Working for state agencies can be great fun, once you see past the sometimes mind numing tasks that make government run. No one agency is alike, some are liberal, some are conservative, regardless of who appoints them as governor. It seems that the differences in the line of work attracts different types of people

George Pataki has been governor for nearly 12 years now. He has replaced all of the Cuomo appointies, and there has been a great deal of turnover and attrition. Yet, you see very different personalities in two of the state agencies I've worked for: the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Higher Education Service Corporation, the company the guarantees loans and supplies TAP finacial aid to students.

Naturally people who work for DEC are more liberal then those who work for Higher Ed. DEC people are typically environmentalists or at least deeply care about the environment. Higher Ed people are more financially orriented, and probably are put off by constantly dealing with students who don't always do their hardest to be financially responsible young adults. Remeber, civil service rules protect most of the rank and file, so they don't have to all be lapdogs for the governor.

Current events can certainly effect bureaucratic cultures. Many of the people at Higher Ed supported President Bush over Kerry in fears that their programs would be federalized under Kerry, and their jobs lost. At the DEC, continous cuts to federal conservation programs not only bother the more eco-friendly attitudes of employees there, but also make them fear for their jobs.

Every state employee still is somewhat pro-governor, despite civil service protections. They want not only to project a good image to the governor for their agency, they want good relations with patronage people, and want to work their way up their ladder. Remember, while merit based promotion is the offical way of promotion, good patronage certainly helps in government.

No government agency is apolitical. In many ways they are more politlcal then private employeers, as everybody's boss is ultimately a patronage hack of one sort or another. Yet, individuals in civil service have a great deal of freedom to express their private political views outside of work and quietly at work, so politics is alive in government.

Remember one final fact: government jobs pay poorly, but usually are about serving the public's interest. If you believe in a greater good, then your probably working in government, or with government. So it seems only natural for beaucrats to be politicans, only a bit more quietly then the big men that run the state of New York.