REFORMS CHANGING-ROLE

Twentieth century comprehensive executive reorganization or reform has had dual purposes. The First is explicit, the repair of administration. The second is implicit and addresses political tensions regarding administration in a separation of powers system. In this article, Arnold asks, what is the political purpose of administrative reform envisioned within President Clinton's National Performance Review, and how does that purpose compare to those of predecessor initiatives? The approach here is to examine the Performance Review within the historical setting of predecessor efforts at comprehensive executive reorganization. Twentieth century reorganization is divided into three stages. Guided by the new apolitical theory of public administration, the first stage of executive reorganization focused on executive-centered state building after 1905. In its second stage, beginning in the 1960s, executive reorganization encouraged strengthened executive control of policy design, implementation, and assessment. In its third phase, after the mid-1970s, executive reorganization's role has changed dramatically. No longer focused on the long-term project of developing executive governance, reform gains a populist accent and becomes a means through which ''outsider'' presidents manage hostility to government. The National Performance Review is set into this third stage, its antigovernmental aspects considered, and the implications of the contemporary uses of reorganization discussed.