Not long ago, I was in a meeting to talk about a public-policy issue. It was complex, and as we considered the various angles I thought about what it would take to translate talk into change on the ground. I wasn’t analyzing the politics of it — I was focused on the types of people […]
Not long ago, I was in a meeting to talk about a public-policy issue. It was complex, and as we considered the various angles I thought about what it would take to translate talk into change on the ground. I wasn’t analyzing the politics of it — I was focused on the types of people who would have to roll up their sleeves.
What I came away with was a list of skills, none of them unusual, but all of them vital for getting things done in the increasingly complicated world that government faces. It was a long list, including everything from a legislative draftsman to lawyers and budget experts to subject-matter experts, engineers, businesspeople, and PR experts.
My point is that to make our system and this country work, we need experts and competent bureaucrats to deal with the problems that come cascading down on government. And here’s what I can tell you, after decades of close contact with federal civil servants: We have them. By and large, this country is served by an extremely professional and dedicated group of public employees.
Which is why I have never shared the contempt and outright hostility toward federal bureaucrats that is so often expressed in the public arena these days. They deal with very tough problems and they’re usually good at what they do. They just don’t toot their own horns about it.
This was on full display in the recent House Intelligence Committee hearings on impeachment. As New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote recently, “[T]he civil servant witnesses answering questions inspired a lot more confidence than the elected officials who were asking them.” He went on to quote political scientist Hugh Heclo, “It is when you deal with someone who does not perform in a ‘professional’ manner that you learn to appreciate those who do.”
This doesn’t mean that there aren’t some bad apples within the bureaucracy. There always are, but they’re rare. Attacking cabinet officials and civil-service employees publicly, the way President Trump seems to enjoy doing, seems counter-productive. These are, after all, the very people he has to depend on to move his programs forward.
In the face of the many challenges we confront, the professionalism, talent, and competence of our civil servants matter. We’ve been fortunate: many of them have withstood attacks on themselves and the systems they depend on for support. So far anyway.
Lee Hamilton, 88, is a senior advisor for the Indiana University (IU) Center on Representative Government, distinguished scholar at IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and professor of practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Hamilton, a Democrat, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years (1965-1999), representing a district in south central Indiana.
