Reinventing the Administrative State

Reinventing government is a well-established political program that has been pursued in a number of forms throughout the twentieth century. Many of these programs share similar goals of economy and efficacy, but they have suffered largely from a persistent inability to achieve their objectives in any significant way. In this timely work, Michael Norris perceptively analyzes the reasons for the failure of recent programs to correct the weaknesses of government. He argues that the current reinvention movement has fallen well short of its original goals and demonstrates that the disparity between the original claims of the movement and its results to date has been caused by structural, political, bureaucratic, and internal barriers. Norris meticulously examines each of these barriers, providing new insights and potential solutions to the long-standing problem of government inefficiency. Those with an interest in political science, American government, and public policy will find much to their liking in this thought-provoking volume.