ABOUT THIS BOOK

Judith Michaels provides an in-depth examination of the Senate-confirmed presidential appointees of the Gorge H. W. Bush administration, and analyzes what these choices reveal about him, his administration, and the institution of political appointments itself. She compares this research to other administrations in the modern era. Particularly fascinating is how Bush's appointees compare with those of Ronald Reagan.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Judith E. Michaels holds a PhD in urban affairs and public policy, taught at the Institute for Experiential Learning in Washington, D.C., and was a fellow at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

REVIEWS

“Given the range of scandals that have emerged from the layers of Presidential Appointments with Senate ratification (PAS) since Watergate, it is very helpful to have a book that examines the area of the PAS, their performance, attitudes and relations with career civil servants. . . . Very informative and interesting read for students of American politics, and Presidential politics specialists in particular.”
—Talking Politics

“A veritable encyclopedia of information on presidential appointments. . . . A masterful work, one that certainly will be compared to the other top works in the political appointment literature.”
—The Annals of the Academy of Political and Social Science

“Most people whose work focuses on executive politics, especially personnel politics, in the US, will find much material they can use in their own work. . . . Specialists in particular will want to draw on Michaels's findings as they go about the work of designing new studies and refining knowledge about executive leadership in the United States.”
—Governance

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

2. Presidential Appointees in the Modern Era: Political and Bureaucratic Context

3. Politicization and Depoliticization in the Nation's Pressure Cooker: Using the Bureaucracy to Secure the President's Agenda

4. Appointments and Appointees in a Politicized Atmosphere: Distinguishing People from Voters

5. PAS Quality and Qualifications: Anything More than a Roll of the Dice?

6. Political-Career Relations in the Modern Era: "Articulating Society's Dreams and Bringing Them Gingerly to Earth"

7. The Bush Senate-Confirmed Presidential Appointees: Political Hacks or Savvy Politicians?

8. Intrabureaucratic Issues: "Here, Ruining Poeple is Considered Sport"

9. Interbureaucratic Issues: The End of Village Isolation

10. Conclusion and Future Directions

Appendix 1: The Methodology of the Bush PAS Study

Appendix 2: The Survey of Senate-Confirmed Presidential Appointees with Composite Response Set

Appendix 3: Pre-Survey Interviewees

Appendix 4: PAS Survey Pre-Test Interviewees

Appendix 5: Post-Survey PAS Interviewees

Appendix 6: Supplemental Post-Survey Interviewees

Appendix 7: Post-Survey Interview Questions

Notes

Bibliography

Index

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