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The article has two main themes: (1) problems of managing a cabinet department, with Commerce the instant case; and (2) problems of the delivery system- the Oakland case and the multi-state Regional Development Commissions. Part I treats the management problem of a cabinet agency-the problems and pitfalls for the senior executives who fry to "run it" and make it do something useful. Among the several vantage points considered are the views "up," "down," and "sideways." Part II considers two types of delivery systems. It points up the difficulty (if not futility) of trying to bend a federal agency to effectively deal with a major local problem in a particular locale in a complex context, with Oakland as a case in point. Having argued in Part II that the direct federal/local combination is unworkable, federal/multi-state arrangements are examined. Here the topic is "regional development" and the cases in point are the Appalachian Regional Commission and the eight Title V Commissions. Part III concludes with the need for decentralization of programs, structures, and money in order to place the resources closer to the problem-and the people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]