The Good and the Bad News about Civil Service

Gregory J. Junemann, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers during the testimony of John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management:

“Ever since President Reagan vilified government as ‘the problem,’ the civil service has borne the brunt of this slander and has been unjustly scapegoated for many of the country’s ills...However, the hostility towards government service only came to full fruition under the administration of George W. Bush. Although different agency directors used different tactics, the goal was the same: to undermine the independence of the civil service and to provide the flexibility to co-opt the federal workforce and its resources for political ends.”

On a more positive note, Max Stier, president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service alludes to Obama's effect on the stigma against government:

With Barack Obama’s election, many of them feel a new sense of energy in their mission of public service. “I believe that we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revitalize our federal government,” Stier said.

I hope to expound on this topic in the days and months to come. For me personally, my interest in politics and better policymaking has as much to do with George W. Bush as it does with Barack Obama. The politics and policies of the last 8 years--as atrocious as they were--have only galvanized my desire for better politics and policies. And the emergence of one Barack Hussein Obama during that time has further inspired me to pursue public policy as a vocation. The current administration's first 100 days alone have set a new tone with effective, public-minded policy, and I hope the next 100 days (and beyond) will be as exciting as the first.