Building Bridges over Troubled Waters: Merit as a Guide

Th e federal civil service has developed in fi ts and starts, with specifi c reforms fashioned in reaction to the particu-lar political considerations of a given time. Yet the con-cept of merit has remained a central, albeit malleable, sometimes neglected, and perhaps quaint ideal. Reinven-tion, effi ciency, and eff ectiveness must honor excellence and the notion of public service as a calling.