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What do you mean by "The government" and "used to" here?
by LastTrain 2y ago
What do you mean by "The government" and "used to" here?
- alistairSH 2y agoThe executive branch.
- LastTrain 2y agoHow much of and what parts of the executive branch would turn over, and to what period are you referring?
- alistairSH 2y agoThe big change followed the Pendleton Act (passed following the assassination of Garfield by an upset donor). 1880s, with a steadily increasing percentage of professional bureaucrats (vs donors/friends) ever since.
- LastTrain 2y agoOK. That only speaks to the fact that the government has grown. Your original point was about turnover. What I am driving at is surely, even going all the way back to 1880, mean that rank and file federal employees, until recently, turned over with every change in administration. Because that is what we’re talking about, not cabinet members or appointed positions.
- alistairSH 2y agoI’m not sure what point you’re trying to make? Prior to the 1880s, most of the government turned over with each administration. There largely was not a career bureaucratic class. Between the ending of patronage and the growth of the government, we collectively have added more protections for rank and file bureaucrats in order to keep stability. Trump and Musk are upending that tradition. The first post asserted Trump is within his rights to recompose the entire government as he sees fit. That simply isn’t true and ignores how we got here.