Book Review: Maranto, R. (2005). Beyond a Government of Strangers: How Career Executives and Political Appointees Can Turn Conflict to Cooperation. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books
| Published date | 01 June 2009 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0734371X09333309 |
| Date | 01 June 2009 |
| Author | Stacey Mann |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Book Review
Administration
Volume 29 Number 2
June 2009 197-199
Maranto, R. (2005). Beyond a Government of Strangers:
© 2009 Sage Publications
http://roppa.sagepub.com
How Career Executives and Political Appointees
hosted at
Can Turn Conflict to Cooperation. Lanham, MD:
http://online.sagepub.com
Lexington Books.
DOI: 10.1177/0734371X09333309
In his 1977 book A Government of Strangers: Executive Politics in Washington,
Hugh Heclo discusses the interactions and often-strained relationships between
political appointees and career bureaucrats. Heclo argues that for democracy to work
effectively and for organizations to run smoothly, appointees and bureaucrats should
cooperate and compromise with one another so that agencies are able to complete their
missions. Heclo felt that for cooperation and compromise to take place, the executive
office should bridge the gap between career bureaucrats and political appointees.
Heclo’s insights became part of the vision for the Senior executive Service.
In Beyond a Government of Strangers, Robert Maranto continues Heclo’s discus-
sion, offering another perspective on the work of career bureaucrats and their relation-
ship with political appointees. Maranto demonstrates that no government agency can
survive without both political appointees and career bureaucrats, and he gives exam-
ples of the good, the bad, the effective, and the ineffective. Whereas many have argued
that political appointees are “lazy” or “are just doing their time” and that career
bureaucrats must often guide appointees, Maranto states that most appointees have
spent significant time in government and truly have something to offer the organiza-
tion for which they are working. He writes, “Or as a Clinton appointee told me,
‘remember that every political appointee has something you don’t’—most typically
experience in state government, the private sector, or a congressional staff” (p. 31).
The argument that political...
To continue reading
Request your trial