Reforming the Upper Levels of the Bureaucracy

Abstract

The Senior Executive Service (SES) was considered the cornerstone of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 by its framers. A longitudinal investigation of the SES, among employees in grade levels 13 and above in five federal agencies, reveals that after the first two years virtually none of the major objectives of the architects of the SES are perceived as having been met. The theoretical underpinnings of the SES are reviewed and provide a basis for the investigation, which indicates that a number of factors appear to be producing an increasingly stronger negative affect toward the program over time. The likely causes of this negative affect are discussed and an approach is offered for reversing the trend.

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