Newswise — President Obama's first hundred days have been marked by lightning-fast changes, not fully thought out, that are in the process of redefining the role of government, says Donald Kettl, the incoming dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and an expert in government management.
"Turning 'sand into rock' translates into a government role in private life unlike anything America's seen before, and it may all become permanent," says Kettl, who will start at Maryland in June. "The Administration is doing much more than pumping huge amounts of cash into the economy; it's making mega-changes in the job of government. These are surely needed, but they're unrolling in a headlong rush without an assessment of the long-term effects. The Administration and Congress need to focus more on where we're going, and they need to craft an exit strategy that won't keep government at the helm in the private sector."
REDEFINING MARKET CAPITALISM
"The most enduring legacy of the Obama administration might well be redefining the future of market capitalism," Kettl adds. "The bailout of the banking system and of the broader economy, and the new regulatory system put into place to prevent the crisis from recurring is likely to reshape the behavior of private markets for a very long time."
In a column in the February issue of Government Executive magazine, Kettl argues that it all amounts to a permanent redefining of the "social contract" between citizens and their government.
"We've gone from debates over privatizing the public sector to big steps toward governmentalizing the private sector," Kettl says, contending that the depth of the financial crisis makes change "inevitable and epic."
REDEFINING GOVERNMENT
Kettl's prescription: Government that is "nimble enough to tackle the challenges we're facing, smart enough to steer through the new crises and clever enough to stay half a step ahead of the strategies it is creating."
His new book, The Next Government of the United States, details the need for government at all levels to change the way it does business to cope with unprecedented global challenges.
"We're finding out all too clearly that there are no governance structures in place to handle problems on the scale of the banking crisis. The United States must get real smart, real fast or the U.S.'s leadership role in the world will be at risk."
'LIKE CAMELOT ON STEROIDS' - THE RISE OF PUBLIC POLICY EDUCATION
As governments tread through uncharted territory, public policy schools take on added significance, Kettl says.
"Our challenge as researchers and educators is to help inform policymakers' decisions as they reshape government, and to prepare a new generation of leaders able to carry out these changes. This is an exciting time to take on this personal challenge, especially at Maryland, because its School of Public Policy (MSPP) is positioned exactly where the world is going."
Enrollments suggest that students are showing a new level of interest in public policy studies - particularly at Maryland and other Washington-area public policy schools. For example, enrollments at MSPP rose 44 percent last year.
"I've never seen a generation of students quite so engaged and interested in government service," Kettl says. "President Kennedy's inaugural challenge inspired a generation to work in the public sector. What I'm seeing now is even greater - like Camelot on steroids. Student interest in public service paired with a commitment to superb training gets results."
Maryland's unique mix of strengths include what Kettl calls its "perfect D.C. geography" - adjacent to the nation's halls of power, with just enough distance to provide perspective; its extensive, interdisciplinary resources as the region's only major public research university; the school's focus on solutions to big issues and major policy challenges rather than on bureaucratic mechanics; an academic approach that seamlessly integrates domestic and international policy; and faculty with a tremendous mix of practical and academic experience and expertise.
KETTL BIO
Kettl currently is a professor of political science and the Robert A. Fox Professor of Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a nonresident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution. He previously served as executive director of the Century Foundation's Project on Federalism and Homeland Security, and academic coordinator of the Government Performance Project for the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Kettl's research focus is primarily on public policy and public management. His long academic experience includes the directorship of the LaFollette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He has authored, co-authored, or edited 25 books and numerous scholarly articles on public management, governance, tax reform and homeland security and writes a regular column for Governing Magazine.
Kettl holds four political science degrees from Yale University: B.A., M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. Expanded Bio here.
Kettl replaces former dean Steven Fetter, who has been appointed assistant director at-large of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, with responsibility in the areas of energy, climate change and nuclear weapons.
Fetter is one of several Maryland faculty members to assume top jobs in the Obama administration. Two university faculty members also served as top officials in the George W. Bush administration.
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