between them is being diminished rather than strengthened. We conclude that this may be because in an era of governmental austerity the demand for executive policy entrepreneurs has slackened while the political needs have shifted to those of managerial control over an inertial or even contracting state.
ISSN:0952-1895
1468-0491
DOI:10.1111/0952-1895.471997047