This book arose out of experiences recounted in the Introduction. I first formulated my thoughts in an article entitled, “The Costs of Accountability,” which appeared in The American Interest (September–October 2015). I am grateful to Adam Garfinkle, the magazine’s editor, for the alacrity with which he accepted the piece and the skill with which he edited it, and for permission to draw upon it for this book.
For encouragement and advice as the project grew from article to book I thank Eliot A. Cohen, Raphael Cohen, Harold James, Nathan Levitan, Elyse Parker, Thomas Patteson, Aviel Tucker, and Adrian Wooldridge. Joel Brenner and Arnold Kling were kind enough to read the manuscript and make useful suggestions for improvement, as did the late Christopher Kobrak. So too did my learned but worldly Catholic University colleagues, Caroline Sherman and Stephen West. I’m grateful to them all and to the many friends and colleagues who suggested sources and lines of inquiry. Four anonymous reviewers for Princeton University Press, moved purely by intrinsic motivation, gave generously of their time and helped me to refine my arguments.
Portions of the book were presented at seminars hosted by Rajshree Agarwal and David Sicilia at the Smith School of Business of the University of Maryland, College Park; by Daniel Klein at George Mason University’s Department of Economics; and by Katherine Jansen at the Faculty Colloquium of the Department of History at the Catholic University of America. I’ve benefited from the feedback on each of those occasions.
For some years I have profited from an in-house, informal but ongoing seminar on organizational behavior, a seminar comprising my wife, our three children, and three children-in-law. They have shared their insights into the functions and dysfunctions of the organizational settings in which they have worked, which include government, education, and medicine. I am indebted to all of them, though none are responsible for the uses to which I have put their observations. Eli Muller first drew my attention to the larger themes of The Wire (episodes of which he can quote chapter and verse), and his acute analysis of institutional dynamics finds its echoes in the pages of this book, which he also helped to edit. Thanks go to Joseph Muller, M.D., for orienting me in the literature of medicine and healthcare, as well as his sage advice about the tone and direction of the book. My wife, Sharon, was the first reader and editor of every chapter, and many of the book’s ideas were born or refined in our daily conversations (when we weren’t talking about the immeasurable pleasures of grandparent-hood—but that’s the subject of another book).
Completion of this book was eased by the support of my parents. I am saddened to note that this is the last project that I was able to discuss with my father, Henry Muller, who passed away when the manuscript was nearing completion: his memory is a blessing. My mother, Bella Muller, remains a vigorous source of wisdom, encouragement, and humor in my life.
I am grateful to Jessica Yao of Princeton University Press for shepherding the project from manuscript to book, and to Linda Truilo for her copyediting of the manuscript.
For the past quarter century, Peter J. Dougherty has been not only my editor but an intellectual companion, feeding me a constant stream of books and ideas, and encouraging my efforts to write for audiences within and beyond the academy. He convinced me to develop the ideas first expressed in my article into this book, which he helped to shape at every stage of its development. To him the book is dedicated, with gratitude and abiding affection.