In November 2007, Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs convened a blue-ribbon task force to explore how public policy schools can educate and motivate the very best for government service in the 21st century, recognizing that the nature of federal government service in the United States is changing.

These questions are particularly timely in light of the increasing outsourcing of many functions formerly reserved exclusively for government, the proliferation of agencies and departments with overlapping functions within government, the increasing reluctance of many talented people to make a whole career in government, the growing role of the military as the nation's chief operational foreign policy arm, and continuing uncertainty over funding and other resources, complicating already difficult planning and policy decisions. Moreover, in the wake of government failures to adequately anticipate and/or address a broad set of challenging incidents and events, there is widespread and growing concern as to the ability of “government” to meet even minimal expectations. At the same time, individual policy makers and managers must often address extremely contentious and complex issues in the face of tight resource constraints.

In thinking about senior government officials across a variety of government departments, the task force will consider:

• What do senior government officials with policy responsibility spend the bulk of their time doing? (Policymaking? Management? Administration? Crisis Management?) The task force will focus on trends in the senior executive service and upper civil service levels, and to some extent examine trends among political appointees.
• What skills, knowledge, and competencies are most needed to operate effectively? What is the mix of policy, management and technical skills? Who performs most effectively in leadership positions across the federal government?
• What do government career patterns look like today? How often do government officials in policymaking positions switch jobs; how often do they move in and out of government and to which other sectors of the economy? Are there ways that those with significant experience in the private or non-profit sectors who then want to dedicate a number of years to government (10+ years) can go in at a relatively senior level?

A great deal of data on these questions has already been collected by the Office of Personnel Management, the Partnership for Public Service, and others. The task force will compile and analyze existing data, as well as have access to the results of the 2007 Princeton Survey on the Changing Nature of Government Service, a survey of the backgrounds and experiences of federal executives.

Over the course of a year, the task force will meet three times in either New York or Washington D.C. The task force aims to issue a report just following the 2008 elections, in an effort to inform incoming administrations and senior government officials. Its findings will also inform deliberations about the Woodrow Wilson School curriculum to ensure that it continues to support the School’s mission of preparing future leaders for public service careers, including in particular federal government service in areas concerned with international relations and affairs.