Does Familiarity Breed Acceptance?

Abstract

A number of researchers assert that relations between careerists and political appointees in Washington typically start badly but improve over the course of an administration. This article tested that proposition by surveying 1,04S high-level careerists and 242 political appointees serving in the Washington, DC offices of 15 federal organizations. In defense organizations, both career and noncareer officials felt that relations started well and changed little over the course of the Reagan administration. In domestic organizations, both appointees and careerists felt that career-noncareer relations were problematic but improved since the first years of the administration. Apparently, however, these findings reflect leadership changes in a few organizations rather than a broader movement.

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