Bringing Back Boss Tweed? Could At-Will Employment Work in State Government and, If So, Where?

摘要

The lead author of this article[1] has proposed ending civil service tenure in the U.S. bureaucracy. Yet these arguments lose their force when applied to state and local civil service systems. In many states and localities limited media scrutiny, limited political competition, the weakness of existing bureaucracies, and a relative tolerance for spoils-oriented patronage make radical civil service reform risky. We develop a ranking predicting which states make the best and worst candidates for radical civil service reform. State level independent variables include corruption, traditional party organizations, media capacity, party competition, and bureaucratic capacity.