David E. Lewis is Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University and author of The Politics of Presidential Appointments: Political Control and Bureaucratic Performance (Princeton University Press, 2008). His research interests include the presidency, executive branch politics, and public administration. He is also the author of Presidents and the Politics of Agency Design (Stanford University Press 2003) and numerous articles on American politics, public administration, and management.
Contributions
Will Obama stem the tide of patronage? ASK THIS | January 14, 2009 Political scientist David Lewis wonders whether loyalists, donors and party officials will get rewarded with appointed positions that are under the media’s radar. And if Obama is really trying to change the way Washington works, why doesn't he reduce the overall number of appointed positions?
How badly has Bush damaged the federal government? ASK THIS | September 267, 2007 A Princeton political scientist proposes questions that would help determine if this administration’s actions to politicize the bureaucracy have done serious damage to government competence.
Michael Brown as wake-up call to journalists ASK THIS | September 272, 2005 You think FEMA is the only government department crippled by incompetent political appointees? Princeton University Professor David Lewis suggests some lines of inquiry reporters should pursue to determine the extent to which the federal government has been politicized – and what that means.