Patting Each Other's Backs: The Foreign Service Bonus System

Publication Date: September 1982

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): John Krizay

Research Area: Government

Keywords: Government reform

Type: Report

Abstract:

It is hard to imagine why the performance pay system applied to the Civil Service would not work just as well for the Foreign Service. Giving agency heads the final word as to who shall receive bonuses in the Senior Executive Service (as the top level of the Civil Service is called), has not resulted in patronage abuse or politicization of the Civil Service. The Foreign Service argument that it is somehow more vulnerable is nebulous, at best, and not substantiated by any evidence presented by proponents of career-dominated selection panels with power to make their nominations binding.