An Examination of Executive Branch Appointments in the Reagan Administra Tion By Background and Gender

• Author: Janet M. Martin
• Date: 01 March 1991
• DOI: 10.1177/106591299104400110
• Published date: 01 March 1991
• Subject Matter: Articles

AN

EXAMINATION

OF

EXECUTIVE

BRANCH

APPOINTMENTS

IN

THE

REAGAN

ADMINISTRA-

TION

BY

BACKGROUND

AND

GENDER

JANET

M.

MARTIN

Bowdoin

College

s

a

newly

elected

president

takes

office,

an

immense

amount

of

j~~

media

attention

is

given

to

the

formation

of

the

new

govern-

ment.

The

president-elect’s

announcement

of

who

will

serve

in

his

cabinet

warrants

front

page

coverage.

However,

once

cabinet

and

key

subcabinet-level

appointments

are

made,

public

attention

is

diverted

elsewhere:

a

crisis

may

engulf

a

new

administration,

or

the

need

to

move

forward

on

an

agenda

announced

in

the

campaign

may

turn

the

focus

from

the

building

of

an

administration

to

actually

gov-

erning.

Thus,

little

attention

is

paid

to

the

actual

top-to-bottom

build-

ing

of

an

administration;

because

of

the

length

of

time

of

this

building

process,

as

well

as

the

constant

flux

as

people

move

in

and

out

of

posts,

we

know

little

about

the

individuals

who

fill

these

top

appointive

posi-

tions

during

the

course

of

an

administration,

either

individually

or

as

a

collectivity.

Yet,

it

is

these

executive

appointees

who

are

the

essential

compo-

nents

in

how

departments

or

agencies

will

be

run.

More

importantly,

the

policy

agenda

of

an

administration

will

be

driven

by

the

individ-

uals

in

these

key

posts.

In

an

effort

to

assess

presidential

appointments,

two

major

studies

have

longitudinally

examined

the

highest

ranking

Senate-confirmed

presidential

appointees.

The

first

was

done

by

the

Brookings

Institu-

tion

and

covered

the

years

1933

through

April

of

1965,

with

the

results

published

in

Men

Who

Govern

(Stanley

et

al.

1967).

The

second

study,

done

by

the

National

Academy

of

Public

Administration,

continued

from

where

the

Brookings

study

ended,

examining

all

top

Senate-

confirmed

presidential

appointees

from

1964

through

1984,

with

results

RECEIVED:

January

8,

1990

FIRST

REVISION

RECEIVED:

May

23,

1990

SECOND

REVISION

RECEIVED:

July

5,

1990

ACCEPTED

FOR

PUBLICATION:

July

6,

1990

NOTE:

I

would

like

to

thank

John

B.

Winship,

anonymous

reviewers,

and

the

editor

for

their

helpful

comments.