The Merit Principle in Crisis

Volcker Alliance Nonresident Senior Fellow Donald F. Kettl lectures at the University of Missouri on government hiring and firing practices, accountability issues in public service delivery, and performance evaluation reform. According to Kettl, the Merit Principle raises four big questions to scholars of public administration:

• Has the civil service system, as it has evolved over the past century, lost the proper balance between protecting civil service employees and holding them accountable?
• Does cutting the number of government employees help reduce the size of the government? 
• Have government employees simply become the easiest targets for government bashers?
• What kind of civil service system do we need to equip government with the skills it needs to deliver the services citizens demand?