Reflections on CSRA's First Decade

This article, which appeared in the GAO Journal, No. 5, Spring 1989, presents a review of the extent to which enactment of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 has improved the federal personnel system. Major changes since the act's passage include: (1) elimination of the Civil Service Commission and splitting of its mission between the Office of Personnel Management and the Merit Systems Protection Board; (2) creation of the Senior Executive Service; and (3) increased flexibility for individual agencies to explore potential resolutions to problems which may be unique to their structure and working conditions. However, civil service reform has not yet addressed the significant problem of adequate pay for federal managers.