Shedding Light on Government Reform

Paul Light was in fine form this morning at an event at the National Academy of Public Administration to promote his new book, A Government Ill Executed.

In the federal sector, he noted, "breakdowns are coming at greater veolcity." And Light is convinced they're going to get worse, in the absence of actions to fix government's ills -- which he pegs, among other issues, as mission creep at agencies, a top-heavy chain of command, and excessive delays in the political confirmation process.

What intrigued me most was Light's suggestion that Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama -- both of whom he characterized as good-government advocates -- ought to team up prior to the election on pieces of legislation aimed at such goals as reducing the number of political appointees and streamlining the appointments process. It would be interesting indeed to see pressure put on the two senators to back measures that would benefit either of them if elected.

What Light said he didn't want to see was another president with a marquee management reform program, like "reinventing government" or the "president's management agenda." I'm crusade-weary as well at this point, but in the absence of these kinds of rallying cries, I wonder if a president would be able to garner any support for a coherent, sustained effort to fix the kind of systemic problems Light has detailed.