ABSTRACT
Reinventing government is “about as exciting as watching paint dry,” President Bill Clinton is reported to have said. The President’s remarks were made at a January 14-15, 1999, Conference in the State Department on “Transforming Government in the 21st Century: Global Forum on Reinventing Government.” The Global Forum included 40 nations, including New Zealand, Russia, Japan, Argentina, Spain and Benin. Morley Winograd, Senior Advisor to Vice-President Albert Gore and Director of the National Performance Review, on January 7 described the conference as “the first international conference ever held on the subject of reinventing government.” Apparently, the sub-title of the Washington conference was “Partnership for Economic Success,” and the Vice-President emphasized this theme with remarks like “countries must have governments that are efficient and responsive to citizens if they want to have economic success in the global marketplace.” The President could have told the audience that, “It’s the discourse, stupid”.
