Course Objectives
	Teaching Format
	Advanced Preparation
	Learning Approach

Leadership for a Democratic Society
Policy in a Constitutional System

The Federal Executive in Constitutional Context: Towards a Senior Civil Service

Overview: The Federal executive functions in a highly complex environment of competing forces with, at present, little help in understanding his/her roles and responsibilities and little institutional support in meeting those obligations. Each of us has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, but few of us know what that oath means or what it requires us to do. In this workshop, we will first look quickly, using John Rohr's book, To Run a Constitution, at the evolution of the Executive Branch, from the Founding Fathers through Woodrow Wilson's efforts at defining public administration to the enlargement of the Federal Government's role during and after the New Deal. We will then look at two models of how we might constitute a senior civil service, one from Rohr and the current Senior Executive Service. The majority of our time will be spent in small group work to define what we want from senior executives and then in designing a senior civil service, with attention to values, stakeholders, selection and management of this senior corps.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand and identify the competing demands on Federal executives
• Understand the difficulties of satisfying competing constituencies
• Gain first hand experience in designing an executive personnel system
• Gain an appreciation for the importance and challenges of the senior executive's role in our democracy

Teaching Format : This workshop includes a mix of lecture, small and large group discussion, small group work, episodes from a sitcom of political and career executives in action, and conferences with the instructor.

Advance Preparation : Careful reading of John Rohr's To Run a Constitution.

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