[PDF] The True Size Of Government eBook

Author : Paul C. Light
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 37,54 MB
Release : 2010-12-10
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780815720157

GET BOOK

This book addresses a seemingly simple question: Just how many people really work for the federal government? Official counts show a relatively small total of 1.9 million full-time civil servants, as of 1996. But, according to Paul Light, the true head count is nearly nine times higher than the official numbers, with about 17 million people actually providing the government with goods and services. Most are part of what Light calls the "shadow of government"—nonfederal employees working under federal contracts, grants, and mandates to state and local governments. In this book--the first that attempts to establish firm estimates of the shadow work force-- he explores the reasons why the official size of the federal government has remained so small while the shadow of government has grown so large. Light examines the political incentives that make the illusion of a small government so attractive, analyzes the tools used by officials to keep the official headcount small, and reveals how the appearance of smallness affects the management of government and the future of the public service. Finally, he points out ways the federal government can better manage the shadow work force it has built over the past half-century.

Author : Paul C. Light
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 26,96 MB
Release : 2018-11-19
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0190851805

GET BOOK

In his 1961 Farewell Address, President Eisenhower famously referred to the emergence of a "military-industrial complex" so powerful that it threatened to warp America's political institutions and economy. However, the military was not the only part of a blended government workforce that was growing by leaps and bounds. Over the next half century, the true size of the federal government expanded in almost every department and agency as it came to depend on 7-9 million federal, contract, and grant employees to faithfully execute the laws. In The Government-Industrial Complex, public management expert Paul Light not only traces the expansion of the federal government's workforce over the past few decades, but also explains why it has taken the shape that it has. In marked contrast to governments in other wealthy countries, America's relies heavily on contract and grant employees to deliver goods and services even as the number of federal employees has held steady for seventy years. Light traces the rise of this government-industrial complex and asks whether and how the nation can be sure that the right people are in the right jobs to assure maximum performance for the public good. To do this, he offers short histories of the roles of various presidents and the impacts of war and economic crisis on the changing size of government. He also highlights the Trump administration's early strategies on downsizing and deconstructing government. Light emphasizes that achieving the right balance between public and private responsibilities is the key to making government both more efficient and more responsive. Comprehensive and pointed, this is a landmark account of the true nature and scope of national governance in the United States.

Author : Paul Charles Light
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 31,59 MB
Release : 2019
Category : POLITICAL SCIENCE
ISBN : 9780190909598

GET BOOK

The Government-Industrial Complex explores the recent history and impact of the federal government's blended workforce of federal, contract, and grant employees. Drawing upon Dwight D. Eisenhower's description of the military-industrial complex, government-reform expert Paul Light argues that the federal government now depends on seven-nine million full-time-equivalent government-industry employees. Light's analysis examines changes in the size of the government-industrial complex, explains the federal government's dependence on contract and grant employees, and explores potential reforms to protect the nation against what Eisenhower called the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power. Light chronicles the role of hiring caps, cuts, and freezes in promoting the use of contract and grant employees and shows the impact of war and peace on the changing size of government. Light offers short histories of the role that Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama played in the changing number and distribution of the federal government’s federal, contract, and grant employees. Light also discusses the Trump administration’s early strategies on downsizing and deconstructing government while describing the demographic, bureaucratic, and political problems that explain the federal government’s dependence on contract and grant employees. He then describes a sorting system for assuring that the right employees are in the right jobs to assure the greatest value and accountability, and he concludes with a description of the "next gen" public service needed to achieve the more perfect union and blessings of liberty promised in the Constitution's preamble.

Author : Paul C. Light
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 289 pages
File Size : 13,9 MB
Release : 2009-09-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0674255348

GET BOOK

The federal government is having increasing difficulty faithfully executing the laws, which is what Alexander Hamilton called “the true test” of a good government. This book diagnoses the symptoms, explains their general causes, and proposes ways to improve the effectiveness of the federal government. Employing Hamilton’s seven measures of an energetic federal service, Paul Light shows how the government is wanting in each measure. After assessing the federal report card, Light offers a comprehensive agenda for reform, including new laws limiting the number of political appointees, reducing the layers of government management, reducing the size of government as its Baby Boom employees retire, revitalizing the federal career, and reducing the heavy outsourcing of federal work. Although there are many ways to fix each of the seven problems with government, only a comprehensive agenda will bring the kind of reform needed to reverse the overall erosion of the capacity to faithfully execute all the laws.

Author : World Bank
Publisher : World Bank Publications
Page : 697 pages
File Size : 50,82 MB
Release : 2013
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0821397281

GET BOOK

"This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions"--T.p. verso.

Author :
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 48,16 MB
Release : 2014
Category :
ISBN :

GET BOOK

Governments across the world play pervasive roles in achieving a range of economic, social, environmental, and security objectives. A popular indicator generally used to reflect on the size of government is direct government expenditures as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), but that understates the true size of government in the presence of tax expenditures: governments often simply allow selected citizens to keep some of the monies they would otherwise have paid in taxes if they themselves use those monies for things the government would otherwise have provided directly. If a government converts a direct expenditure into a tax expenditure program, the result would be less government expenditure, fewer taxes, and a smaller government without any difference in the extent of the role government plays. This is clearly an inappropriate outcome.

Author : Alexander Hamilton
Publisher : Read Books Ltd
Page : 420 pages
File Size : 23,38 MB
Release : 2018-08-20
Category : History
ISBN : 1528785878

GET BOOK

Classic Books Library presents this brand new edition of “The Federalist Papers”, a collection of separate essays and articles compiled in 1788 by Alexander Hamilton. Following the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, the governing doctrines and policies of the States lacked cohesion. “The Federalist”, as it was previously known, was constructed by American statesman Alexander Hamilton, and was intended to catalyse the ratification of the United States Constitution. Hamilton recruited fellow statesmen James Madison Jr., and John Jay to write papers for the compendium, and the three are known as some of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Alexander Hamilton (c. 1755–1804) was an American lawyer, journalist and highly influential government official. He also served as a Senior Officer in the Army between 1799-1800 and founded the Federalist Party, the system that governed the nation’s finances. His contributions to the Constitution and leadership made a significant and lasting impact on the early development of the nation of the United States.

Author : Paul C. Light
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 289 pages
File Size : 50,51 MB
Release : 2009-09-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0674034783

GET BOOK

The federal government is having increasing difficulty faithfully executing the laws, which is what Alexander Hamilton called “the true test” of a good government. This book diagnoses the symptoms, explains their general causes, and proposes ways to improve the effectiveness of the federal government. Employing Hamilton’s seven measures of an energetic federal service, Paul Light shows how the government is wanting in each measure. After assessing the federal report card, Light offers a comprehensive agenda for reform, including new laws limiting the number of political appointees, reducing the layers of government management, reducing the size of government as its baby-boom employees retire, revitalizing the federal career, and reducing the heavy outsourcing of federal work. Although there are many ways to fix each of the seven problems with government, only a comprehensive agenda will bring the kind of reform needed to reverse the overall erosion of the capacity to faithfully execute all the laws.