Description
Book SynopsisIt’s a long-standing pattern: elite workers spurn public jobs, while less skilled workers cling to government work as a refuge from a harsh private economy. Donahue documents government’s isolation from the rest of the U.S. economy and arrays the stark choices we confront for narrowing, or accommodating, the divide between public and private work.
Trade ReviewThe Warping of Government Work offers an intriguing view of the impact that changes in the private economy have had on both the nature of government jobs and challenges to government performance. This eminently readable book is a significant contribution to discussions about effective government. -- Judy Feder, Professor of Public Policy, Georgetown University
In
The Warping of Government Work, John Donahue presents valuable insights into the human capital crises compromising the quality of government. The premise of the book—that the quality and durability of American life depends on good government, which, in turn, requires highly skilled and talented individuals—is compelling. Donahue easily convinces us that the process of recruiting, choosing, and retaining skilled persons in government is critical.
The Warping of Government Work advances the understanding of a substantial problem facing government at all levels. -- Stephen Goldsmith, Daniel Paul Professor of Government, John F. Kennedy School of Government, and former mayor of Indianapolis, IN
Table of Contents* Two Worlds of Work * Relic of the Middle-Class Economy * Safe Harbor * Backwater * A Twisted Transformation * Finding the Future * Appendix * Notes * Index
