Learning While Governing: Expertise and Accountability in the Executive Branch

Although their leaders and staff are not elected, bureaucratic agencies have the power to make policy decisions that carry the full force of the law. In this groundbreaking book, Sean Gailmard and John W. Patty explore an issue central to political science and public administration: How do Congress and the president ensure that bureaucratic agencies implement their preferred policies?

The assumption has long been that bureaucrats bring to their positions expertise, which must then be mars...