How to Select an American President: Political Engineering: A Good American President

Political Engineering:

A Good American President

James A. George, Author and Independent Journalist, Cincinnati, Ohio

James A. Rodger, Indiana University, PA, USA

Abstract

This chapter describes political engineering at an atomic level. That is, addressing what makes a competent elected official and using the office of president of the United States as an example. The authors published a series of books and associated papers that presented the overall construct in applying systems engineering and information technology to improving government systems and performance. Here is a demonstration in applying concepts to help citizen-voters strengthen their ability to analyze and evaluate the candidate and incumbent performance with a standard approach and criteria. Since political parties have a responsibility in vetting candidates bearing their brand, the authors encourage political leaders to focus on improving their process because citizens depend on them for candidate quality and integrity. Being a part of pluralistic democracy is a serious responsibility that requires continuous improvement.

Keywords: WORD-SENSE DISAMBIGUATION (WSD), FORMAL CONCEPT ANALYSIS, GROUP KNOWLEDGE MODEL, PRESIDENT’S JOB MODEL, POLITICAL ENGINEERING, OUTCOMES, PLURALISTIC DEMOCRACY

INTRODUCTION

This paper addresses the meaning of a “good American President,” as an instance of word-sense disambiguation (WSD). What is the meaning of “good” in this use?

Defining the context

The authors suggest that the highest order purpose of government is striving to create an ideal environment in which citizens and their commercial businesses can thrive and optimize in a global economy. In a democratic republic such as the United States, governments collaborate with private corporations to maximize the return on national resources. The aim is to develop policies that optimize return on the resources of the nation.

Governments are service-oriented enterprises that attend citizens needs as prescribed by them through levels of government systems and representation. Governments are funded by tax revenues and other fees as legislated. Legislators work with executives to establish plans, programs, services, budgets, and enabling funding. Governments are expected to balance their accounts and to be financially sustainable.

Departments and Agencies comprise the Federal government as bureaucratic entities created by acts of legislation. The federal government also charters a host of corporations as independent entities. States governments also charter corporations. Most local, county, and municipal governments are public, non-profit corporations.

“National resources” include natural resources, raw materials, land, and capital as primary inputs to a myriad of public and private processes. There are multiple sources for determining the inventory of national resources.

Processes are all of the systems and activities that constitute the work required to produce desirable and expected outcomes. They are a product of legislation and the work of the Federal government organizations.

In the American political system[1], the US Constitution is the overarching control, a network of laws and regulations that guide and constrain the processes, including private sector business rules. Where processes define “how” work is done, people and technology perform the actual work.

The government systems are staffed by people in government organizations and contractors to do the work as legislated by Congress. They are “mechanisms” that transform inputs into value-adding outcomes.

The Executive branch manages government services as a co-equal partner in the process.

The court system administers justice and resolves disputes.

Citizens and corporations staff private sector processes and systems to produce products and services offered, delivered, sold, and bought through the network of market-driven commerce. People and commercial organizations perform work, where compensation is based on individual’s value-adding contributions.

A nation’s gross domestic product is a way to quantify economic productivity. Only commercial corporations and entrepreneurs generate products and services sold in the global marketplace, which create a nation’s wealth. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP)[2] is the current measurement method.

Alternatively, Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI)[3] is as a better way to measure performance with respect for economic, social, and environmental responsibility. In the book, Regenerating America with Sustainable Economics © 2017 Archway Publishing[4], the authors argue that capitalism is unsustainable. Suggested is a new model needed from which to engineer sustainable economies, and the authors call it the Optimized Sustainment Model (OSM).

“Outcomes” include all of those associated results from government services delivery and all of those produced by private corporations and individuals.

Private Sector Outcomes

· Profit (Capital)

· Products

· Services

· Customer Satisfaction

· Assets (Intellectual property)

· Expenses (Cost of doing business)

· Physical property

· Jobs/Employment

· Debt

· Interest

· Cash flow

Government (Public Sector) Outcomes

Throughout the range of presidential tasks, the President analyzes, evaluates, approves and directs allocation of the government’s resources to perform work and produce required outcomes. The executive staffs the bureaucracy with executives by appointment with Senate confirmation. Only Congress can fund the work of government. Achieving the highest return on cost is a president’s responsibility.

American citizens have every right to expect the following outcomes listed in relative priority. The percentage following the result suggests as what most citizens expect. 

1. Human rights as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights[5] to which the USA is a signatory supported 100%

2. The US Constitution and The Bill of Rights guaranteed 100%

3. The Rule of Law supported 100%

4. Nation secured economically - 100%

5. Nation has a sustainable economy - 100%

6. Clean air and water - 100%

7. Nation secured militarily - 100%

8. The best education in the world - #1

9. Homeland defended from foreign and domestic terrorists - 100%

10. Employment opportunities for all who can work - 100%

11. Upward mobility for all who are prepared commensurate with ability - 100%

12. All persons provided minimal sustainment as a baseline to start - 100%

13. Social security assured for all persons - 100%

14. The freest nation in the world - #1

15. The lowest crime rate in the world - #1 in the least crime per capita

Observe that “human rights” is listed first, and that is because it is inalienable to every citizen in the world independent from the form of government or state in which they live.

In common with the Private Sector Outcomes, these are the Government’s:

· Revenue from Taxes and Fees

· Products

· Services

· Customer Satisfaction

· Assets (Intellectual property)

· Expenses (Cost of service delivery)

· Physical property

· Jobs/Employment

· Debt

· Interest

· Cash flow

· Safety and Security

· Health

· Infrastructure

Let’s discuss the outcomes and their relative priority. America, the nation, is defined by the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. However, those elements of the American Political System are subordinated to the larger principle of human rights for every citizen on the planet. That is why this list begins with “The Universal Declaration,” and that is a teaching point for many citizens because equality for all starts with those propositions and instruments. The rule of law, the restriction of the arbitrary exercise of power by subordinating it to well-defined and established laws, is essential to all the rest.

A nation must be secured economically, or else it is unviable and unable to care for citizens as they expect in a democratic republic. A country must generate sufficient tax revenue to support its obligations. It must not spend more than it can afford, as reflected in the debt and deficit.

It is essential that citizens agree with the purpose of government. The primary purpose of government is to create an environment in which individuals and their corporations can thrive in a free-market economy. To what extent do citizens agree with that proposition? The purpose of government is to optimize return on the nation’s resources in partnership with citizens and their public and private corporations.

The rule of law applies internally and externally among trading partners and allies. Without that protection, there is no financial integrity and security.

Expectations about the economy have evolved into the concept of sustainable economics as accomplished by balancing economic, social, and environmental responsibilities. Having a sustainable economy is dependent on developing and fielding renewable energy systems. Renewable energy is a national requirement to be accomplished in public and private partnership as part of the national infrastructure.

Humanity cannot survive and thrive without clean air and water. While there is a debate about climate change and environmental science, undeniably, people have spoiled the air and water to the detriment of their health.

A nation-state must secure its integrity with military power as long as a rogue, and hostile nations exist.

Having an education system that produces superior students and citizens that compete in the global economy is essential as is providing ample employment opportunity with corresponding upward mobility.

Impoverishment must be illegal. That everyone is ensured minimal sustainment as a baseline to start.

Consider this idea in a very personal manner. What do people need as a matter of necessity at various stages in their life cycles?

Necessities

In the beginning:

· All citizens have affordable healthcare for their lifetime

· All citizens have affordable housing, food, and access to essential transportation

· Parents have work to perform to earn a living and to attend their obligations

· Community has police and fire protection to make the home safe

· Community has excellent schools that are accessible to young citizens

· Geniuses are provided opportunities to learn at a rate commensurate with their abilities based on their performance

· All children are encouraged to perform to their optimum ability as a matter of personal responsibility and self-reliance

· Opportunities are planned for scaling to the demographics of the emerging population

Upon high school graduation:

· HS graduates have access to college to prepare for professions and vocations

· All graduates, HS and college have access to work to earn a sustainable living

· All HS graduates have access to low interest or no interest education and training loans

Upon college and training graduation or completion:

· Graduates have access to job opportunities commensurate with their abilities

· Graduates who seek to become entrepreneurs have access to capital resources commensurate with their plans and preparation

· Graduates may expect government and private enterprise to produce sufficient upward mobility to support their advancing preparation and development

As working citizens in professions, occupations, vocations, and jobs:

· Citizens may expect the opportunity to save and invest a portion of their earnings to enhance their well-being

· Citizens may expect programs from both the private sector and government to support planned retirement

· All citizens may expect to live a good life in the absence of poverty providing that they commit to performing to the best of their ability

To what extent do citizens agree that these are necessities? Is a referendum needed?

What can citizens expect from their earnest labor and for being responsible citizens? Needed is a system that ensures exceptional reward and incentives for exceptional performance. Needed is a system that contains a balance of consequences such that poor performance is discouraged, or punished. That system needs to be shared throughout society in both private and government enterprise.

Should that system be a free-for-all or a natural accidental occurrence such as by invisible hands, or should it be more deterministic by a visible government that operates by the hands of We the People?

Being a responsible and self-reliant citizen who exhibits social and environmental responsibility is a sustainment position in a healthy economy.

PRESIDENT’S JOB MODEL

To determine what makes a “good president,” one must know the job tasks for the position of President. The authors applied a job modelling technique once employed by AT&T to define the presidential tasks. Accomplishing this required referencing the US Constitution and applying knowledge from having consulted with the US Federal Government for over twenty-five years.

Task 1: Planning, staffing, organizing, and scheduling Presidential work and government functions

Subtask 1.1: Recruit and staff the cabinet and department and agency appointments

Subtask 1.2: Conduct cabinet meetings to develop and implement strategies and policies for accomplishing the nation’s workload and issues

Subtask 1.3: Define the nation’s outcomes and priorities for each major department and agency to produce the nation’s strategic plan

Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress

Subtask 2.1: Assume responsibility for the legacy agenda and make adjustments to align with the President’s management agenda or equivalent

Subtask 2.2: Work with cabinet heads to develop performance plans and schedules

Subtask 2.3: Work with Congressional leadership and collaborate to implement the nation’s strategy, plans, and programs

Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation

Subtask 3.1: Propose bills to Congress

Subtask 3.2: Consult and advise Congress

Subtask 3.3: Collaborate with industry and business leaders in the development of policies and regulations of all kinds

Subtask 3.4: Approve or veto legislation

Subtask 3.5: Request a declaration for war from Congress

Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations

Subtask 4.1: Review and evaluate programs that include new acquisitions and on-going operations

Subtask 4.2: Evaluate programs including legacy processes and engineer new ones for accomplishing and producing required and promised outcomes

Subtask 4.3: Continuously improve

Task 5: Report progress and discuss issues with the American public to keep them informed

Task 6: Meet with heads of state and participate in international meetings and conferences for heads of state

Subtask 6.1: Participate in international economic conferences

Subtask 6.2: Respond to international crises and requests for assistance

Subtask 6.3: Promote democratic process and reforms

The Concept of Operations (CONPS) of the work of the President

Statement of the goals and objectives of the system:

The President is the Chief Executive of the Federal government enterprise and is the Commander in Chief presiding over all Departments and Agencies as well as the White House Staff.

Primary threads of responsibility include:

1. Staffing the Executive positions of all Departments and Agencies subject to Senate approval.

2. Managing Departments and Agencies to ensure the delivery of government services as prescribed by laws and regulations.

3. Planning and budgeting, establishing priorities reflected in the President’s management agenda, in concert with Congress.

4. Making and changing policies, including issuing Executive Orders.

5. Strategizing, predicting, forecasting, decision making, and sense making

Managerial skills in a contemporary paradigm include the following:

· Collaborating and facilitating (aka organizing)

· Acquisition, logistics, procurement

· Financing

· Safety and security

· Strategies, tactics, policies, and constraints affecting the system

· Organizations, activities, and interactions among participants and stakeholders

· Clear statement of responsibilities and authorities delegated

· Specific operational processes for fielding the system

Processes for initiating, developing, maintaining, and retiring the system (laws and regulations)

Candidate and Incumbent Resume and Certifications

Citizen-voters, political parties, and the media have the responsibility to vet candidates and incumbents based on their past performance and experience as aligned with the job model and statutory requirements. The process is a matter of verifying the resume and claims made, as would anyone seeking employment. For anyone wanting a job in government service, there are standards including those for Senior Executive Service, for instance. Why should citizens expect anything less for the President or any other elected official?

Therefore, the authors derived suggested skill, knowledge, and experience requirements and presented them in an evaluation matrix. Included also are considerations for a candidate’s character, mental, and physical health where board-certified professionals are sought for assessment and certification. Consideration is given intelligence (IQ) in a similar manner.

Financial and legal integrity are sought just as for any federal employee requiring a security clearance. Why would not a candidate for elected office, including the President, not be subject to the same scrutiny as other government employees?

Table 1. Presidential Candidate Evaluation Matrix

Candidate/Incumbent Name:

Evaluation Criterion	Values	Score
Qualifications Required by Law: As directed by the Constitution, a presidential candidate must be a natural born citizen of the United States, a resident for 14 years, and 35 years of age or older.	1	1
Home State/Residence: Some might favor a larger state over a smaller one based on affinity with governing the nation at large. Values range 1-3.	1-3
College Graduate BS/BA	1
GPA: H-2, M-1, L-0	0-2
Academic Honors and Distinctions	1
Post Graduate – Masters	2
PhD	3
*Occupation/Vocation*
Lawyer	3
CPA	2
Professional i.e. MD	2
Physical Health	1-3
Mental Health	0-1
Intelligence Quotient	1-3
Affected Class (Race, Gender)	1-3
Character	0-2
Leadership	1-3
Continuing Education/Training	1
Knowledge about Government	1-3
Knowledge about the Job	1-3
Relevant Skills	1-3
Life History	0-2
Manifesto/Platform/Agenda	1-3
Relationships	1-3
Political Party Affiliation	0-2
Values	1-3
Military Experience	1
Veteran	2
Officer	2
NCO	1
None	0
Public Office: Vice President	5
Public Office: Judge	1
Public Office: Dept. Secretary	3
Governor	4
US Senator	3
US Member of the House of Representatives	3
Mayor: (Size of municipality matters)	1-3
State Legislator	1
Other Public Office	1
Private Sector CEO/President (Size and nature of business/industry matters)	1-3
Director/Manager	1
Inventor (Patents)	1-2
Entrepreneur	1
Memberships	1
Religion: Matters, Irrelevant, Private (Stated position)	1
Incumbency	0-10
Possible Score Range (<61-94)	61-94

Citizen-Voters make judgments based on reviewing candidate resumes as vetted and certified, and based on other information such as a President’s Manifesto and alignment with Party Platforms. They produce their weighted score for comparison with other candidates under consideration.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is omitted from the criteria, though a board-certified declaration might be helpful. Additional research is necessary to support this topic.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

1. Demonstrate how to define what makes a Presidential candidate or incumbent a good one.

2. Describe the necessity for political parties and other third-party organizations to help voters vet candidates.

3. Discuss the nature of competence and character in evaluating prospective candidates and incumbents.

Background

The authors have researched the subject of evaluating Presidential Candidates and incumbent performance as part of an on-going series of books and papers that are concurrent with their having engaged Federal Government clients. The idea in this chapter is to connect the dots among the criteria and considerations that help citizen voters elect superior candidates to public office. While the example is the Office of President, the process applies to all elected officials.

The authors became working colleagues when employed as consultants to Federal Government clients. Dr. Rodger is a professor of Management Information Systems at Indiana University, PA and Mr. George was formerly a consultant for ManTech International and PriceWaterhouseCoopers before becoming an author and independent journalist. As a journalist, George was retained by CBS News to cover the Affordable Healthcare Act. He was National Politics Examiner for Examiner.com that is now Clarity Media.

· Smart Data, Enterprise Performance Optimization Strategy by James A. George and James A. Rodger © 2010 Wiley Publishing

“Smart Data” modeled the construct for managing information throughout the secure federal government enterprise and illustrates best practices currently employed by the US Department of Defense and other Departments and Agencies under the Federal Enterprise Architecture.

· How to Select an American President by James A. George and James A. Rodger © 2017 Archway Publishing

“How to Select” presents a historical understanding about the evolution political parties and Presidents for the purpose of producing a presidential candidate resume evaluation process. The president’s job model is defined for the first time. The book forward is written by a former Member of the US House of Representatives.

· Regenerating America with Sustainable Economics © 2017 by James A. George and James A. Rodger © 2017 Archway Publishing

“Regenerating” demonstrates incongruence between capitalism and democracy, and suggests a way forward for engineering a sustainable economy. The book is endorsed by economist Dr. John Ikerd.

· A President’s Manifesto, A model for how presidential candidates can tell their stories by James A. George © 2019 All Rights Reserved

The author performed an analysis of political party platforms and compared them with presidential candidate manifestos, and suggests the necessity for political parties and citizen voters to embrace a more standard approach for communicating their ideas and intentions.

A note about our work, one of us is an academic and the other a management consultant, and journalist. Dr. Rodger is a mathematician and Mr. George has an eclectic academic background including operations research. Our audience is average American voters because We the People are supposed to be in charge. The question, is it too hard to be a citizen in a voting democratic republic?

DISAMBIGUATING THE MEANING OF A “GOOD AMERICAN PRESIDENT”

Issues, Controversies, Problems

Like many voters in other democratic societies, American voters are ill-prepared for their responsibility to elect officials, much less vote on issues and levies. The average American voter operates with a tenth-grade education, for instance. At no time are students instructed about how to evaluate elected officials in a manner that is consistent with the process employed by The Office of Personnel Management (OPM). As an independent agency, OPM manages the civil service of the federal government, coordinates recruiting of new government employees, and manages their health insurance and retirement benefits programs.

“The Senior Executive Service (SES) lead America’s workforce. As the keystone of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the SES was established to “...ensure that the executive management of the Government of the United States is responsive to the needs, policies, and goals of the Nation and otherwise is of the highest quality.” These leaders possess well-honed executive skills and share a broad perspective on government and a public service commitment that is grounded in the Constitution.”[6]

Now and never has there been a Job Application for President of the United States. That’s a glaring omission.

Issue #1: Standards are ill-defined and incomplete for evaluating elected officials including the Office of President of the United States.

Issue #2: Standards such as suggested in this chapter should result from collaboration and consensus among political parties and with implications for Constitutional amendments governing the political process.

Issue #3: Staffing the Executive branch demands timely and complete action to ensure that all Departments and Agencies have essential leadership. The process is made slow by incumbent executives being ill-prepared to staff the government and by the security clearing process requiring time to complete.

Controversy: Addressing standards for elected office requires Congressional action and collaboration among diverse political interests.

Problem: The American Political System is broken and divided and under attack by foreign adversaries.

Revisiting the objectives:

1. Demonstrate how to define what makes a Presidential candidate or incumbent a good one.

The “Introduction” covered much ground in describing what it takes to be a good president, with a significant omission. That is to consider the entire Federal Government Enterprise and its complexity. No legitimate Commander-in-Chief would approach the job as being a “know-it-all genius.” To lead the nation requires enormous humility and respect for the pluralistic democracy, the rule of law, and its co-equal partners. Divisiveness does not serve the electorate well.

When considering a Presidential candidate’s resume, ask for evidence of where they obtained knowledge associated with the operation of each Department.

U.S. Federal Government Organization Chart

· Members of the President’s cabinet.

· Vice President of the United States

· Speaker of the House

· President pro tempore of the Senate

· Secretary of State

· Secretary of the Treasury

· Secretary of Defense

· Attorney General

· Secretary of the Interior

· Secretary of Agriculture

· Secretary of Commerce

· Secretary of Labor

· Secretary of Health and Human Services

· Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

· Secretary of Transportation

· Secretary of Energy

· Secretary of Education

· Secretary of Veterans Affairs

· Secretary of Homeland Security

1.1 For every Department from which the heads are direct reports to the President, apply the Presidential Tasks.

1.2 For every Department identify and define how the organization’s systems and operations serve the nation as reflected in essential outcomes.

1.3 Define the specific Presidential interactions with the US Congress regarding planning, policy-making, budgeting, implementing laws and regulations, and proposing changes.

The principal knowledge requirements include Constitutional Law and Systems Engineering because laws govern all government enterprise operations and they are implemented in an automated regulatory environment.

Needed is a standard “Application for President of the United States,” that is consistent with the Office of Personnel Management best practices.

Knowledge, Skill, Experience, and Proficiency Requirements are derived from the President’s Job Model and from a thorough consideration of all President’s past performance.

The operating environment of the US Government is one of collaboration and consensus in a pluralistic structure. The government is a system of systems, governed by laws and regulations where elected officials should possess knowledge of the law and knowledge of systems engineering.

Quoting from How to Select an American President:

“Education

A president of the U. S. A. in the 21st Century should be expected to have graduated from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree. A Master’s Degree is surely preferred, and a Doctorate would be highly respected. Should it matter how well the candidate performed in school? We think so.

Should the quality of the educational institution matter? We believe that prestige of the college or university on academic merit matters as it does so in evaluating people in private enterprise. Candidates that were formerly good students, above average, should matter. Therefore, when designing the ultimate selection and evaluation tool, we will allow voters to add extra credit for quality and performance.

Graduating is good but not good enough. What also matters are the fields of study, the curriculum. In our review of pre-presidential resumes, we saw that in past times, before colleges and universities, presidents had very distinguished tutors.

It matters today from whom presidential candidates studied or mentored. Are their sources of learning and mentoring distinguished for excellence?

Curriculum Major Areas of Study

The job of President is Chief Executive of the Federal Government Enterprise that includes all of its departments and agencies. It is not reasonable for a presidential candidate to be an expert in every aspect of the federal government. It is fair to expect candidates to be 1) knowledgeable about the U. S. Constitution and three branches of government, 2) learned about management functions and disciplines, and 3) that candidates are knowledgeable about primary areas of government responsibility such as national defense and homeland security, justice, foreign policy, health, and human services, energy, and the environment for instance.

We would be remiss not to identify a relevant subject, and that is the law itself. Since presidents initiate laws and support the implementation of rules and regulations and are completely involved in proposing and approving laws, it makes sense that knowledge about law is most significant.

Considering academic sources of management knowledge is only one source from which candidates may obtain understanding as we will also consider work experience separately.

Did the candidate study with the intent to become a government professional or did the candidate choose a business or technical professional goal? Some voters may assign higher value for private sector orientation than the public sector and vice versa. Our system of evaluation allows for that type of voter preference variation: public sector or private sector career orientation.

Another consideration in addition to management knowledge is technical knowledge. If the primary aim of a president is to optimize government performance, then this requires a command of enabling technology that includes information technology as well as more specific knowledge such as systems engineering, systems integration, computer science, biotechnology, environmental science, nuclear science, healthcare, and more specifics.

Foreign policy and public administration are separate specialized fields of study that map to presidential needs.

Skills

Managerial skills in a contemporary paradigm include the following:

o Planning

o Budgeting

o Strategizing

o Predicting and forecasting

o Decision making

o Sensemaking

o Integrating

o Collaborating and facilitating (aka organizing)

o Acquisition, logistics, procurement

o Financing

o Safety and security

In addition to cognitive learning that is represented by knowledge requirements and skills as presented, there is another category to consider called "affective."

Affective

“An attribute of the human experience that describes feelings or emotions and sometimes attitudes or values; often used to describe learning objectives or outcomes.” This is the area of attitude about which Dr. James David Barber talks about as discussed in the book.

Values include:

o Allegiance to the Constitution and laws and regulations

o Loyalty to party and community

o Appreciation for diversity and collaboration

o Cherishing and relishing the opportunity for bipartisan cooperation 

Work History (Sources of applying knowledge, acquiring new knowledge, and applying and developing skills and proficiency)

Voters should want presidential candidates who have had work experience of significant scope and scale to illustrate that they can handle managing the most sophisticated enterprise on Earth.

Private Sector: Consideration of a candidates work history as it might appear on a resume is essential whereby the focus is given to demonstrated advancement and managerial responsibility, especially corporate executive (C-level) experience. This is the source of applying knowledge and developing managerial skills. For presidential candidates, voters are looking for demonstrated success at commanding and leading complex organizations toward achieving world-class performance. Has the candidate achieved recognition among peers in the corporate community and public? Has the candidate demonstrated the ability to make a high return on resources?

Public Service: Similar consideration is given to public service. In the instance of evaluating presidential candidates, having had managerial or CEO experience is significant. Public service includes the candidate has served in the capacity of Congressman, Senator, or Governor or Mayor. Having been elected to office is a relevant experience. Having served in an executive capacity is most valuable. Having served in government provides the basis for understanding the legislative and budgeting process as that is a significant role and responsibility.

Military Service: In the instance of military history that is a form of public service, we consider the following:

Military occupation

o Officer, Non-Commissioned Officer – having graduated from a military institution with distinction is on par with having been an ROTC graduate from a distinguished educational institution. Having achieved veteran status is noteworthy of unique distinction.

o Enlisted, Drafted, National Guard

o Duration of service

o Commands

o Wars and battles

Awards and Certifications

Public Service: Has the candidate become an active leader in a political party? Some past presidents have been independent of political parties, though today, political parties are a pool from which to draw for staffing, for instance. With the need for bipartisanship in government, presidential candidates must manage affiliation with sensitivities to the voter population and more important constituency. Are parties a means to an end or are parties the mechanisms for control? Good question for presidential candidates.

Good issue for voters.

Volunteering: This may be relevant as an indication of a propensity to serve, and role and responsibility as a volunteer with impact on accomplishment are noteworthy.

Family: Consideration is given to having overcome hardships, for instance. Relationships with family members may be insightful.

Community: Consideration is given to leadership and issues advocacy, for example.

Faith: We thought about not assigning a value for religious affiliation as relevance will show up in other factors, and this is private to individuals. Furthermore, there are alternative sources from which people develop their principles. In America, to many people, being faithful is significant. Because 60% of Americans are devoted and guided by religion, special treatment is given to the topic at the end of this chapter.

Pays taxes: The presidential candidate is expected to have paid taxes and not to have any tax liability.

Income and net worth: Income and net worth of a presidential candidate are relevant as this information is used in obtaining a top-secret and higher level security clearance. It connotes that the candidate is financially sound and is less corruptible.

No legal encumbrance: A presidential candidate cannot have been a felon and is expected to be without legal impediment. The Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution applies to ensure no conflicts of interest.

Marital status: While nearly all Presidents have been married, this factor is not so relevant except to know about the spouse to the extent that the spouse will not detract from the Presidency in any way. Throughout history, the president’s spouses have played significant roles in strengthening presidents and their performance. Infidelity with a spouse is akin to broken allegiance. It is a behavioral deficiency worth deliberating.

Incumbency:

Once a candidate becomes a president, that is a steep hurdle, and no one can underestimate the value of holding the office and gaining experience from it. As former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), said in an interview on WKCL-AM, “To a large extent, no matter what we Republicans do, an incumbent president either wins or defeats himself.”

Presidential Health

Voters need to make a judgment about presidential candidates’ health. They can do it blindly or with the candidates’ cooperation.

The authors advocate the establishment of a procedure for medical examinations of presidential candidates and reporting the state of their health.”[7]

Presidential Character

The importance of presidential character cannot be understated, and there are professional sources for understanding this including the work of James David Barber, The Presidential Character, 3rd Edition. Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1985.

“First, a president’s personality is an important shaper of his presidential behavior on nontrivial matters.

Second, presidential personality is patterned. His character, world view, and style fit together in a dynamic package understandable in psychological terms.

Third, a president’s personality interacts with the power situation he faces and the national “climate of expectations” dominant at the time he serves.

The tuning, the resonance—or lack of it—between these external factors and his personality sets in motion the dynamics of his presidency.

Fourth, the best way to predict a president’s character, world view, and style is to see how they were put together in the first place. That happened in his early life, culminating in his first independent political success.”[8]

Operating Environment

Commonality

All governments have one thing in common, observes IT guru, Daniel S. Appleton, “They all redistribute wealth.” No matter what the form of governance and economy, governments and their leaders make decisions on what and how the wealth of nations will be spent. They make determinations about their discretion to spend based on judgments about the elasticity of their decisions.

In the global economy, trading partners and the aggregate body of global governance determine the accuracy and truthfulness, and the viability of nation-state decisions. The aggregate body of governance can be formal organizations and arrangements of international law and agreements, or it can be informal realized through the behavior of nation states toward one another in trade and defense policies.

Optimizing the Return on National Resources

Work as described in the authors’ books, suggests that the ultimate responsibility of governments is to ensure the optimal return on “national” resources. Observe that it not the same as “natural resources,” though natural resources are included along with arable land, materials, capital, people, infrastructure and technology assets. What is the optimal ratio of population size and demographics to available and addressable resources? The answer lies deep in the data.

Since humanity on the small planet Earth is dependent on clean air and water, governments must ensure that the resources are protected and provided to citizens. Debate about climate change and the effect of industrialization and overpopulation on the environment all stem from the necessity to balance economic, social, and environmental responsibility in triple-bottom-line accounting.

The Chinese government must weigh the effect of industrial development on the environment just as does the US government. Hazards to local citizens and the cost of healthcare and the resulting calamities must be weighed in both the immediate and long-term.

Opportunities for invention and innovation lies in the pursuit of solutions that stem overpopulation and guide people to live and prosper in the locations and systems that afford a good life for them.

Defining a Good Life

“When the nation has a considerable amount of debt and when there is a revenue shortfall with mounting deficit, those are significant trouble indications. At the end of the George W. Bush presidential term in 2007, America was facing a financial collapse.

Financial distress is an extraordinary problem because the nation’s security and viability are at stake. Nothing is more important than managing to restore financial integrity because everything else depends upon that.

What are some of the possible causes for a nation’s financial stress?

o Citizen needs exceed the government’s capacity to satisfy them.

o Government commits to doing more than it has the revenue capacity to achieve.

o The nation endures disasters from which resources are insufficient to recover.

o The nation embarks on foreign policy that requires military support at a very high cost.

There is a long-standing issue and debate about topics that are aligned with the causes of financial stress some of which include the following:

o The existence of impoverished people in the presence of others who have a good life and much more.

o Is it the nation’s purpose to create an economic environment in which there is a good life for all of its citizens?

o What is a “good life”?

o Is it national policy that “poverty” be illegal, or otherwise eliminated for all persons?

o Are we willing to ensure equality for all people in the absence of discrimination?

o Can women be treated equally at last?

In America today (2019), unemployment is low and the GDP is up as is the stock market. Wages are increasing at a slow rate. However, government borrowing and spending results in enormous debt and deficits. How long can government sustain spending before the bubble bursts again?

A good life means that people are able to work to sustain themselves and their families, providing adequate food, shelter, clothing and transportation to get to school and work. They require jobs with upward mobile opportunity to improve their skill, knowledge, and proficiency to the best of their abilities. Impoverishment is unacceptable as that inhibits individuals from optimizing their contribution to society no matter what the form of government and economy.”

Private Sector and Corporate Point of View

Corporations in free-market economies aim to optimize profits. They set aside profit to compensate executive leadership and talent, and to reserve capital for continuing improvement, innovation, and invention.

In mixed economies, corporate performance and behavior is regulated because unmitigated capitalism will maximize profits while sacrificing social and environmental responsibilities. The role of government is to create an optimal environment in which they perform while regulating for the good of the nation-state that is their host and for the worker citizens.

The political debate in America is about how much regulation is necessary. It is about the rule of law operative in a global economy.

Looking at corporations as systems and considering their interaction with government systems is essential to corporations optimizing their performance with respect for triple-bottom-line accounting.

A GOOD AMERICAN PRESIDENT

The challenge is to employ advanced information technology to map the ontology and to connect the threads such that information and data are actionable in evaluating presidential candidates and incumbents.

To arrive at a plausible answer, the authors created a matrix with three major columns:

1. Outcomes

2. Tasks

3. Performance Measures and Metrics

Corresponding to outcomes and tasks is another column called Performance Measures and Metrics. This approach associates “Outcomes” with “Presidential Tasks” and associated “Metrics.” Some subtasks are omitted in the chart for brevity.

Table 2. President’s Task Performance, Measures and Metrics

Outcomes	President’s Task Performance	Measures & Metrics
1. Human Rights Assured	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments.	100% Universal Declaration of Human Rights
2. Constitutional/ Bill of Rights Allegiance	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress Subtask 2.1: Assume responsibility for the legacy agenda and make adjustments to align with the President’s management agenda or equivalent Subtask 2.2: Work with cabinet heads to develop performance plans and schedules Subtask 2.3: Work with Congressional leadership and collaborate to implement the nation’s strategy, plans, and programs Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments. Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation Subtask 3.1: Propose bills to Congress Subtask 3.2: Consult and advise Congress Subtask 3.3: Collaborate with industry and business leaders in the development of policies and regulations of all kinds Subtask 3.4: Approve or veto legislation Subtask 3.5: Request a declaration for war from Congress Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes. Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations Subtask 4.1: Review and evaluate programs that include new acquisitions and on-going operations Subtask 4.2: Evaluate programs including legacy processes and engineer new ones for accomplishing and producing required and promised outcomes Subtask 4.3: Continuously improve Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes.	100% The US Department of Justice Strategic Plan is out of date and noncompliant. The US President has allegedly obstructed justice and awaits Congressional action. The US President dishonors subpoenas from Congress by directing that they be ignored by the Executive branch.
3. Rule of Law Followed	President’s actions such as Executive Orders comply with the law.	100% Measures: Court Findings for and against the President. The US Department of Justice Strategic Plan is out of date and noncompliant. Many of President Trump’s EOs have been stricken by the court as being illegal and unenforceable.
4. Economic Security	Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation Subtask 3.1: Propose bills to Congress Subtask 3.2: Consult and advise Congress Subtask 3.3: Collaborate with industry and business leaders in the development of policies and regulations of all kinds Subtask 3.4: Approve or veto legislation Subtask 3.5: Request a declaration for war from Congress Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations Subtask 4.1: Review and evaluate programs that include new acquisitions and on-going operations Subtask 4.2: Evaluate programs including legacy processes and engineer new ones for accomplishing and producing required and promised outcomes Subtask 4.3: Continuously improve	100% Measures and Metrics Correspond with all appropriate Departments and Agencies plans, programs, and budgets. Budget Request/Annual Performance Plan and Reports “The Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act (GPRAMA) of 2010 requires Treasury and other federal agencies to formally monitor and review organizational performance through strategic reviews, the annual performance plan, and the annual performance report.” “The Congressional Justification of Appropriations (CJ) reflects the President’s Budget request for the Department of the Treasury and is prepared in accordance with OMB Circular A-11. The CJ includes agency priorities, requested budget levels, and performance plans and reports (in accordance with GPRAMA).”[10]
5. Sustainable Economy	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress Subtask 2.1: Assume responsibility for the legacy agenda and make adjustments to align with the President’s management agenda or equivalent Subtask 2.2: Work with cabinet heads to develop performance plans and schedules Subtask 2.3: Work with Congressional leadership and collaborate to implement the nation’s strategy, plans, and programs Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments. Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes. Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes.	100% Measures and Metrics Correspond with all appropriate Departments and Agencies plans, programs, and budgets. There is no requirement for a sustainable economy.
6. Environmental Security	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments. Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes. Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes.	100% Clean Air and Clean Water “Planning, Budget, and Results EPA’s planning, budget, and results activities enable EPA to carry out its mission through: · coordinating EPA planning efforts and preparing EPA’s Strategic Plan; · developing and managing EPA’s budget; and · reporting on EPA’s financial and performance results.”[11] “The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. ... Under the CWA, EPA has implemented pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. Mar 11, 2019” “The Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. § 7401) is a United States federal law designed to control air pollution on a national level. ... The first federal legislation to actually pertain to "controlling" air pollution was the Clean Air Act of 1963.”
7. National Military Security	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments. Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes. Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes.	100% Measures and Metrics Correspond with all appropriate Departments and Agencies plans, programs, and budgets. Observe that the GAO evaluates GPRA implementation by department and agency and issues a report. “Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA). GAO noted that: (1) the implementation of GPRA within DOD is in its initial stages and many implementation strategies and key approaches need to be developed, but DOD has made progress at various organizational levels in implementing GPRA or strategic planning and performance measurement initiatives consistent with GPRA; (2) DOD has developed strategic goals and objectives and is refining a set of performance measures to meet the planning requirements of GPRA; (3) some subordinate DOD organizations, building on their experience as GPRA pilots, are developing or improving strategic planning and performance measurement systems; some other defense organizations are developing or improving such systems as well; (4) GAO's work suggests and DOD officials agree that DOD's effectiveness in implementing the requirements of GPRA may be improved by better hierarchical linking of goals and performance measures; (5) for example, GAO recently examined the degree to which DOD's logistics strategic plan provides an integrated logistics roadmap for the department to support its warfighting strategy; (6) while the services' strategic plans and initiatives generally support implementation of the DOD plan, their goals, objectives, and strategies are not always directly linked; (7) DOD indicated that it will ensure that the next edition of the DOD Logistics Strategic Plan includes specific guidance to require the services to link their goals to DOD's; (8) this is important because, without this goal alignment, DOD may have difficulty meeting its department-wide logistics goals, which are to reduce logistics response time, develop a seamless logistics system, and streamline the logistics infrastructure; (9) GAO's recent work also found that DOD's strategic information resources planning effort does not appear to link its information resources management systems development with recent initiatives focusing on consolidating or privatizing various areas of logistics operations; (10) if not linked, DOD could end up spending millions of dollars on systems designed to support functions that it might not plan to do or in organizations that might be eliminated; (11) DOD stated that it is addressing these concerns by preparing a new logistics business systems strategy; (12) GAO's review of DOD's ongoing GPRA implementation efforts suggests that hierarchically linked goals and measures will be crucial for success; (13) DOD must ensure the services implement GPRA at their level and provide goals that link DOD's department strategic goals with those of lower level components; and (14) some of the officials assigned GPRA liaison responsibilities told GAO they did not know what, if anything, they should be doing to promote GPRA principles within their organizations.”[12]
8. Education	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments. Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes. Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes.
9. Homeland Secured	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress Subtask 2.1: Assume responsibility for the legacy agenda and make adjustments to align with the President’s management agenda or equivalent Subtask 2.2: Work with cabinet heads to develop performance plans and schedules Subtask 2.3: Work with Congressional leadership and collaborate to implement the nation’s strategy, plans, and programs Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments. Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes. Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes.	100%
10. Full Employment	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments. Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes. Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes.	100%
11. Upward Workforce Mobility	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments. Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes. Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes.
12. All Citizens minimally sustained	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments. Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes. Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes.	No Poverty
13. Social Security for all Disabled and Retired	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments. Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes. Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes.
14. Free Nation	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments. Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes. Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes.
15. Low Crime	Task 2: Develop the President’s management agenda and budget and reconcile with Congress (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific agenda and compliance with international agreements and commitments. Task 3: Initiate and approve legislation (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measurable outcomes. Task 4: Implement plans and manage on-going operations (Subtasks omitted) Evidence of specific plans, programs, initiatives and orders resulting in specific measureable outcomes.

A President is responsible for on-going government services, systems, and operations as legislated and funded by Congress. Therefore, the first act is to manage the bureaucracy to deliver the required services to the satisfaction of Congress and Citizen Users.

Second, a President may propose changes and improvements, including retiring systems and services. However, that is subject to Congressional approval.

The question is, how does the US government measure the performance of Departments and Agencies that are responsible for services delivery? Since the President leads the Executive branch in staffing all of the departments and agencies, one of the essential tasks is staffing.

Table 3. President’s Task Performance, Measures and Metrics, Government Services Delivered

16. Government Services Delivered

Task 1: Planning, staffing, organizing, and scheduling Presidential work and government functions

Subtask 1.1: Recruit and staff the cabinet and department and agency appointments

Subtask 1.2: Conduct cabinet meetings to develop and implement strategies and policies for accomplishing the nation’s workload and issues

Subtask 1.3: Define the nation’s outcomes and priorities for each major department and agency to produce the nation’s strategic plan

100%

As legislated and required by law.

Performance is measured by each department and agency in accordance with Congressional Oversight and Executive Branch scrutiny.

Figure 1. The Government of the United States

2. Describe the necessity for political parties and other third-party organizations to help voters vet candidates.

As non-profit corporation political parties should be accountable and liable for vetting candidates and incumbents bearing their brand. However, the judiciary may not agree.

“Update: A federal judge dismissed the DNC lawsuit on August 28. The court recognized that the DNC treated voters unfairly, but ruled that the DNC is a private corporation; therefore, voters cannot protect their rights by turning to the courts:

“To the extent Plaintiffs wish to air their general grievances with the DNC or its candidate selection process, their redress is through the ballot box, the DNC’s internal workings, or their right of free speech — not through the judiciary.”[13]

Let the voters beware.

Citizens may not have the time, skill, or knowledge to properly vet candidate resumes. They are dependent on political parties, and other third-parties for assistance. Needed are technology inventions such as apps to help them manage the data and to answer question.

The League of Women Voters is one example of a third-party source of candidate information.

“Elections

We are all equal at the ballot box, but only if we vote. We engage millions of voters every year ensuring Americans have the information they need to participate in elections that determine our future.”[14]

3. Discuss the nature of competence and character in evaluating prospective candidates and incumbents.

Managing the large and complex US Federal Government Enterprise requires collaboration and consensus among three co-equal branches of government. The President must possess leadership and behavioral traits for achieving results in a bipartisan environment.

Being a CEO of a private corporation is considerably different from being a US President because the aim is not profit-driven, and the relationship between the chief executive and the other branches of government is dissimilar to that of the relationship with a Board of Directors.

In some sense, Citizens are considered shareholders in the US Government because they pay for it with their taxes, and they elect leadership and representatives. Citizens receive a return on their investment as realized in services and outcomes.

Citizens expect and demand loyalty from the President to the rule of law, the US Constitution, and executing the Oath of Office with high integrity. Lying by a federal government official is against the law and therefore a President must guard their words as being honest and truthful. Contradictory is the fact that a sitting President cannot be prosecuted for crimes, and can only be impeached by Congress.

SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The order of complexity inherent in a democratic republic and its associated Federal Government Enterprise is enormous. However, with the aid of technology and improved systems and tools, citizen voters can improve their choices and decision making.

The greatest challenge is to inspire elected officials to redouble their focus and attention to the priorities and essentials of good governance. The President is the leader in ensuring a good life for all citizens.

The specific issues and needs change in response to the global environment. America is a member of the global community from which isolation is not an option. A President must apply collaboration skills broadly in conducting foreign policy and to secure the nation and to contribute to global peace, prosperity, and security.

Political science, law, economics, and systems engineering intersect as disciplines for continuous improvement and that is what the authors wish to bring to light.

The overarching legislation governing performance management in the Federal government is The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010.

“The GPRA Modernization Act modernizes the Federal Government’s performance management framework, retaining and amplifying some aspects of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA 1993) while also addressing some of its weaknesses. GPRA 1993 established strategic planning, performance planning and performance reporting as a framework for agencies to communicate progress in achieving their missions. The GPRA Modernization Act establishes some important changes to existing requirements.

The purposes of the GPRA Modernization Act are to:

o Improve the confidence of the American people in the capability of the Federal Government, by systematically holding Federal agencies accountable for achieving program results;

o Improve program performance by requiring agencies to set goals, measure performance against those goals and report publicly on progress;

o Improve Federal program effectiveness and public accountability by promoting a focus on results, service quality and customer satisfaction;

o Help Federal managers improve service delivery, by requiring that they plan for meeting program goals and by providing them with information about program results and service quality;

o Improve congressional decision-making by providing more information on achieving statutory objectives and on the relative effectiveness and efficiency of Federal programs and spending;

o Improve internal management of the Federal Government; and

o Improve usefulness of performance and program information by modernizing public reporting”[15]

The question today (2019), is the Executive Branch under incumbent Donald Trump, following the law? Is Congress enforcing the law with oversight?

FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

Because democracy and its institutions are intended to be accessible and addressable to average citizens, it is essential to develop education curricula and tools, including software applications that help voters increase their engagement and interaction in government processes. Herein lies much opportunity to break new ground with inventions and innovations.

The authors suggest establishing standards for political party platforms and for Presidential candidates for mapping their manifestos to the platforms. Also recommended is creating an “app” to assist citizen voters in evaluating candidate resumes and credentials.

Conclusion

This chapter raises more questions though has begun to answer many to initiate further research and actions by citizens, political parties, and the media to help ensure that the democratic republic will endure against threats to equality and freedom. Perhaps the most significant risk is from complacency and cynicism. Democracy is a living institution and is adaptive to change and improvement. It depends on intellectual investment for its survival and capacity to thrive.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

REFERENCES

James A. Rodger and James A. George, Triple bottom line accounting for optimizing natural gas sustainability: A statistical linear programming fuzzy ILOWA optimized sustainment model approach to reducing supply chain global cybersecurity vulnerability through information and communications technology, Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017

 
United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

US Constitution and The Bill of Rights

James David Barber, The Presidential Character: Predicting Performance in the White House 4th Edition – Ebook, ISBN 13: ISBN: 9781138459915

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Collaboration:

Working together to create something that is better than going it alone. In a democratic republic, representatives from different political parties collaborate to attend to the needs of the nation, where getting things done in a bipartisan manner is more important than political ideology.

Concept of Operations (CONOPS):

The concept of operations (CONOPS) of the American Political System begins with the US Constitution. Though there is also the notion of political parties and their role in offering ideological brands based on or relating to a system of ideas and ideals, especially concerning economic or political theory and policy.

The extent to which party brands align with what the “Framers” had in mind is open for debate.

Formal Concept Analysis (FCA):

“FCA is an applied branch of Lattice Theory, a mathematical discipline which enables formalization of concepts as basic units of human thinking and analyzing data in the object-attribute form. Originated in early 80s, during the last three decades, it became a popular human-centered tool for knowledge representation and data analysis with numerous applications.”[16]

Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI):

“The GPI measures the improvement in economic welfare – costs associated with growth. It is measured using the formula:

GPI = A + B – C – D + I

A is income weighted private consumption

B is value of non-market services generating welfare

C is private defensive cost of natural deterioration

D is cost of deterioration of nature and natural resources

I is an increase in capital stock and balance of international trade

The GPI takes a wider measure of economic indicators into consideration. For example, GPI includes

value of voluntary work and unpaid work.

value of leisure time

Distribution of income

Impact on environment

Environmental standards

Cost of crime”[17]

Gross Domestic Product (GDP):

Tim Allen, International Monetary Fund defines it this way:

“Theoretically, GDP can be viewed in three different ways:

● The production approach sums the “value-added” at each stage of production, where value-added is defined as total sales less the value of intermediate inputs into the production process. For example, flour would be an intermediate input and bread the final product; or an architect’s services would be an intermediate input and the building the final product.

● The expenditure approach adds up the value of purchases made by final users—for example, the consumption of food, televisions, and medical services by households; the investments in machinery by companies; and the purchases of goods and services by the government and foreigners.

● The income approach sums the incomes generated by production—for example, the compensation employees receive and the operating surplus of companies (roughly sales less costs).”

When GDP is growing that is a good thing.

“GDP measures the monetary value of final goods and services—that is, those that are bought by the final user—produced in a country in a given period of time (say a quarter or a year). It counts all of the output generated within the borders of a country. GDP is composed of goods and services produced for sale in the market and also includes some nonmarket production, such as defense or education services provided by the government.”[18]

Group Knowledge Model:

In this chapter, group knowledge model refers to the process of information about the subject to socialize the discussion and to enhance individual understanding.

Job Model:

A job model is a technique for defining the work performed from a specific position in an organization. The author learned the approach while being employed by AT&T and found it compatible with process modeling techniques such as the Integrated Definition Language (IDEF) employed extensively by the US Department of Defense and other departments and agencies.

Work is defined as tasks and subtasks that are akin to activities and arrayed in a logical hierarchy.

National Resources:

National resources include natural resources.

“Natural resources are natural assets (raw materials) occurring in nature that can be used for economic production or consumption.”[19]

National resources include capital and human capital and infrastructure as well as the government enterprise and all its assets.

Operating Environment:

In computer technology terms, an operating environment or integrated applications environment is the environment in which users run application software.

In this chapter, the operating environment encompasses all of the processes and systems as legislated and funded by Congress and managed by the Executive branch under oversight from Congress. The technical infrastructure is computer and communications technology.

Optimize:

To optimize in this chapter means making the highest yield and best use of government resources in the process of attending citizen needs. Optimizing requires trade-offs and deliberate consideration for risks and benefits toward producing required outcomes and associated metrics.

Optimized Sustainment Model (OSM):

The authors proposed the Optimized Sustainment Model in the book, Regenerating America with Sustainable Economics by James A. George and James A. Rodger © 2017 Archway Publishing. The idea is to develop business rules and regulations that support the application of triple-bottom-line accounting methods to measuring corporate performance. The idea is to balance rewards for economic, social, and environmental responsibility. It is a work in progress for which academics are encouraged to contribute.

The model is suggested as an alternative to capitalism.

Pluralistic Democracy:

In the American Political System, pluralism describes the three equal branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary.

“Americans believed, almost from the beginning, that pluralism and democracy were compatible, even mutually enhancing. At first, to be sure, it was only religious pluralism that was valued; ethnicity and race came later (and not easily), but religion is the crucial issue today. The greatest threat to pluralism and democracy in the contemporary world is the belief that virtuous government requires religious homogeneity and clerical dominance: a single faith and a single version of God’s law.”[20]

“Pluralism is a theory of the distribution of political power that holds that power is widely and evenly dispersed in society, rather than concentrated in the hands of an elite or ruling class.”[21]

Political Engineering:

There is a plethora of sources that define “political engineering.” The authors appreciate the definition posted on Political Science, Author Pooja, “What are the main Objectives of Political Engineering?” Stated as objectives:

“The objectives of ‘political engineering’ would be:

(a) To formulate, develop and operationalize the concept of ‘political technology’ suitable to meet the needs and demands of the democratic systems;

(b) To identify political technologies out of experiences gathered by the political leaders during the last five decades of democracy;

(c) To process and update these identified political technologies (IPTs) for use to strengthen, defend and protect the democratic system;

(d) To relate particular political technologies to some specific problems areas so as to empower democratic politicians to be more effective for delivering goods to the people; and

(e) To make these ‘political technologies’ available to the people.”[22]

Private Sector:

The part of the national economy that is not under direct government control, though for which corporations and citizens are regulated.

Public Sector:

The part of an economy that is controlled by the government and funded by taxpaying citizens who control the government.

Service-oriented Enterprise:

From the perspective of this chapter, the Federal Government and all of its departments and agencies are service delivering enterprises, based on a service-oriented enterprise architecture.

The technical, information technology description: The Service Oriented Enterprise (SOE) is now a mature model (since 2005) for architecting software and I.T. infrastructure. “It works in concert with current platform architectures as well as enables next generation process-driven architectures. At its heart, the SOE employs the use of a Service Network in order to achieve certain objectives. The Service Network introduces the concept of interface ubiquity, which enables the same base communication mechanisms to be used within an application as is used between applications as well as between trading partners.”

Word-Sense Disambiguation (WSD):

"Lexical disambiguation, in its broadest definition is nothing less than determining the meaning of every word in context, which appears to be largely unconscious in people."[23]

Dr. James Rodger is researching how to develop applications to assist citizen-voters and that led to the question, what is a “good American President?” This chapter is diligence in understanding the context.

ENDNOTES

[1] American Government, American Political Culture, US History.org, http://www.ushistory.org/gov/4a.asp

[2] US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Gross Domestic Product, https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gross-domestic-product

[3] Economicshelp.org, General Progress Indicator, https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/2666/economics/genuine-progress-indicator-gpi-v-gdp/

[4] James A. George and James A. Rodger, Regenerating America With Sustainable Economics, Our Way Ahead © 2017 Archway Publishing, https://www.archwaypublishing.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?Book=763073

[5] HILTON HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY STATEMENT - ir.hilton.com. https://ir.hilton.com/~/media/Files/H/Hilton-Worldwide-IR-V3/committee-composition/he-human-rights-policy-2017.pdf

[6] OPM.gov, Office of Personnel Management, Senior Executive Service (SES) https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/

[7] James A. George, How to Select an American President. https://howtoselectanamericanpresident.blogspot.com/

[8] The Presidential Character - bxscience.edu. https://bxscience.edu/ourpages/auto/2013/2/1/51085783/barber_presidential_character_4types.pdf

[10] US Treasury, Budget Request/Annual Performance Plan and Reports,

https://home.treasury.gov/about/budget-financial-reporting-planning-and-performance/budget-requestannual-performance-plan-and

[11] US EPA, Plan and Budget, https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget

[12] US Government Accountability Office, https://www.gao.gov/products/NSIAD/GGD-97-65R

[13] The Independent Voter, https://ivn.us/2017/05/02/courts-cant-protect-right-vote-private-corporations-control-elections/

[14] The League of Women Voters, https://www.lwv.org/about-us

[15] GPRA Modernization Act, https://www.usbr.gov/gpra/

[16] Dmitry I. Ignatov, Introduction to Formal Concept Analysis and Its Applications in Information Retrieval and Related Fields, Cornell University, [1703.02819] Introduction to Formal Concept Analysis and .... https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.02819

[17] Genuine Progress Indicator GPI v GDP | Economics Help. https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/2666/economics/genuine-progress-indicator-gpi-v-gdp/

[18] Finance & Development - International Monetary Fund. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/gdp.htm

[19] Glossary of Environment Statistics, Studies in Methods, Series F, No. 67, United Nations, New York, 1997.

[20] Michael Walzer, The Atlantic, November 2007, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/11/pluralism-and-democracy/306321/

[21] Politics, Pluralism, https://www.tutor2u.net/politics/reference/pluralism

[22] PooJa, Political Science, “What are the main Objectives of Political Engineering?” http://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/articles/what-are-the-main-objectives-of-political-engineering/418

[23] Eneko Agirre, University of the Basque Country, and Phillip Edmonds, Sharp Laboratories of Europe, Ltd., Word-Sense Disambiguation Algorithms and Applications, Springer Science & Business Media, Applications of Word Sense Disambiguation: A Historical .... https://www.ijert.org/research/applications-of-word-sense-disambiguation-a-historical-perspective-IJERTCONV3IS10088.pdf

How to Select an American President

Friday, July 19, 2019

Political Engineering: A Good American President

No comments:

Post a Comment