During the past fifty years, the Congresses and presidents of the United States have made many efforts to improve the performance of the federal government. In this book, a leading expert in public management examines the most important reform statutes passed and concludes that the problem is not too little reform but too much. Paul Light explains that Congress and the presidency have never decided whether they trust government and its employees to do their jobs well, and so they have moved back and forth over the decades between four reform philosophies: scientific management, war on...
During the past fifty years, the Congresses and presidents of the United States have made many efforts to improve the performance of the federal gover...
The generation of those born between 1946 and 1964 already makes up an overwhelming 60 percent of the electorate. Faced with a shrinking future, this diverse group confronts daunting challenges. Here is an in-depth look at this generation's situation and some of its options.
The generation of those born between 1946 and 1964 already makes up an overwhelming 60 percent of the electorate. Faced with a shrinking future, this ...
Paul Light has captured the spirit of innovation. It is not about spectacular acts by individuals who labor against the odds, but about the hard work of building organizations in which innovation is expected and possible. It is about tilling the soil so that ideas can flourish. Anyone who wants to take their organization forward toward natural innovation should read this book. --Walter F. Mondale
Any organization can innovate once. The challenge is to innovate twice, thrice, and more?to make innovation a part of daily good practice. This book shows how nonprofit and...
Paul Light has captured the spirit of innovation. It is not about spectacular acts by individuals who labor against the odds, but about the hard work ...
In this third edition of The President's Agenda, Paul Light brings his acclaimed study up to date by weighing the successes and failures of the Bush and Clinton presidencies in setting a legislative agenda of domestic issues for Congress. The most noticeable development, according to Light, is the shrinking of the agenda and the absence of fresh new ideas. Explaining the emergence of -the derivative Presidency, - he attributes this increasingly limited agenda to the problems associated with the end of the welfare state, the thickening of government, the problems of the budget, the...
In this third edition of The President's Agenda, Paul Light brings his acclaimed study up to date by weighing the successes and failures of ...
This volume focuses on a survey of contemporary thinking about creating effective nonprofit organizations. Based on interviews with 250 leading thinkers from the worlds of philanthropy, scholarship and consulting, as well as 250 executive directors of some of the nation's most effective nonprofits, the book argues that there is no one best way to higher performance. Although higher performance clearly requires a commitment to excellence, it can be achieved along more than one pathway using one of several different strategies. It shows that every nonprofit organization can improve - no matter...
This volume focuses on a survey of contemporary thinking about creating effective nonprofit organizations. Based on interviews with 250 leading thinke...
America's nonprofit organizations are facing an uncertain future. Many are operating with leaner budgets and face a wave of budget cuts as the federal deficit grows. At the same time, public confidence in nonprofits is at a contemporary low. Congress seems poised to enact new and stringent rules for nonprofit spending. Many state attorneys general find nonprofits a prime target for criminal investigations. The media continue to uncover troubling examples of excess, and charitable giving has yet to respond to the economic recovery. To address this crisis, Paul Light, one of the nation's...
America's nonprofit organizations are facing an uncertain future. Many are operating with leaner budgets and face a wave of budget cuts as the federal...
According to Paul C. Light's controversial new book, The New Public Service, this January's 4.8 percent federal pay increase will do little to compensate for what potential employees think is currently missing from federal careers. Talented Americans are not saying "show me the money" but "show me the job." And federal jobs just do not show well. All job offers being equal, Light argues that the pay increase would matter. But all offers are not equal. Light's research on what graduates of the top public policy and administration graduate programs want indicates that the federal government is...
According to Paul C. Light's controversial new book, The New Public Service, this January's 4.8 percent federal pay increase will do little to compens...
The nonprofit sector has never been under greater pressure to prove itself. With missions expanding and funding never more competitive, the sector suffers from a general impression that it is less efficient and more wasteful than its government and private competitors. Its funders, be they governments, charitable foundations, or individual givers, have never seemed so insistent about economy and results, while its clients, be they communities or individuals, have never been more demanding about efficiency and responsiveness. How the nonprofit sector does its work is becoming almost as...
The nonprofit sector has never been under greater pressure to prove itself. With missions expanding and funding never more competitive, the sector ...
Government is under enormous pressure to change. Call it reinventing, reengineering, or plain old change, but the mandate remains the same: produce more with less, and satisfy the customer while doing it. Yet, successful reform must involve more than exhortation and slogans. Paul Light argues that a failure to pay attention to the thickening of government over the past half century may doom any reinventing effort. The federal government has never had so many leaders. There are more layers of management between the top and bottom of government, with more administrative units and occupants at...
Government is under enormous pressure to change. Call it reinventing, reengineering, or plain old change, but the mandate remains the same: produce mo...
