Suggests that, although a crisis in government service is widely recognized, understanding the motives of public servants and the way to stimulate public service motivation are at a preliminary stage. (Author)

Argues that public officials need a complex array of moral resources to exercise discretion in office. Discusses commitments to regime accountability, personal responsibility, and prudence. (JOW)

The "quiet crisis" in federal service is due to absence of dominant political condition or consensus regarding model on which public administration should be based. Extensive changes will bring about fundamental alterations in federal service even in absence of agreement on whether and how to rebuild. The public administration community can play a…

Governmental professionalism is declining. There are many more political appointees in the bureaucracy and the environment has not been supportive or trusting. Public officials can play a role in restoring the environment for professionalism. (JOW)

Examines the challenges of senior public service in the executive office of the president of the United States. The memoirs used demonstrate the high cumulative cost that public service exacts on the health and private lives of senior officials. Reveals themes regarding how officials navigate dilemmas and challenges of public service. (Contains 24…

Discusses how the Corporation for National Service and its programs have come under fire for being more political than catalytic, being simultaneously too centralized and too decentralized, and pursuing too many unclear goals. Identifies discontinuities between the rhetoric and the reality of reinvention and draws lessons for public-sector reform.…

Using contingency table analysis and logistic regression, a study explored how individuals' demographic characteristics and the importance of job qualities influence their preference for and employment in the public sector. Results show that desire for government jobs declined between 1989 and 1998. (Contains 34 references.) (JOW)

Analysis of a 1% sample of performance appraisals of federal employees of comparable education and experience (1990-95) found that women, especially whites, received higher ratings than white men at the same level. Minorities were more likely to receive a "fully successful" rating and less likely to receive an "outstanding" rating. (SK)