“Execucrats,” Politics, and Public Policy: What are the Ingredients

for Successful Performance in the Federal Government?

Norma M. Riccucci, University at Albany, SUNY

Article Discussion by Maggie Gendron

What is an “Execucrat”?

• “Career executives and bureaucrats who are not elected nor appointed to office but are behind the making of positive social and political decisions that affect our country.”– Norma Riccucci

Examining the Execucrat

• Study Design– Looked at 6 Federal execucrats– Selected from award recipients or

organizations that promoted excellence– Seven factors analyzed:• Political skills• Management & Leadership skills• Situational factors• Experience• Technical expertise• Strategy• Personality

The Six Execucrats:• William Black – Litigation Director for Federal

Home Loan Bank Board;• Eileen Claussen – Director of Atmospheric

Programs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);

• Ambassador Edward Perkins – U.S. • ambassador to South Africa;• Stephen Marcia - Assistant Inspector Genera; for

the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA);• Dr. Vince Hutchins – Director of Human Services

Maternal and Child Health Bureau; and• Dr. Helen Gayle – Epidemiologist from U.S.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The “Ingredients” of Effective Execucratic Performance

• Great communicators both internally and externally (communities, other agencies);

• Worked efficiently within political sphere;

• Goal oriented;• Spent most of their lives in

government work setting; and• Assertive but gained trust of those

they worked around/with.

Moral Leadership• Riccucci talked a lot about moral

leadership without really defining it.

• My definition (what I think Riccucci would think):– An Execucrat’s political and leadership

skills interacting with a specific situation so that their technical expertise, experience and personality can influence that situation positively (or for the good of the public).

My Thoughts• Execucrat = positive traits of bureaucratic

leaders (opposite of what we think when we think bureaucrat)

• Is there a difference between an execucrat and an effective leader?

• Do execucrats have to be involved in government?

• Who would be 2005 execucrats? UN Ambassador Angelina Jolie, is she an execucrat?

• In Vermont most effective execucrats may be interest groups: Tobacco Coalition; Healthy Vermonters

• Enron named “uber-execucrat” because of Enron's purchased statesman Henry Kissinger