Government Contracts in Public Administration: The Role and Environment of the Contracting Officer

Abstract

TI.he two world wars focused attention on problems of acquiring the goods and services needed by government.' Those on both sides of the bargaining table soon realized that contracting with the government was a complex enterprise which differed significantly from normal business practice. In post WWII years, the Armed Services Procurement Act of 1949 (ASPA) and the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 19492 (FPASA) were enacted in an attempt to deal with the use of contracts to accomplish government programs, but government grants and contracts grew increasingly complex as they were applied to new problems.3 Expansion in scientific research produced a specialized subfield of acquisitions and assistance.4 Not-for-profit research firms, like the RAND Corporation, grew.5 The decade of the sixties saw considerable growth in military procurement with the conflict in Vietnam. It was also a period during which federal assistance programs expanded, forming the core for the emerging pattern of intergovernmental relations.6 As the use and complexity of these instruments for the accomplishment of public policy goals grew, their very definitions came into question. Contracts were employed for the accomplishment of social goals such as equal employment opportunity.7 Grants began to appear more and more similar to contracts as government increased checks and specific mechanisms for accountability on projects funded by grants. Further complications developed as project administrators used grant money to acquire goods and services through contracts under their grants.8 This growth and complexity, coupled with dissatisfaction with what was viewed as the Vietnam era 'military industrial complex' and the problems encountered in the administration of Great Society programs, produced demands for investigation of the expenditure of government funds.9 Government procurement now runs to approximately $80 billion per year.' I Surprisingly, however, while interest in macro-level programs of expenditure to achieve governmental purposes grew with the rise in interest in the politics of the

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