The Oscars for the Deep State

But all that accounts for just a fraction of the civil service, while the other work of the federal government’s various departments and agencies remains mostly a mystery to Americans. Reckoning that this mystery is bad for our democracy, the Partnership for Public Service, which was founded in 2001, has been trying to dispel it. The organization convenes conferences, publishes reports, runs a Presidential-transition center, and does all sorts of other nonprofity things to educate people about their government, and, for twenty-three years now, it has also hosted an event called the Sammies, an annual awards ceremony to recognize extraordinary federal employees. The Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals are named for the late benefactor of the Partnership, but I’ve taken to calling them the Oscars for the deep state, a chance to applaud bureaucrats while so much of the country reviles them.