Listen to Donald Kettl on his interview from "Homeland Security Inside & Out" 

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Donald Kettl Interview

Interview from 'Homeland Security Inside and Out' which airs on KAMU. Interview air date: May 20, 2008.

WINNER OF THE LOUIS BROWNLOW BOOK AWARD!

The massive bureaucratic reorganization under the Department of Homeland Security was a response to the system-wide coordination problems brought to light on 9/11. Better planning, new leadership, and far-reaching reform were to demonstrate that the U.S. had learned its lessons well, that it would be prepared for the next attack or disaster. But the catastrophic response to Hurricane Katrina unequivocally showed how this restructuring has not brought about the kinds of long term policy changes that are necessary to deal effectively and efficiently with threats—whether manmade or natural.

Is the system permanently broken? Should FEMA be removed from DHS or abolished altogether? Donald Kettl, in this thoroughly updated second edition, takes a hard look at the most recent stress on the system. He explores how the 9/11 Commission forever changed public discourse on the topic as well as discusses the ways in which FEMA might be reformed. The country faces solvable problems, he argues, yet is in dire need of new leadership at every level. In his brief, gripping narrative, Kettl assesses how well the U.S. political system responds under extraordinary pressure and asks if the focus will continue to be on fighting the last war. There is small chance the catastrophe that lies ahead will replicate the last one. Is the government ready to face that next challenge?

1. Stress Test
Administering the Stress Test
The Rise of “Homeland Security”
Homeland Security and Public Policy

2. Coordination Dilemmas
Connecting the Dots
Mysterious Powder
Worries Spread
Homeland Security as Coordination

3. Reshaping the Bureaucracy
The Organizational Challenge
First Steps
The Restructuring Struggle
The Battle over Boundaries

4. The Federalism Jumble
The Struggle to Regain the City
Learning for the Future

5. The Political Costs of Managing Risk
Balancing Risks
Using the Market to Manage Risk
Warning Signals
Trust

6. Balancing Liberty with Protection
The Patriot Act
Broadening the War
The Building Debate
Balancing Security and Rights

7. Gauging the Stress Test
Opening the Policy Window
How Does the Political System React to Stress?
What Has Homeland Security Done to the Policy System?

"Read this book! Nobody else combines rigorous academic analysis with hard-edged realism about the challenges facing the Congress, the White House, and the Department of Homeland Security—Don Kettl skillfully lays out those challenges and shows us how to think about this difficult policy area."

“Donald Kettl’s System under Stress belongs to that surprisingly small subset of books that study particular government agencies at particular times -- a tradition proudly begun by Herbert Kaufman's masterful examination of the Forest Service, but to which few scholars have chosen to contribute. It is easy to see why. Understanding how a large government agency actually works, immersing oneself in its operations and seeing the world through the agency's eyes while still maintaining a scholarly perspective—this is a lot of work! But it pays off in the classroom, where students are relieved to be reading about something other than ‘paradigms’, and it pays off in the real world, where thoughtful citizens need books that help them understand why their government seems to be tripping over its own shoelaces. Kettl's book is sober, thoughtful, and well-informed.”

“Kettl’s book is one of the very few insightfully critical and well-informed works available on the new Department of Homeland Security. Students of U.S. national security policy will find it especially useful.”

"I used System under Stress as a supplemental text for a special topics course on terrorism. It was very useful in informing the students of the major events leading up to the crisis of 9/11 and the difficulties in responding to these events with the variety of organizations and the levels of government all involved. I certainly recommend the book for such a class."

"System under Stress is an exceptionally thoughtful book, because it puts recent national disasters into a larger administrative perspective. The second edition is especially welcome,because it includes Kettl's observations on Hurricane Katrina. Students will be drawn in; I couldn't put the book down, a rare statement for an academic book. The book can be used widely in classes in public administration, public policy,and state and local government."

Donald F. Kettl is the Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor and Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. Kettl is the author of numerous books, including The Next Government of the United States: Why Our Institutions Fail Us and How to Fix Them, The Global Public Management Revolution, and Leadership at the Fed. Kettl has twice won the Louis Brownlow Award for the best book in public administration, for The Transformation of Governance: Public Administration for Twenty-first Century America in 2003 and System under Stress: Homeland Security and American Politics in 2005. In 2008, he was awarded the John Gaus Award of the American Political Science Association for lifetime contributions to the scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and public administration. Kettl has consulted broadly for government organizations and is a regular columnist for Governing magazine.