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189 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. xv (1937)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0189 and id is 1 raw text is: FOREWORD Exactly two years ago this month, Better Government Personnel, the report of the Commission of Inquiry on Public Service Personnel, was issued. This vol- ume was followed by the publication of twelve monographs. Among other im- portant contributions to the literature on the subject made during 1935 and 1936 are Government Career Service, by Leonard D. White; Training for the Public Service, by Morris B. Lambie; The Art of Leadership, by Ordway Tead; Trained Personnel for Public Service, by Katherine A. Frederic; and Public Personnel Ad- ministration, by William E. Mosher and J. Donald Kingsley. In part as a result of these publications, Americans have become merit-con- scious to a degree not previously reached since the assassination of President Garfield by a disappointed office seeker in 1881. The concerted interest and activity of civic groups and reform associations, colleges and universities, writers and publicists, magazines and newspapers have built up a crescendo of demand which has not yet reached its full strength. This is only the beginning. It is the prelude to constructive legislation and administration on a nation-wide scale for all layers of government. Government is men organized to do a public job. It will be good or bad, effi- cient or inefficient, depending upon three elements: its purpose or policy; its division of work or organization; and its man power or personnel. Though these elements are intimately intertwined, they are none the less distinct phases of the science of government, and are too often thought of and struggled over separately. The American Revolution of 1775, as reflected in institutional terms in the Constitution of 1789 and subsequent social changes, brought about an important shift in the method of determining governmental policy in this country. The philosophy that the common man should ultimately control policy remains with us to this day, and is, if anything, more firmly intrenched than ever. Beginning in 1906, when the New York Bureau of Municipal Research was organized, tre- mendous attention has been devoted to the improvement of the structure of gov- ernment as a way to efficiency, economy, and effective democracy; and real prog- ress has been made. The neglected factor has manifestly been man power. It is therefore necessary and appropriate that the major drive for good government should be directed toward the improvement of government personnel. In this thrust for better government personnel, what we now need are determination, courage, and a constructive, common-sense program. How are we going to reach this goal? Some think it is a matter of party re- sponsibility; others think it can best be achieved by the establishment of a career service in government. It is the hope of the Editor and his associates, John F. Miller and Frances Cole, that the papers brought together here will each con- tribute to the solution of this problem. In addition to these papers, the volume contains the addresses given at the conference of the Academy in Philadelphia, November 16, 1936, on Improved Personnel in Government Service. LUTEER GULICK xv

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