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Dead Contractors: The Un-Examined Effect Of Surrogates On The Public’S Casualty Sensitivity, Steven L. Schooner, Collin D. Swan
Dead Contractors: The Un-Examined Effect Of Surrogates On The Public’S Casualty Sensitivity, Steven L. Schooner, Collin D. Swan
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
Once the nation commits to engage in heavy, sustained military action abroad, particularly including the deployment of ground forces, political support is scrupulously observed and dissected. One of the most graphic factors influencing that support is the number of military soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice on the nation’s behalf. In the modern era, most studies suggest that the public considers the potential and actual casualties in U.S. wars to be an important factor, and an inverse relationship exists between the number of military deaths and public support. Economists have dubbed this the "casualty sensitivity" effect.
This article asserts …
Emerging Policy And Practice Issues (2011), Steven L. Schooner, David J. Berteau
Emerging Policy And Practice Issues (2011), Steven L. Schooner, David J. Berteau
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
This paper, presented at the West Government Contracts Year in Review Conference (covering 2011), attempts to identify the key trends and issues for 2012 in U.S. federal procurement. It begins from the premise that the most significant emerging issue in government contracting, looking ahead, is the money (or lack of it). As the fiscal belt tightens, the procurement landscape - what the government buys, from whom, and how - will necessarily change. Consistent with prior practice, this chapter offers extensive coverage of the federal procurement spending trend and attempts to predict what lies ahead. It also discusses the proliferation of …
Outsourcing Covert Activities, Laura T. Dickinson
Outsourcing Covert Activities, Laura T. Dickinson
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
Over the past decade, the United States has radically shifted the way it projects its power overseas. Instead of using full-time employees of foreign affairs agencies to implement its policies, the government now deploys a wide range of contractors and grantees, hired by both for-profit and nonprofit entities. Thus, while traditionally we relied on diplomats, spies, and soldiers to protect and promote our interests abroad, increasingly we have turned to hired guns. Contrast the first Gulf War to later conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the Gulf War the ratio of contractors to troops was 1 to 100; now, with …
Reflections On The Federal Procurement Landscape, Daniel I. Gordon
Reflections On The Federal Procurement Landscape, Daniel I. Gordon
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
This paper, published in the Government Contractor, presents the reflections on the author's service as the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy from 2009 through 2011. The author identifies his three goals for his tenure as Administrator: strengthening the federal acquisition workforce, driving fiscal responsibility in federal acquisition, and rebalancing the relationship with contractors. The author points to reversal of several negative trends, in particular, decline in the size of the federal acquisition workforce during the years 1992-2009, unsustainable annual increases in procurement spending during those years, and an unhealthy overreliance on contractors in performance of key government functions. In each …