10.2190/AR0W-8JAR-LPC2-J468 AR0W8JARLPC2J468 0 FEDERAL LABOR-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS: THE REAGAN IMPACT 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=AR0W8JARLPC2J468 3 GEORGE T. SULZNER Employee relations has been singled out by the Reagan administration as an area where unbridled political and ideological patronage could be exercised. Secure in the knowledge that restraining the size and emoluments of the federal civil service expanded his political capital, Reagan "bashed the bureaucrats" with numbing regularity during his first regime. Thus, a system that had inherent defects prior to his governing has, through Reagan's concerted efforts, been brought close to death.