30
impartially administering "expressions of state will" warrants special notation here for
further discussion later.
Moe’s research, conducted more than a decade ago, questions the basic utility of
forming commissions to address organizational management. Drawing on a retrospective
review of numerous 20th century studies, Moe posits three sets of recurring "conflicting
values," which are germane to the reorganization and management issues examined in
this paper’s exploration of homeland security. Moe raises the following questions: (a)
Who should be the principal supervisor of the administrative agencies: the president or
Congress? (b) Should commission recommendations serve to encourage administrative
integration and centralization or agency particularity and decentralization? (c) Finally,
should commission recommendations seek to give a greater or a lesser role for
government in the social and economic life of the nation?xxvi
What are the values and cultures undergirding the political system? In his
examination of key administrative reform efforts during the 20
th
century, Pfiffner
provides a chronology of the underlying principles that framed the architects’
rationale.
xxvii
Pfiffner posits a range of themes that cut across initiatives by "blue ribbon
commissions," including administrative, management, personnel, and budgetary reforms.
The Brookings Institution visiting scholar argues,
[t]he more substantive purposes of these commissions were often to enhance the
capacity of the president to manage the executive branch, to reorganize the
executive branch, or to promote efficiency either by cutting programs or by
improving management.
xxviii
Convention