Selection and Tenure of Bureau Chiefs in the National Administration of the United States

Arthur W. Macmahon

American Political Science Review, 1926, vol. 20, issue 3, 548-582

Abstract: The bureau chiefs are the key figures in national administration. The units that they direct are inclusive enough to lend themselves to the purposes of supervision and coördination and to bring their heads in touch with the machinery of budget-making and legislation, but sufficiently focused to preserve for them a saving contact with details and technique. The importance of their positions can hardly be exaggerated.Who are the present bureau chiefs? What has been their training? To what extent have they been recruited within the services they now direct, and to what extent from outside? What factors have influenced their selection? How long have they been in office? Judging by their experience as well as by the frequency with which their predecessors have been changed, how secure seems to be their tenure? These are the questions to which this paper is addressed. Its purpose is modest; it is not expected to uncover findings not already known, at least in general terms. A systematic canvass of the bare facts, however, will help to a more precise understanding of the actual situation and perhaps facilitate discussions of our working theory of the relation of politics to administration. The time is opportune for taking stock. Within the past fifteen years each of the great parties has swept into the seats of power after a period of deprivation.In determining the scope of this inquiry, the term bureau is used somewhat broadly, to denote any major subdivision of an executive department.

Date: 1926
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