Engineering Policy: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Historical Foundation of Power

THE OLDEST AND LARGEST of America's water agencies is among the most influential. Since 1802 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has worked aggressively for big contruction programs that brought science into government and extended the federal responsibility for natural resources. A builder of dams and canals, a spokesman for large-scale river development while serving as protector of wetlands and other fragile areas, the Corps has blurred the line between policymaking and program implementation, securing its jurisdiction by defending some ancient ideas. One source of the agency's influence has been a military approach to engineering science. Another has been the Corps' control over technical details, its discretionary powers. A third has been the flexibility of the agency's original mission. In these ways the Corps has set a course for water programs by building on army tradition and promoting its own expertise. Today a vast literature stereotypes the Corps and obscures its sources of power. "Engineers for the public good," "the people's engineers," "the

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