In this post–September 11, 2001 era, it can be argued that civil service reform has increasingly taken on a sense of urgency. By any measure, the current reforms in process at the federal level are unprecedented. A number of federal agencies under pressure to improve performance have been allowed to depart from traditional personnel management practices. The Departments of Defense and Homeland Security are the most recent examples of agencies exempted from Title 5 provisions, with the concomitant authority to develop human resource systems that are both “contemporary” and “flexible.” Exceptions to pay and other provisions of the 1949 Classification Act are under way, and pay-for-performance is gaining ground. Management challenges abound across the federal government, not least in the Department of Homeland Security. This symposium, titled “ Federal Civil Service Reform: Another Legacy of 9/11?” presents an opportunity to examine path-breaking human resource reform from both theoretical and applied perspectives.
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