The great purge

A political transition in the US, especially when the control of the White House moves from one party to the other, is a massive affair.

Nearly 8000 government jobs, from the Cabinet to the mid bureaucratic level, change hands. Many of the senior appointments will have to confirmed by the US Senate.

In communist or authoritarian states, this broad sweep of personnel change would be described as a “purge”. In the US, a presidential transition is the big moment for the circulation of the elites. Those on their way out of the Bush Administration are seeking jobs at the think tanks, foundations, universities and law firms, besides negotiating book contracts with publishers about their time in the corridors of power. Those who have been cooling their heels in the non-governmental sector over the last eight years writing learned tomes and op-ed pieces are elbowing their way into the Obama administration.

Unlike in India or Britain, where the permanent bureaucracy rules the roost, it is the permanent establishment that takes turns at manning the American system. This necessarily implies a major discontinuity in American policy making. But by keeping half the establishment outside the government, America helps itself by preventing concentration of power and facilitating an informed debate on policy between the ruling and opposition parties.

Hillary at State

Many in New Delhi and the Indian American community in the United States will be pleased at the prospect that Senator Hillary Clinton might be appointed as secretary of state by president-elect Barack Obama.

... contd.