ABSTRACT

In the United States today, there are approximately 22 million people employed in some capacity through federal government funding [1]. This is almost double the number of people who are still left in U.S. manufacturing jobs. Of those working under government funds, 2.7 million people are direct civilian employees of the U.S. government and approximately 1.3 million people are active-duty military service personnel [2]. The rest are federal contractors who provide systems and services through close working relationships with federal agencies, vendors who provide commercial products to federal buyers, researchers at federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), analysts at some not-for-profit companies, universities with federal grants, and even individual consultants. Some politicians and social activists have argued that the U.S. federal government has become too big and with too much waste of resources. However, governments of modern democratic nations have a responsibility to manage large, complex societal operations that offer social services, national defense, infrastructure sustainment, law enforcement, monetary control, and other benefits for their citizens.