The Development of National Administrative Organization in the United States

Rich Minis.
Clase y 1926,
Political Science 130

6-18-1926

FOREWORD

To a constantly increasing extent the problem of government is becoming one of administration. Of no government is this truer than of the national government of the United States. Notwithstanding the deep-rooted objection to the extension of governmental activities, not a year elapses that does not witness, if not the creation of one or more entirely new services, the great extension of activities of existing services. This movement has proceeded with unexampled rapidity during the past two decades, with the result that at the present time the organization and operations of the national government are on a scale and of a complexity and variety equalled by no other organization in the world. The history of the development of this organization constitutes one of the most important chapters in the evolution of our political system.

If the affairs of this great corporation are to be efficiently conducted and the public is to be properly informed regarding an institution in which it is so vitally interested, it is imperative that information shall be at hand regarding how this organization has come into existence, the relation of its several parts to each other, and the general scope of the jurisdiction covered. In the series of Service Monographs of the United States Government, being published by the Institute for Government Research, over thirty numbers of which have thus far appeared or are in press and which will be rapidly pushed to completion, an account is being given of the history, organization, and activities of the individual services. In the present volume there is given an account of the administrative organization of the government as a whole in its historical development. The two works thus supplement each other, and together give information regarding the administrative branch of the national government such as has never before been available.

This information should be of value, not merely to the general public and students of political science desirous of informing themselves regarding the administrative side of the government's activities, but also to those, whether serving as Members of Congress or in an administrative capacity, who have responsibility for the actual

conduct of public affairs. From this latter standpoint, the present volume also admirably supplements and supports the volume recently published by the Institute entitled "The Reorganization of the Administrative Branch of the National Government." In Dr. Short's study is given the historical and descriptive background necessary for any attempt to appraise the adequacy of existing conditions. In the other volume these conditions are subjected to a critical examination with a view to determining defects and the steps that should be taken to remove them. The three works that have been mentioned, the present volume, the service monographs, and the study of administrative reorganization, thus furnish to Congress and the administration that body of data that should help them to carry to a successful conclusion the project that has been entered upon of making those changes in existing organization that will give to the national government a more efficient and economical administrative system.

The manuscript for the present volume was originally prepared by Dr. Short in partial fulfillment of the requirement for his doctor's degree at the University of Illinois. In its preparation he had the advantage of residence in Washington during several months as a member of the staff of the Institute for Government Research; and subsequently, while serving on the staff of the Institute, he was able to revise the manuscript with a view to bringing it more nearly to date and supplementing it in certain particulars.

Knihy