Light Fare

I had the pleasure of listening to Paul Light of New York University deliver the Bernard and Irene Schwartz Lecture on Congress at the Library of Congress yesterday. As always, he had a series of choice observations:

• The upcoming change of administrations "will be the most difficult transition since Abraham Lincoln," he said. Even Franklin Roosevelt at least had more time to begin planning to address the effects of the Great Depression (his inauguration wasn't until March 4, 1933) and didn't have to deal with two wars overseas. "One wonders why anybody would want to be president during this period," Light said.
• Since Congress will be expecting an ambitious agenda to address the economic situation, and because the next president will need to tackle the "rusting out of Great Society" programs, there will be little room to pursue other grand plans. "Are we going to go to Mars any time soon? Given this agenda, I doubt it," Light said.
• There's little to fear from the impending wave of retirements among federal employees, Light argued, because "there are plenty of people lined up for the jobs." But, he added, it's a tragedy that the government has to rely on an economic recession to improve interest in the public service.
• The federal government has an inherent problem communicating with young people about the value of public service, Light said. Too often, pay, benefits and job security are touted as the prime benefits of federal employment, and not the opportunity to do meaningful work. And even efforts to emphasize the value of working as a civil servant often fall flat. For example, when Barack Obama speaks of making government "cool again," he's using the lingo of baby boomers, not members of the millennial generation, Light said.

If you haven't seen it, be sure to read Light's piece in the October issue of Government Executive on the next president's management reform agenda. He's writing another column for the December issue on why the 30th anniversaries of the Civil Service Reform Act, the Ethics in Government Act and the Inspector General Act are no cause for celebration.

And of course, I'd feel bad if I didn't put in a little plug for his latest book, A Government Ill Executed.