Influencing Policy at the Top of the Federal Bureaucracy: A Comparison of Career and Political Senior Executives

Although we commonly assume that bureaucrats influence the policies which govern public behavior, we know very little about the individuals who occupy executive positions in the federal bureaucracy. Following the creation of the Senior Executive Service (SES) in 1978, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published guidelines detailing the skills and responsibilities required among both career and noncareer members of the SES. Although scholars have focused much attention on relations between these two groups within the federal bureaucracy, their day-to-day responsibilities remain understudied. This study reports results of a survey that was administered to 1,000 members of the Senior Executive Service to determine whether career and noncareer members of the SES have significantly different job responsibilities. Although both groups perform a variety of activities which provide them with numerous avenues to affect government policy, the research findings indicate that noncareer executives are more engaged in carrying out political liaison tasks and that career executives have slightly greater personnel responsibilities.     

Making a case for personal safety: perceptions of vulnerability and desire for self-defense training among female veterans

We assessed perceptions of vulnerability and the desire for personal safety/self-defense (PS/SD) training among 67 female veterans receiving outpatient mental health treatment, primarily for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from sexual and/or physical trauma. Consistent with the literature on the impact of such training on nonclinical populations and on individuals with visual impairments, the results of this study indicate that traumatized female veterans believe that PS/SD training would be an effective and powerful addition to more traditional treatments for PTSD. Study participants indicated they believe such training would positively affect their sense of personal safety; promote increased competence in thwarting future assaults; improve their self-esteem, confidence, and assertiveness; and reduce avoidant and agoraphobic behaviors. These pilot results support the development of an adjunct intervention to augment current PTSD treatments for women veterans with histories of sexual and physical trauma.