Merit, Management, and Neutral Competence
Lessons from the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, FY 1988–FY 1997
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7361496 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William F West (Mitchell Institute), Robert F Durant (University of Baltimore) |
| Year | 2000 |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 111-122 |
| Publication date | 2000-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Public Administration Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/0033-3352.00070 |
| OpenAlex | W2038649602 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
Despite the centrality of merit principles to governance in the United States over the past century, scant empirical research examines linkages between institutions, and outcomes in the implementation of merit system protections. We argue that the fate of merit principles depends, at a minimum, on two influences that may compete with neutral competence. The first is partisan responsiveness by counter bureaucracies charged with holding agencies accountable to merit principles. The second influence is the sacrifice of merit in the interest of managerial rerogatives at the agency level. This exploratory study assesses both of these influences within the federal government. Our data consist of personal interviews, analyses of U.S. Merit System Protection Board (MSPB) processes, case loads, and decisions between fiscal years 1988 and 1997, and a brief case study of the Justice Department. We find that the MSPB is largely the neutral and competent agency that Congress intended to create when it enacted the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Less positively, our analysis also reveals that federal agencies vary in how well their personnel actions fare with the MSPB. This finding is especially germane to reinventing‐government reforms that decentralize personnel management to agencies or to line operators within agencies
Agency (philosophy · Bureaucracy · Competence (human resources · Economics · Government (linguistics · Management · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · Law · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research
The deformation of democracy in the United States
Networking in the Shadow of Hierarchy
Politicization and Responsiveness in the Regional Offices of the NLRB
Safeguarding Merit
Merit Protection, Federal Agencies, and the New Personnel Management
U.S. Presidents and the Image of the American Public Service
Personnel Deregulation
Trouble Keeping Promises? An Analysis of Underfunding in State Retiree Benefits
Does Meritocracy Produce Desirable Outcomes for Public Organizations? Results of a Worldwide Expert Survey from 149 Nations
| Citations per year | 0.36 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2001 - 2026 (26) |
| Highly cited | No |