ABSTRACT
The modeling of the tensions between political authorities and executive agencies applies a more general economic paradigm of principal-agency. Political executives, for example, may have less a set of “ideal points” for agency performance than a set of directional valences and general aspiration levels with respect to which political executives satisfice as they direct their agencies. Presidential administrations make appointments on a number of bases: ideology, loyalty, political skills, policy expertise, managerial capability, political paybacks and favors. Yet some observations suggest that the career bureaucracies may be more favorably disposed toward presidential administrations than is commonly thought. To examine the processes by which policies change in response to the top-down preferences of a presidential administration, the chapter focuses on theory of organizational behavior more generally and a review of the motives that are likely to be most salient among career officials. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
