Frequently Asked Questions about the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (formerly the National Performance Review)
May 2000 What is NPR and how did it get started? The National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR), formerly the National Performance Review, is an interagency task force designed to fundamentally change the way the federal government works. President Clinton announced the creation of NPR on March 3, 1993. The President asked the Vice President to report on the findings of this national performance review within six months. What is the purpose of NPR? To create a government that "works better, costs less, and gets results Americans care about." Who participated in NPR's first efforts? The original task force included about 250 career civil servants and a few state and local government employees and consultants. Vice President Gore participated extensively in this initial phase. He personally led a series of "town hall" meetings in several dozen agencies to learn first-hand the problems and challenges facing employees. In June 1993, the Vice President also hosted a "Reinventing Government Summit" of corporate executives, government leaders, and consultants who were leaders in organizational change. This summit provided a business perspective on reforming the government and private sector approaches to managing change successfully. What was the focus of NPR's first report? NPR started its work with an inspiring set of principles and a clear vision of what it wanted to accomplish. Strategically, the Vice President chose to focus efforts on: Creating a government that works better and costs less by:
What was contained in that first NPR report? The Vice President presented the finished report, Creating a Government That Works Better and Costs Less to President Clinton on September 7, 1993. The "Phase I" report:
The Vice President said these efforts would begin the shift from an Industrial Age, hierarchical bureaucracy to an Information Age empowered organization. Within days after the report was released, the President issued a series of directives to implement a number of the recommendations, including:
How did NPR go about implementing the recommendations of the first report? NPR approached the implementation of these actions at three perspectives: government-wide, agency-specific, and employee-focused. What was the focus of the second report -- or "Phase II" -- report? The emphasis of Phase II was on what government should be doing, but also included additional reforms on how to make the government work better. By September 1995, NPR had made approximately 200 new recommendations with an estimated savings impact of nearly $70 billion over a five-year period. What are the Blair House Papers? At the beginning of the second Clinton-Gore term, NPR began to look for ways it could be more effective in effecting change in government and spreading reinvention. The task force had originally focused on encouraging hundreds of frontline teams to reinvent their departments or a certain part of the government. NPR decided, however, that it was necessary to shift its focus to transforming entire agencies instead of only select portions -- especially in those agencies with direct impact on the public. This new focus was designed to begin to permanently imbed reinvention in the day-to-day operations of the government. To signal this new approach, the President and Vice President spoke to the new Cabinet in their first meeting of the new term (January 1997) about the "rules of the road for reinvention" during the second half of the Administration. These were summarized in The Blair House Papers, a series of short essays on different aspects of reinvention. The Blair House Papers included the most successful change tools developed during the first term for agencies to use to further reinvention. What are "High Impact Agencies"? To hone NPR's revised strategy of focusing on entire agencies, 32 "High Impact Agencies" were selected for concentrated efforts to transform their performance, even in the face of reduced budgets. These agencies were chosen based on their high degree of interaction with the public, business, or their operational impact on other federal agencies. These 32 High Impact Agencies employ 1.4 million of the 1.8 million civil servants in the federal system and directly affect 90 percent of Americans. The leaders of the High Impact Agencies committed to more than 250 specific improvements in services to the public, which are to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2000. An example of NPR's work with one of these agencies is the joint task force NPR sponsored with IRS employees and managers to revamp that agency's operations to improve customer service. NPR's recommendations to this group are still driving major reforms at IRS. In fact, the most notable change is that the IRS has restructured its organization to focus on customer segments (individuals, the self-employed, small and large businesses), and make sure they deliver quality customer service to all. What are a few of the most recent success stories to come out of the High Impact Agencies? NPR has worked diligently with the HIAs to improve their dealings with the public by making them more "user-friendly" and cost effective. Some of the 1999 success stories are:
These and other examples show how NPR is using electronic government to change how citizens interact with their government. What are some of NPR's most significant accomplishments over the last seven years? Accomplishments since 1993 include:
Overall, accomplishments like these have been important steps in restoring trust and faith in the government by improving the delivery of service to the public. After a 30-year decline, public trust in the federal government is finally increasing. What is NPR doing to make reinvention a permanent part of government? In early 1999, NPR began pursuing four strategies that rely upon concerted efforts between communities, federal agencies, and NPR. These strategies include: What specifically does NPR want to accomplish in 2000? In late 1999, NPR reassessed the best approaches to continuing reinvention well into the twenty-first century. In 2000, NPR is continuing its work to make agencies that have the most contact with the public more performance-based, results-oriented, and customer-driven. In doing this, NPR will partner with agencies to achieve these outcomes:
NPR is also continuing to work with local and state governments and the private sector to:
What other resources and other information sources are available? In addition to the links found in this report, please see the sources below for further information: The National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR) website. NPR's online magazine, REGO. NPR's primary and supporting reports are available on its web site or from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Key reports April 29, 2000 |