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Show Tuesday, December 13, 1988 Sun Advocate, Price, Utah 7B guest column The transition among presidents By PHILLIP N. TRULUCK Nov. 8, George Bush and Michael Dukakis wrapped up an exhausting battle for the highest political office in the United States. After months of fundOn raisers, speeches, debates, primaries, caucuses, campaign rallies and party conventions, the general election was over. The 41st president of the United States had been selected. President-elec- Bush, who had t a lifetime in politics to for the election, has prepare 73 days to ready himself to assume the presidency. How he uses this transition period will determine the course of the country during the early days of his presidency, and, to a large extent, during the next four years. The presidential transition is a crucial period, for it is the time when campaign promises and themes are translated into real policy plans. It is the president-elect- s opportunity to demonstrate leadership and earn the respect of Congress and the bureaucracy, and the time when Cabinet and other key policy posts are filled. A successful transition, such as President Reagans in 1980-8can convert an electoral mandate into policy changes. An unsuccessful transition leading to a weak presidency 1, can be viewed as a failure of democracy, for it leaves less power in the hands of the president, the only leader elected by all Americans, and more in the hands of Congress and unelected officials. The transition process, particularly if the outgoing and incoming administrations are of different political parties, has the potential for bitterness and conflict. Such disputes can disrupt not only the transition itself, but can also imperil the country if a crisis occurs. Thus, it is vital for the nation as well as the new president that both the old and new administrations cooperate to make the process as orderly as possible. This was one of the keys to the success of the 1980-8- 1 transition. Edwin Meese, who headed President Reagans transition team, has written, the 1980-8- 1 transition provided a model of cooperation and constructive joint activity, despite the great political differences between the presidents involved. This is all the more commendable because the transition occurred during a time of crisis, when the government of Iran was still holding American diplomats hostage. In some respects, the change of administration ought to be a gradual process. After election should day, the president-elec- t arrange with the outgoing administration to delay those policy and personnel decisions that can wait until after the respond to market forces in determining when to develop mineral resources; inauguration. At the same time, the old administration must deal with immediate problems the Iran hostage crisis in 1980-8- 1 was a particularly dramatic and the new adexample ministration should not interfere with the continued operation of the government. the president-elec- t and his transition team, meanwhile, face the tasks of converting campaign themes into specific policy proposals, selecting the right people to carry out those proposals, and developing good relations with Congress and the bureaucracy, which must approve and administer many of the new policies. Ronald Reagan went to Washington with a twofold mandate: rebuild Americas military capability, and pull the nations economy out of the stagnation of the 1970s. After his election, he faced the task of implementing specific policies to reach these goals. In 1979, The Heritage Foun- policies that preserve the environment while allowing resource development; dation began preparing Mandate for Leadership: Policy Management for a Conservative mendations for a conservative president. When Reagan was elected, copies of Mandate were distributed among the transition team. It became a principal reference book for Reagans policymakers and strategists. More than 30 conactributors to Mandate in the cepted policy positions new administration. It was unprecedented for a private organization to play such a prominent role in shaping the policies of a new administration. But Mandate was so sucfor Leadership cessful that Heritage followed it up Price-637-5- for Mandate with Leadership II in 1984, and has now completed Mandate HI, published by University Press of America, Washington, D.C. (Copies are available for sale from The Heritage Foundation Bookstore, co Publications, 214 Massachusetts Ave., N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002. The series Mandate Serendipity DCIG 95 East Main, Administration, a book of more than 2,000 specific policy recom- presents policy recom- mendations for all Cabinet-levdepartments, recommendations on key foreign and domestic policy issues, and tactical advice about the policy process. For example, among Mandate draft recommendations for energy policy are : due diligence Easing policies for coal leases on federal land, allowing firms to el 433 A OFFICE EQUIPMENT ms Developing ecological barriers to Removing domestic energy production; Enacting tax incentives to encourage domestic production of oil and gas; and, Selling some public lands to private owners. In 1988, Heritage will not be alone in proposing a policy outline for the coming administration. So effective was the Heritage model eight years ago that, in 1988, liberal groups rushed to imitate it. Groups on the left, such as the Democracy Project and the Economic Policy Institute, produced books and papers they hoped would be the Mandate for a Dukakis administration. President Reagan was as successful as he was in implementing his agenda because he came to the presidency with broadly defined goals, on the basis of which specific policy positions could be developed. He was not a technocrat with a hundred different, unconnected things he wanted to do. Rather, he had a vision of the kind of change that was necessary and it was a vision that was enormously popular with the American people. Every candidate, of course, promises to improve the economy and enhance national security. Reagan was suc- cessful because he had prinpeace ciples that worked through strength and prosperity through freedom and because he had the support of analysts who could develop specific policies consistent with those principles. During the campaign, can- didates articulate their principles and their vision for the future. Once the voters have chosen the candidate whose principles most closely match their own, it is up to the to translate president-elec- t those principles into policy. This entails long-rang- strategic e planning as well as identifying areas in which immediate action is necessary or possible. A new administration must deal with Congress and the entrenched bureaucracy, which do not necessarily embrace the presidents agenda. For this reason, it is crucial to appoint the right people for high-levpositions in the executive branch. As Heritage President Edwin Feulner says, People are policy. The president is so powerful and prominent a figure that one sometimes forgets how much el authority is delegated to lower-levofficials. While it is important to have a strong leader in the Oval Office, it is equally crucial that Cabinet, subcabinet and other posts be filled with qualified people who el high-lev- are el to committed the presidents vision. Indeed, many of the Reagan administrations shortcomings have been the result of personnel problems. The transition team had planned to select all Cabinet officers by Thanksgiving 1980; the last one was not announced until Jan. 7, 1981, less than two weeks before the inauguration. Candidates for the top 400 executive branch posts were to have been announced by the end of February, but by the beginning of May, only 55 percent of these had been announced, 36 percent nominated and 21 percent approved by the Senate. Delayed appointments can cripple an administrations ability to carry out its agenda. An agency left rudderless, without a leader who is a strong advocate of the presidents program, is more vulnerable to pressures from interest groups opposed to the administration. As such pressures grow, they can compound the problem by influencing Congress, making it difficult to confirm a candidate for the post. On the other hand, it is better to have a vacancy in such a post than to leave it filled with someone from the previous administration who is opposed to the presidents views. If personnel decisions were largely responsible for the administrations failures, they also helped bring about its successes. For example, despite the impression to the contrary, President Reagans first of the interior, James secretary Watt, was uniquely qualified for his office. He had considerable administrative skills and had already worked at high levels of the Interior Department, so he had a clear sense of what he wanted to accomplish. This enabled him to succeed in a number of areas, Heritage Senior Fellow Gordon Jones notes in Mandate III. For example, Interior man- agement of mineral leasing long had been beset by a confusing and unworkable division of responsibility between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Geological Survey. Under Watts direction, oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf was consolidated in a newly created agency, the minerals were Minerals Management Service (MMS). Similarly, the leasing functions f6r coal and other onshore then con- solidated in the BLM. Jones continues: Perhaps the greatest policy success of the Watt years was to calm the great resentment that had built up in the West during the Carter years. Watt ... reassured the West that Interior management would be responsive to Western Shop Our Catalog concerns. Watt, of course, had his problems, due both to his personality and his conflicting roles as an advocate of the West and Best selection of Gifts in Southeast Utah When you make a smart business decision you deserve to be rewarded for it. So, for a limited time only, Epson is offering a $125 Cash Rebate when you purchase an Equity" 1 personal computer BETWEEN NOVEMBER 1, 1988 AND DECEMBER 31, 1988. This is your chance to put the power of an Equity 1 on your desk, and get $125 cash back in your pocket. The Equity 1 brings affordable performance to any size office. Perfect as a standalone or as part of a network, the Equity 1 delivers a perfectly balanced combination of features, performance and value. Powerful dual-spee- d 4.77IOMHz 8088 microprocessor backed the administration when it supported privatizing (selling off) many federal lands, not a popular proposal among Western interests. This cost him and lessened political support the Interior Departments effectiveness. As the Watt case illustrates, even excellent appointees do not guarantee an administration But many will be trouble-freif the avoided be can problems high-levfill to choices presidents posts are experienced people with a strong commitment to the administrations agenda. An appointee who lacks such a commitment may wind up working at with the administration. A weak leader in an executive post can leave the real power in the hands of career bureaucrats who may or may not be sympathetic to the administrations views. Civil servants, after all, have their own opinions and biases about policy questions, and if they are given too much discretion, those biases are bound to find their way into policy. In addition, career bureaucrats are motivated by just like the rest of us, so they are likely to favor policies that will increase then-owpower or the funding to their agency. One of the roles of a political appointee is to keep such bureaucratic interests in check. But presidential appointees sometimes fall into the trap of becoming going native advocates for entrenched interests within their agency rather than the administrations policy goals. For example, President Carters secretary for housing and urban development, Patricia Harris, submitted budget requests 40 percent over Office of e. el cross-purpos- es self-intere- st, Management and Budget guidelines. She even encouraged outside interest groups to lobby the White House against its own budget. HUD employees were so happy with Harris that they named her an honarary member of their union local! The Reagan administration had similar problems. Only a few days after Reagan took office, a proposal calling for import quotas on Japanese cars was put forward by a deputy assistant secretary left over from the Carter administration. Conservatives in the administration were forced to divert their efforts from promoting Reagans economic agenda to defending against protectionism. These two anecdotes illustrate the importance of administration must having strong, committed leaders in key policy positions. Career bureaucrats need not be viewed as the enemy, but an incoming un- derstand what sorts of obstacles they can pose to the implementation of policies. High-lev- a good working relationship with careerists most of whom are professionals and are not out to thwart the (Continued on Page 8B) full-siz- AT-sty- le CTS. it BETWEEN NOVEMBER 1 AND DECEMBER 31,1988 V must be documented and postmarked no later than January 15, 1989. EPSON' WHEM YOITVE GOT AN YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF i' & Spanish) Bradley Collector Dolls Unique Xmas Decoration Novelty Items by Russ COMPMH 1 "" I Christmas Cards (English EPSOM. ' Fine Quality Reasonable Price Free Gift Wrap Layaway with Vj down Gift Certificates 32 Family Sampler - $49.99 Delicious food gifts from around the world. 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