The events of 9/11 have influenced policy making in public administration. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, which created the Department of Homeland Security, contained language that empowered the secretary of homeland security and the director of the Office of Personnel Management to establish a personnel management system outside the normal provisions of the federal civil service. Why did civil service reform succeed as part of this legislation when previous attempts at large‐scale reform had failed? A case analysis of the enactment of civil service reform in the Homeland Security Act points to theories of policy emergence and certain models of presidential and congressional policy making. In this case, civil service reform became associated with national security instead of management reform. An assessment of the rhetorical arguments used to frame this policy image offers a powerful explanation for the adoption of the personnel management reforms in the Homeland Security Act. This case has implications for understanding how policy makers might approach future management reform agendas.
Summary
This study of the 1973 Local Government Elections in England and Wales shows that the position of a candidate's name on the ballot paper can have an important effect in terms of the number of votes which he receives. In particular the lower‐placed members of each party are quite seriously disadvantaged. Investigations into the relationship between this positional effect and other aspects of the election show that it occurs quite generally. A simple model is formulated which attempts to explain the phenomenon.
Summary
Four two‐year‐old Thoroughbreds suffered an acute gastrointestinal illness shortly after dosing with mineral oil which was thought to have been contaminated with an organophosphate compound. Three weeks later all four were noted to be dyspnoeic and endoscopic examination showed that they had developed bilateral laryngeal paralysis. Two of the horses died during severe bouts of dyspnoea six and eight months later and the third was killed shortly thereafter. Examination of the left and right recurrent laryngeal nerves from these horses showed a severe loss of myelinated fibres distally, especially in the left nerve. A similar but less severe lesion was seen in other long peripheral nerves, including the phrenic and digital nerves of the third horse. The spinal cord in two horses showed evidence of mild axonal degeneration which was not related to a particular tract or location. The fourth horse had bilateral laryngeal paralysis two years later. The acute clinical signs and delayed neurological sequelae seen in these horses were strongly suggestive of accidental organophosphate toxicity.
This case study reviews the enactment and implementation of the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) in the U.S. Department of Defense. Proponents of reform seized the opportunity to enact reform in the aftermath of 9/11, basing their arguments on national security concerns. However, the policy‐making process did not produce a consensus for reform among key stakeholders in the personnel management policy community. Instead, the NSPS angered and alienated the Office of Personnel Management, the public employee unions, and a number of congressional Democrats. Implementation of the NSPS became problematic as Defense Department officials attempted to move quickly and independently to get the new system online, eventually forcing the department to put the system on hold. In the end, Congress imposed limits on its implementation, advocates for the system disappeared, and a new president supported the repeal of NSPS. This case provides useful insights into the formulation of future strategies for personnel management reform.
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