Politicisation of Government Appointments and Democratic Accountability

David E. Lewis is Professor of Political Science and Law (by courtesy) at Vanderbilt University. His research interests include the presidency, executive branch politics, and public administration. He is the author of Presidents and the Politics of Agency Design (Stanford University Press, 2003) The Politics of Presidential Appointments: Political Control and Bureaucratic Performance (Princeton University Press, 2008) and numerous articles on American politics.

He will give a presentation on politicisation of government agencies through use of political appointees and effects on their democratic accountability, the talk will be based on research discussed in the attached paper Judicial Deference and Agency Accountability: A Federal Freedom of Information Act Experiment