STILL CLASHING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS - IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT IN THE REAGAN EXECUTIVE

Much has been written about the conflicts between conservative preside ntial administrations and liberal career bureaucrats. Yet analysts hav e focused on social welfare and regulatory agencies rather than a wide range of organizations. This work summarizes the administrative strat egies of the Reagan administration and employs survey research to exam ine relations between careerists and political appointees in the Washi ngton offices of 15 federal organizations. In November-December 1987, 1,045 high-level careerists and 242 political appointees were sent sur veys, and a 49% return rate was achieved for each group. While Reagan political appointees were generally conservative, the ideals of career executives are closely linked to the missions of their organizations. Where administration ideology opposes the organization mission, caree r-noncareer relations are poor. Where administration and organization ideals cohere, chiefly in defense organizations, career-noncareer rela tions are quite good.