USC Civic Leadership Education and Research
(CLEAR) Initiative
Understanding and Developing the Talent Needs of the Civic Leadership Workforce for the 21st Century.
CLEAR's Mission
The Civic Leadership Education and Research (CLEAR) Initiative conducts research and provides education on public sector employment, which represents a significant proportion of the national labor economy. CLEAR helps others understand and develop the talent needs of the civic leadership workforce for the 21st century with a focus on governance capacity, diversity, and the impacts of technology, politics, and the economy on public management. We are dedicated to the pursuit and application of objective and rigorous social science to inform the resilience and robustness of our civil service institutions.
Research
We conduct macro-, meso-, and micro-level analysis on and in public sector labor markets. We focus on inter-sector and inter-institutional relations, public and nonprofit workforce dynamics, and developing civic leadership for the next generation. Our work is generously supported by the University of Southern California, the Sol Price School of Public Policy, the Volcker Alliance, and the Haynes Foundation of Southern California, among others. Our research covers such topics as public sector labor market dynamics, behavioral public administration and policy, diversity management and representation in public organizations, the political economy of civil service organizations, and technology and change in public organizations.
About the Director
William G. Resh holds the C.C. Crawford Professorship in Management and Performance and is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Management at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Behavioral Public Administration.
Bill established CLEAR in 2021 to be a student-supported enterprise that provides rigorous research on civic leadership and public sector labor markets. Bill's own work focuses on how political and socio-economic environments affect the decision-making and behaviors of those tasked with public policy implementation. His work has garnered awards from the American Political Science Association (APSA), the American Society for Public Administration, and the Academy of Management, including APSA's Herbert Simon Award for his book Rethinking the Administrative Presidency.
Bill earned his doctoral degree at the American University’s School of Public Affairs in 2011. Prior to attaining tenure at USC in 2018, he was an assistant professor at Indiana University’s O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs from 2011 to 2014 and at USC from 2014-2017. In 2020, he was awarded the Crawford Professorship and established CLEAR in 2021. You can find his CV here and his Google Scholar profile here.
