The Need to Understand the “Black Box” of Presidential Appointments

• Author: Mark A. Abramson
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2012.02665.x
• Date: 01 November 2012
• Published date: 01 November 2012

The Need to Understand the “Black Box” of Presidential Appointments 913

Mark A. Abramson

Leadership Inc.

As a practitioner, it is always an interesting

challenge to delve into quantitative data and

seek out policy implications from empirical

research. Matthew Dull, Patrick S. Roberts, Michael

Keeney, and Sang Ok Choi’s article, “Appointee

Conf‌i rmation and Tenure:  e Succession of U.S.

Federal Agency Appointees, 1989–2009,” provides

much interesting data to ponder about the political

appointments process. I will divide my comments into

two categories: (1) what I learned from the article,

and (2) topics for future research.

What I Learned from the Article

Get your nominees in early at the start of a new

administration. This f‌i nding is very applicable to the

administration that will begin on January 20, 2013.

In the case of a Mitt Romney f‌i rst term, the article

documents that nearly half of all appointees in a new

administration will be conf‌i rmed in one month. In

the case of a second Barack Obama term, his

administration will be confronting a conf‌i rmation

process that has historically averaged nearly three

months for second-term nominees—three times

longer than the median average for f‌i rst-term

nominees. By moving quickly and having his

second-term appointees ready for the conf‌i rmation

process in January 2013, a second Obama

administration might be able to recapture some of the

speed evident in the conf‌i rmation process for

f‌i rst-term nominees.

Appoint highly qualif‌i ed individuals with strong

professional backgrounds. One of the most

interesting aspects of the article is the f‌i nding that

some nominations do indeed move quickly. Many of

these positions are located in the national security

arena and science and technology agencies. The article

also reports that individuals selected for science and

technology positions tend to have longer tenures.

Thus, there does appear to be some evidence that

individuals with strong professional backgrounds tend

to have smoother conf‌i rmation processes and longer

tenures. If an administration nominates “amateurs,”

individuals with less professional experience and

 e Need to Understand the “Black Box”

of Presidential Appointments

Commentary

Mark A. Abramson is president of

Leadership Inc. He is coauthor of Paths

to Making a Difference: Leading

in Government, Getting It Done: A

Guide for Government Executives

and Learning the Ropes: Insights for

Political Appointees.

E-mail: mark.abramson@

thoughtleadershipinc.com

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 72, Iss. 6, pp. 913–914. © 2012 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.111/j.1540-6210.2012.2665.x.