In the essay “Reinventing Government?: Appraising the National Performance Review” Donald Kettl, discusses how the branches of government need to be reoriented by using the National Performance Review (NPR). The NPR was a review launched by Vice President Al Gore and his staff to reform and streamline the way the federal government works. They wanted to make a government that works better, cost less and get results that citizens care about. Every major government reform in the world was complete under the impression that ideas drive action. The NPR focused on two major items. First, the re-inventors desired to transfer the power to executive branch from Congress. In the reports, the Congress did not micro manage and regulate in the reinvention process, both of those are important. Secondly, all government employees needed to be empowered (Kettl, 1994 pg. 543).
Continuities:
Kettl states the two pressures that shaped the NPR are battle of Madisonians and Hamiltonians, and decentralizing power to fit the policy to the different powers. Followers of James Madison argued for holding the executive power in check by a system which is now known as the checks and balances system.…show more content… Though both are equally important because they drive and steer the government into action. Three important theoretical problems plague the NPR. First, compared to other reforms abroad, the NPR has a weaker central compass and a greater intellectual inconsistency. Second, the NPR’s action has moved far in advance of the theory. Certain state and local governments have tried to reform but they have been unsuccessful. The academic community has to work hard to be in the front of innovation. New approaches have to be taken in order for governance to make public policies that have better control. Third, they must solve the problem of combining the leftover factors of reinvention and patching the factors together (Kettl, 1994 pg.