PRESIDENTIAL MANAGEMENT AND PRESIDENTIAL POWER: THE BUREAUCRATIC PERSPECTIVE

JAMES GAUSS BENZE, Purdue University

Abstract

This research is a historical and empirical examination of presidential management of the bureaucracy as a countervailing force to the centrifugal forces of American politics, throughout the modern presidency but with particular attention to the administration of President Jimmy Carter. Historically, the research focuses on the emergence and application of presidential management techniques (such as reorganization, staffing, manipulation of civil service personnel, Planned Program Budgeting Systems, Management by Objectives, and Zero Base Budgeting) as a dimension of Presidential power, with emphasis on the impact of intellectual developments in public administration on presidential management. Empirically, the research assesses the impact of presidential management from a bureaucratic perspective through a series of mail questionnaires. The findings of this research are twofold. First, the research demonstrates that modern presidents have attempted to use presidential management as a source of presidential power; i.e., as a means for increasing their contol over the implementation of policy in the executive departments. Second, the research suggests that according to the perceptions and evaluations of career civil service executives, management in the Carter administration has been unsuccessful. The Carter administration has been unable to gain control over the implementation of policy through either presidential management techniques (the external dimension of power) or political or personal skills (the internal dimension of power).

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Public administration

COinS