Caught Between the Dog and the Fireplug, or How to Survive Public Service

Kenneth Ashworth

• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Year: 2001
• Print ISBN: 9780878408474
• eBook ISBN: 9781589012936
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Public Affairs & Administration
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Replete with practical advice for anyone considering a career in federal, state, or local government, Caught between the Dog and the Fireplug, or How to Survive Public Service conveys what life is really like in a public service job. The book is written as a series of lively, entertaining letters of advice from a sympathetic uncle to a niece or nephew embarking on a government career.

Kenneth Ashworth draws on more than forty years of public sector experience to provide advice on the daily challenges that future public servants can expect to face: working with politicians, bureaucracy, and the press; dealing with unpleasant and difficult people; leading supervisors as well as subordinates; and maintaining high ethical standards. Ashworth relates anecdotes from his jobs in Texas, California, and Washington, D.C., that illustrate with humor and wit fundamental concepts of public administration.

Be prepared, says Ashworth, to encounter all sorts of unexpected situations, from the hostile to the bizarre, from the intimidating to the outrageous. He shows that in the confrontational world of public policymaking and program implementation, a successful career demands disciplined, informed thought, intellectual and personal growth, and broad reading. He demonstrates how, despite the inevitable inefficiencies of a democratic society, those working to shape policy in large organizations can nonetheless effect significant change-and even have fun along the way.

The book will interest students and teachers of public administration, public affairs, policy development, leadership, or higher education administration. Ashworth's advice will also appeal to anyone who has ever been caught in a tight spot while working in government service.

Index

Addams, Jane, 178

advisory committees, 111–12

affirmation action story, 75 After the Fall (Miller), 161

agency abolishment stories, 16–17

aides, success characteristics, 41–44

Alinsky, Saul, 64–65

“amen corner,” 41

American Educational Complex story, 30–32

American Medical Association (AMA), 5

animal rights legislation story, 5

auditors/monitors, 126–29

bad ol’ bills, 3–4

Bennis, Warren, 152

Berlin, Isaiah, 162

Bernstein, Leonard, 40

Beveridge, Albert, 166

Bickel, Alexander, 23, 178

biographies as knowledge, 139, 160

Bivins, Teel, 120

board abolishment stories, 16–17

board of directors. See governing boards

bond sale story, 83–84

Bosco, Douglas H., 22

bosses: successful subordinates, 41–44, 77, 134–35

as teachers, 39–41, 44. See also difficult people

bouquet/brickbat file, 56

Bread and Wine (Silone), 157–58

bribes as pressure tactics, 83–86

brickbat/bouquet file, 56

briefing memos, writing, 77, 142–43

Briscoe, Dolph, 69

Brown, Pat, 67

Brownlow, Louis, 112, 185

bureaucratic behavior: auditors/monitors, 126–29

characteristics, 47

freelance writer story, 132

minimizing, 123, 124

parking lot story, 123–24

rules/regulations and, 124–26, 129–32

Treasury Department story, 121–23, 124

Burke, Admiral Arleigh, 102

Burns, Robert, 87

cabinet-type structure, advantages/disadvantages, 80

cactus/caucus comparison, 59

Cambodia story, 159

Caperton, Kent, 22

chord change story, 171–72

classroom lecture story, 28

Clements, William: attorney general story, 131

“author-on-the-carpet” stories, 46, 53

racial integration plan, 71–72

university expansion story, 17–18

university merger story, 117, 118–19

Cleveland, Harlan, 40

Coke, Sir Edward, 82

college aid story, 77–78

commencement speech story, 77–78

commissioner job interview story, 89–91

committee hearings (legislative), 5–9

committees for governing boards, 110–12

communication skills, 141–43. See also press relations

comptroller story, 128

c...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• OCTOBER: Working with politicians
• NOVEMBER: Working with the press
• DECEMBER: Learning from your boss
• JANUARY: Dealing with unpleasant and difficult people
• FEBRUARY: More on unpleasant people
• MARCH: Subordinate leadership, getting help from above
• APRIL: Taking the initiative, or risk taking inside government
• MAY: The kinds of pressures and influence used on you
• SEPTEMBER: Relations with a governing board
• OCTOBER: More on governing boards
• NOVEMBER: Bona fide bureaucratic behavior
• DECEMBER: “Walking with kings”
• JANUARY: Delegating, or working for your subordinates
• FEBRUARY: Ethics and morality in public service
• MARCH: A few thoughts on leadership
• APRIL: A summing up
• Afterword
• Notes
• A Hundred Really Good Books
• Index