The Foreign Service Journal, April 2003

P aul Volcker is best known to most Americans as the longtime former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. But he recently per- formed another valuable public service by chairing the National Commission on the Public Service. This commis- sion, sponsored by the Brookings Institution Center for Public Service, brought together 11 distinguished citi- zens from both political parties to examine how the federal government might achieve disciplined policy direc- tion, operational flexibility and clear and high performance standards. Among its prominent members were former Senator Bill Bradley, former Defense Secretary (and FSO) Frank Carlucci, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala. Bruce Laingen, a former FSO and executive secretary of the first (1988) national commission on the public service, served as an ex-officio member. The commission, which was established early in 2002, held public hearings in July and conducted a wide range of interviews with experts in the field of public administration. When Volcker unveiled the com- mission’s report, titled “Urgent Business for America: Revitalizing the Federal Government for the 21st Century,” at the National Press Club on Jan. 7, 2003, he acknowledged in his remarks that many Americans do not respect or trust their government. To rectify that situation, the com- mission is calling for sweeping changes in the federal government’s organiza- tional structure and personnel incen- tives and practices to meet the demands of an environment very dif- ferent from that in which the current rules were shaped in the 1970s and 1980s. A summary of the commis- sion’s report, including its 14 main rec- ommendations (several of which are discussed in detail below), can be found at: www.brook.edu/dybdoc root/gs/cps/volcker/reportfinal.pdf. As Mr. Volcker himself would prob- ably concede, many of the commis- sion’s recommendations are nothing new. The State Department has struggled with the need for reform for much of the last 20 years. During the mid-1990s, when reinventing govern- ment was fashionable, the department launched a Strategic Management Initiative designed to answer many of the same problems which the Volcker Commission cites: overlapping struc- tures, highly layered systems, an inef- fective personnel review and promo- tion system, and declining morale among both Foreign and Civil Service employees. Yet that effort, like most of those that preceded it, ran into the bureaucratic sand, both because there was a lack of senior-level interest and because of the perceived impossibility of gaining congressional approval for any major restructuring. Indeed, the campaign of former Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., to impose consolidation on the foreign affairs agencies led to a circling of the wagons and a hardening of resistance to reform. Even the reluctantly-agreed-to incorporation of USIA into State took place without basic reform of the public diplomacy function, which was essentially glued on to existing departmental structures. Still, let us suppose for a moment that Paul Volcker’s views prevail in the post-Sept. 11 environment and that the recommendations of his commis- sion are accepted by both Congress and the administration. What would the consequences be for the foreign affairs establishment, given that at least nine of the 14 recommendations clearly apply to the Department of State (Nos. 1, 2, 5-7 and 11-14)? Some Progress To give Foggy Bottom its due, State has already made substantial progress in two areas. Unlike most federal agencies, the department already has an under secretary for management, fulfilling Recommendation 2’s call for “managers chosen for their opera- tional skills and given the authority to develop management and personnel systems appropriate to their missions.” And the Foreign Service has also sharply stepped up recruitment over the past two years, fulfilling Recom- Does State Need Volcker-Style Reform? B Y A NTHONY C. E. Q UAINTON A P R I L 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 13 S PEAKING O UT As Mr. Volcker himself would likely concede, many of the commission’s recommendations are nothing new.