Reforming defense procurement: The politics and practices of weapons acquisition

The procurement of weapons has been a source of legislation, regulation, and scandal since the nation's founding. And in the two centuries that have passed, there have been scores of efforts to reform the acquisition process. None have been particularly broad and effective. Now, however, through a confluence of international and national events, timely advances in information technology, and bipartisan political support, an extraordinary, broad-based effort to reform the federal procurement system is underway.;In fact, it is this unique set of operating parameters and political conditions that has made the procurement reform initiatives of the mid 1990s more successful than any other previous attempt. At bottom, the reforms seek to introduce market-centered approaches to public procurement. It is an effort to replace unique and onerous military acquisition processes with industrial practices and commercial managerial techniques. It loosens the restrictions of bureaucratic rules set forth in the Federal Acquisition Regulations, replacing them with subjective, case-specific, and participatory decision-making. It trades a rule-bound system for a devolution of power to front-line bureaucrats and the ability to use personal discretion and best judgment.;The dissertation focuses on three primary initiatives of the procurement reforms: the elimination of military standards and specifications; the introduction of electronic commerce to produce a paperless acquisition environment; and transformation of the process used to select government contractors for the award of military contracts. The dissertation also includes three perspective chapters which focus on the acquisition workforce, top-ranking military leaders and government executives, and the US defense industry.;Procurement reforms inject free market approaches into a public procurement system. However, as this dissertation cautions, while they sacrifice control and accountability for increased efficiency, the Pentagon will never fully adopt the practices of commercial enterprises. Federal procurement will always be subject to the democratic constraints of our political system---a conditions that distinguishes public from private institutions. This requirement makes the implementation of procurement reform an even more impressive example of innovative public policy.