ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the logic and history of state initiatives in the United States, and examines the substance and pace of adoption across the states. It also reviews prior research conducted in Florida, Georgia, and Texas to see if the worries of opponents of radical civil service reform (RCSR) have materialized. The chapter offers the results of author's own survey research in Georgia indicating that, despite dire predictions, there appears to be no wholesale rush to spoils in the state-at least in the eyes of state agency human resource professionals. It also offers a set of propositions for practitioners to consider when thinking about adopting RCSR in their states and that researchers might test, elaborate, and extend in their work. RCSR is a direct result of administrative reform prescriptions that frame government as hamstrung by, among other things, overly bureaucratized civil service systems.
