Some Political Implications Of the Drift Toward a Liberation Of Federal Employees.

We live in an age of "liberation" or at least of liberation movements. On the international scene we have become familiar with national liberation movements of all sorts; and domestically, the black liberation, women's liberation, and a number of radical peoples' liberation movements are well known. The liberation of the federal employee has been the result of changes in at least three broad overlapping areas which are more analytically than practically distinct. The first of these concerns the law. There have been many legal changes in recent years affecting the status of public employees generally, but none has surpassed in importance the development of a new constitutional doctrine. Another legal change of importance has involved equal employment opportunity. In this regard the relative liberation of the federal employee is directly related to the black and women's liberation movements, and, in fact, has been a significant aspect of them. A second area of liberation has involved political efforts. These are continuing and may become more important in the future. The third area of liberation has been a partial result of the first two and has been confined to federal employees themselves. It concerns a marked attitudinal change.