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Editor's Note: The National Performance Review (NPR) began on March 3, 1993, when President Clinton announced a six-month review of the federal government, headed by Vice President Al Gore, with the twofold mission of identifying ways to make the government work better and cost less. The NPR was to focus on how government should work, not on what it should do--i.e., identify ways to improve performance, not make policy recommendations about government functions.
The NPR task force was comprised primarily of federal employees, including Robert Stone of the Office of the Secretary of Defense as Project Director. The review was modeled on the ideas set forth in the book Reinventing Government, co-authored by David Osborne and Ted Gaebler, and on a Texas State effort--the Texas Performance Audit, NPR teams examined both agencies (all cabinet departments and ten federal agencies) and central control and management functions (procurement, personnel, financial management, etc.). The teams compiled a comprehensive list of individual problems, using General Accounting Office (GAO), Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Inspector General (IG), and congressional reports as principal source documents.
The report of the NPR was submitted by Vice President Al Gore, September 7, 1993. The synopsis which follows was prepared by Armed Forces Comptroller and includes every recommendation in the body of the report. Although many recommendations do not DoD and the Coast Guard directly, they may affect ASMC members as interested citizens and taxpayers.
Copies of the entire report are available through both the Government Printing Office and several private sector publishing companies.
INTRODUCTION
THE PROBLEM
The NPR report notes that public confidence in the federal government has never been lower. Survey results indicate that Americans believe the government wastes 49 cents of every tax dollar and only 20 percent of Americans trust the government to do the right thing most of the time. The root problem is good people working in bad systems--i.e., "industrial-era bureaucracies in an information age."
THE SOLUTION
The NPR found extensive documentation of problems, but few success stories. The federal government appears to study only failures, and the failures endure. The NPR approached its mission by looking not only for potential savings and efficiencies, but for success stories. They found many, and developed their recommendations on the common characteristics...