A few good executives

The government is run by some of the best-trained executives in the nation, according to a new book that chronicles 30 turbulent years in the life of the federal bureaucracy.

The book, In the Web of Politics (Brookings Institution Press), written by political scientists Joel Aberbach and Bert

Aberbach and Rockman, who interviewed senior executives in 1970,198687 and 1991-92, found no decline in the caliber of federal managers, which is measured by the number of graduates from prominent universities among the upper levels of the civil service. They found little difference between the academic qualifications of senior federal executives and their counterparts in the private sector. The Senior Executive Service "may be the most elite group of individuals you'll find anywhere," says Rockman. The author noted that the SES is even more impressive given that the Ivy League schools used as a principal measure of academic excellence often lack the technical, highly specific training required of certain civil service positions.