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True size of government

By:

Light, Paul Charles

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: Washington Brookings Institution Press 1999Description: xii,238 p. 24 cmISBN:

089780815752653

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

352.630973 22 LI-T

Contents:

1. The Illusion of Smallness -- 2. The True Size of Government -- 3. The Politics of Illusion -- 4. The Tools for Staying Small -- 5. The Tools for Sorting Out -- 6. Managing a Government that Looks Smaller and Delivers More -- App. A. Estimated Gains and Losses in the Shadows of Government, 1984-96 -- App. B. Public Opinion toward Government Reform -- App. C. Head Count Ceilings, Freezes, and Thaws, 1940-97.

Summary: This book addresses a seemingly simple question: Just how many people work for the federal government anyway? Congress and the president almost always answer the question by counting the number of full-time civil servants, which totaled 1.9 million when President Clinton declared the era of big government over in 1996.Summary: But, according to Paul Light, the true head count that year was nearly nine times higher than the official numbers, with about 17 million people delivering goods and services on the government's behalf. Most of those employees are part of what Light calls the "shadow of government" - nonfederal employees working under federal contracts, grants, and mandates to state and local governments.Summary: In providing the first estimates of the shadow work force, this book explores the reasons why the official size of the federal government has remained so small while the shadow of government has grown so large.

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Holdings
Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Print	OPJGU Sonepat- Campus Main Library	General Books	352.630973 LI-T (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		003509

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Previous	352.630973 JO-D Dynamics of conflict between bureaucrats and legislators	352.630973 LA-P Private lives of public servants	352.630973 LE- Leadership for America rebuilding the public service	352.630973 LI-T True size of government	352.630973 SA-T Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney in search of a new bureaucracy	352.630973 SY-C Critical issues in public personnel policy	352.630973 WO-A American bureaucracy	Next

Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-224) and index.

This book addresses a seemingly simple question: Just how many people work for the federal government anyway? Congress and the president almost always answer the question by counting the number of full-time civil servants, which totaled 1.9 million when President Clinton declared the era of big government over in 1996.

But, according to Paul Light, the true head count that year was nearly nine times higher than the official numbers, with about 17 million people delivering goods and services on the government's behalf. Most of those employees are part of what Light calls the "shadow of government" - nonfederal employees working under federal contracts, grants, and mandates to state and local governments.

In providing the first estimates of the shadow work force, this book explores the reasons why the official size of the federal government has remained so small while the shadow of government has grown so large.

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