Stehr, Steven D. creator text xu| 1997 continuing ng p.75-81 How did career executives think influence was distributed in their agencies during the Reagan administration? Who would top bureaucrats have preferred to exercise influence? Which actors did career executives believe had too much influence and which too little? This article investigates the attitudes of a sample of career members of the senior executive service regarding these questions. The dominant view of presidential-bureaucratic relations in the public administration literature emphasizes the influence exercised by bureaucrats, key members of Congress, and representatives of interest groups at the expense of hierarchical guidance by agents of the president. The findings reported here suggest that top bureaucrats (1) thought that political appointees were very influential in their agencies and, (2) wanted more influence to be exercised by key political executives. The Reagan team's administrative strategy was apparently successful in gaining the support of top members of the higher civil service. - Reproduced Civil service - United States Bureaucracy Civil service Public Administration Review 180718