Called a latter-day Rome by some, denigrated as a one-company town by others, and always a center of controversy, modern Washington, D.C.bears about as much resemblance to the capital city of the Founding Fathers as the 747 jet airliner to the Wright brothers' craft at Kitty Hawk. Yet as much as Washington has changed over the course of two centuries, so, in some respects, it remains the same—a place where politics reigns supreme and the name of the game is government, one with the oldest written Constitution in the Western World. And the city still attracts some of America's most talented minds as well as many of its most talented young people. Nevertheless, as political scientist Michael Nelson notes in his essay, there is a difference: where once young Americans came to the nation's capital with the idea of serving their country, today they are often more interested in service to self—in the perks of power and the pursuit of profit. In his comparison between what author James Young called The Washington Community of the early republic and what is now deemed "the capital of the Free World," Mr. Nelson observes, "Washington remains a community." It is a community, moreover, with which the young Vanderbilt scholar is well acquainted as well as one whose workings he has been pondering ever since he read Mr. Young's book more than a dozen years ago. MR.NELSON received his Ph. D.degree from Johns Hopkins University, subsequently served as an editor for The Washington Monthly, and is currently a member of the department of political science at Vanderbilt, where he was recently promoted to associate professor. Mr. Nelson is editor and coauthor of The Presidency and the Political System and coauthor of Presidents, Politics, and Policy, both of which were published in 1984, the former by Congressional Quarterly Press and the latter jointly by Johns Hopkins and Knopf. He was also coauthor and editor of a recently published study, The Elections of 1984, another CQ Press book.
Like Mr. Nelson, Ward Just is another veteran observer of the Washington scene, having worked in the capital city in the early 1960's as a reporter for Newsweek and the Washington Post.Mr. Just later served in Vietnam as a Post reporter before turning from journalism to fiction. His Washington background was reflected in his first collection of short stories, The Congressman Who Loved Flaubert and Other Washington Stories.He has also written six novels, one other collection of short stories, and two nonfiction works. At present a contributing editor to The Atlantic, he served in 1983 and 1984 as writer-in-residence at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. His most recent novel, The American Blues, was published by Viking last year. A native of Indiana, Mr. Just now lives in New England.
Spence Perry holds a B. A. from Harvard and a J.D.from Duke University. After law school, he was commissioned as a Navy lieutenant and served as assistant staff judge advocate for international law on the staff of Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) in Saigon. While in Saigon, Mr. Perry undertook a number of assignments, including prisoner of war releases, teaching on the Faculté du Droit of the University of Saigon and as legal affairs officer for the staffs long-range planning group. Since the war, he has practiced law in the public and private sectors, primarily in the areas of economic regulation and national security affairs. He currently is a commander in the Navy Reserve. His article reflects his personal views.
