Assessing federal procurement reform: has the procurement pendulum stopped swinging?

Abstract

Nearly $200 billion a year is funneled through the federal procurement system to buy everything from paper clips to stealth fighters. This procurement system can be thought of as an oscillating pendulum as it swings from one extreme of unresponsiveness to mission needs to the other extreme of hypersensitivity to mission. Out of a sense that the procurement pendulum had swung too far towards overregulation, two major procurement reform laws were passed: the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 and the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996. Many observers suggest that these two laws have led to a revolution in the way the government buys. Are these reforms permanent? The view here is they are not because of various political forces.

Citation

Pegnato, J.A. (2003), "Assessing federal procurement reform: has the procurement pendulum stopped swinging?", Journal of Public Procurement, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 145-175. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOPP-03-02-2003-B001