The Government Performance Project also considers momentum in terms of positive efforts to change when change is necessary. For example, if a government recognizes that problems exist with one or more of its management systems and is in the early stages of implementing a solution, the GPP process credits that government for effort. At the same time, if serious problems exist and little is being done to address them, there is a negative momentum credit. Washington, DC, for example, was credited with positive momentum in 2000, for its efforts to reform several poorly performing systems. Government management systems reflect that complexity.
Many systems are the products of years of laws, rules, and regulations.
Some systems exist for reasons not clearly linked to effective management civil service systems, for example, were created primarily to curb patronage. The systems represent multiple missions, multiple purposes and multiple layers of accountability. The process also reflects an absolute commitment by both the academic and journalist partners to be fair and to produce results that are legitimate and useful. The GPP survey gathers information about how each of the systems is set up and operates, as well as about how well the systems fit together to serve common purposes. Because all of the states and some of the federal agencies will be analyzed twice in the first four years, comparisons between different years will be possible and progress from one year to another can be assessed.