bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Bearing of Myers v. United States upon the Independence of Federal Administrative Tribunals
Authors: Hart James
Published: May 2006

The rapid development of administrative law during this century has meant a multiplication of administrative tribunals. The functions of these bodies vary widely. Some have regulatory powers, others only fact-finding authority. The Interstate Commerce Commission may fix rates; the Tariff Commission may only investigate differences in costs of production.

In all such cases, however, there is fundamentally the same motivation behind their creation. The complexity, technicality, constant fluctuations, and expanding scope of the problems that confront Congress have compelled it to devolve some of its authority upon other bodies, and in some cases to set up agencies for the collection of data as a basis for decision. These very same factors have made our traditional trial courts unsuitable agencies for the exercise of powers thus devolved, and politically controlled bureaus unfit for the investigation of politically significant facts. Congress, therefore, has set up specialized bodies, which are to be manned by experts in particular fields, supplied with elaborate means of research, and authorized to act upon the best obtainable information and opinion. The purpose is thus clearly to cause scientific methods and expert judgment to be brought to bear to the maximum extent possible.

It is submitted that for this purpose to be carried out—for the duties of these tribunals to be performed under the influence of the “judicial habit of thought”—it is essential that the members be guaranteed independence in the exercise of their personal judgment, uninfluenced by direct pressure from political superiors or special interests. And it is a matter of common experience that independence of tenure is a prerequisite of independence of judgment.
Marbury v. Madison Today
Authors: Grant J. A. C.
Published: May 2006

In 1803 the Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Chief Justice Marshall, refused to enforce an act of Congress on the ground that it conflicted with the Constitution. This decision was noteworthy in that it was the first occasion on which the Supreme Court asserted such a right, and it has since come to be looked upon as the cornerstone of judicial supremacy.

The accuracy of the Chief Justice's reasoning has been attacked on various grounds, and it has been pointed out that every argument used by him in favor of judicial review begins by assuming the whole ground in dispute. Very few authorities who have taken this view have asserted that the courts have usurped this power. Obviously nothing could be farther from the truth. A course of action which had the backing of nearly every influential member of the Constitutional Convention, which was frequently stated, generally without opposition, in the various ratifying conventions, and which was very clearly set forth in the Federalist, cannot be said to be a “usurpation of power” in any sense of the term. However, authorities do point out that the true explanation of this power of our courts is not to be found in the mere fact that we have a written constitution which is the “supreme law.” Marshall himself recognized this shortly after the Marbury case, when he gave equal weight to the “general principles which are common to our free institutions” along with “the particular provisions of the Constitution of the United States,” on the theory that “the nature of society and of government …. prescribe some limits to the legislative power.”
Functional Representation in the International Labor Organization
Authors: Hewes Amy
Published: May 2006

A bloc system has superimposed itself upon national legislatures. Although their members are elected on a definite territorial basis, they associate themselves together in response to interests in their constituencies which have little relation to their electoral districts. Thus, in the United States, a foreign word has come into use to designate the organized agricultural interests which constitute the farm bloc.

More or less definite aggregations of this kind have been formed throughout parliamentary history. Some of these have been the result of particular manufacturing or commercial interests; other groupings have followed religious or social-class lines of cleavage; nevertheless, the basis of representation, in the popularly elected chambers, has remained territorial. Since 1919, however, an international assembly has been built up on a new political pattern. This is the Conference of the International Labor Organization, which convened for its tenth session at Geneva, in May, 1927, and in the following October completed the eighth year of its history. Notwithstanding the fact that structurally this body has a national basis, in that the delegates are sent by different member states, the conferences derive their character and mode of operation, not so much from the member states as from the three component groups in which national differences are more or less subordinate. These groups represent, respectively, the governments, the employers, and the workers of the several countries.
The German Referendum on the Princes' Property
Authors: Gosnell Harold F.
Published: May 2006

On June 20, 1926, for the first time in history, a large nation made a trial of direct democracy. On that day the German electors were summoned to the polls to pass judgment upon the question of the expropriation of the property of the ex-rulers. The measure voted upon was worded in an extreme fashion, as the leaders of the Left, who framed it, felt that it was necessary to obtain a clear answer to the exorbitant demands made by the fallen dynasties. Although the princes had been given large indemnities by various states, several of them had brought suits for larger claims and had won. Created as they were by the old régime, the courts had very often refused to distinguish between the private property of the princes and the property of the state. By reason of the court decisions, the German people were in danger of losing not only considerable sums of money but inestimable art treasures as well. It was this situation that gave the Communists and Socialists an opportunity to demand popular support for complete confiscation of the princes' property.
Presidential Special Agents in Diplomacy
Authors: Wriston Henry Merritt
Published: May 2006

The unusual circumstances of the present diplomatic situation of the United States resulting from the European war and the revolution in Mexico have led the present administration to resort to the use of presidential diplomatic agents. The missions of ex-Governor John Lind and of William Bayard Hale to Mexico, and the errands of Col. E. M. House in Europe have aroused considerable discussion of their diplomatic status, which gives point to an effort to explain the basis for the employment of presidential special agents in diplomacy.

At no point is the Constitution more definite and specific than in dealing with the appointing power of the President. Part of Article II, Section 2 reads: “He shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.” The third section of the same article reads: “The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.” There would seem to be no loophole here by which the President could either create an office not before existing, or, unless there is specific statutory warrant, appoint an individual to office without senatorial confirmation.
Recent Experience with the Initiative and Referendum
Authors: Cushman Robert E.
Published: May 2006

The more intensively one tries to study the interesting phenomena of direct legislation the more humble does he become. To look closely, for example, at the two hundred and ninety-one constitutional and legislative measures which the people of thirty-two States voted upon in 1914 is to be impressed with the number and significance of the things about that remarkable election which one cannot possibly know. How superficial at best must be our insight into that complex of social, political, economic and human forces which lay back of the presentation of those measures and the popular decision upon them. It is in full realization of the peril which lies in the way of sweeping classifications and glib generalizations that the conclusions drawn in the course of this brief discussion of the recent experience with the initiative and referendum petition are offered with considerable hesitancy.
Observations on Soviet Government
Authors: Story R. M.
Published: May 2006

Observations on Soviet Government. Over a year and a half has passed since soviet government was declared in Russia. That is not a long period of time in the history of a great revolutionary movement. Developments which loom large during these years and which impress even thoughtful men and women may prove to be of little consequence in the final determination of things, while the still small voices which are often unheard and usually unheeded by contemporaries swell into the chorus of decisive opinion which settles the course of affairs. It is a matter for trepidation, therefore, when one ventures to search mid the political and institutional debris for the foundation stones upon which a new democracy is to rest, or to attempt to appraise the undried, rough-hewn timbers hastily thrown into the erection of a temporary political superstructure. Only the hope that the tentative observations of one who was there may assist others to interpret this titanic movement justifies the present note.
The Board of Appeals, Department of the Interior
Authors: Finney Edward C.
Published: May 2006

In order to understand the reason for a board of appeals, and something of its functions, it is essential to have a general idea of the system of handling and disposing of the public lands, their resources, and all other matters within the jurisdiction of the department of the interior.

It has been the wise policy of the United States so to dispose of its lands and resources as to encourage the establishment of homes and the extraction and use of minerals, rather than to seek to derive a revenue therefrom. The agricultural lands of the public domain are freely given to citizens who will establish their homes, erect improvements, and cultivate the soil. The taking of the minerals is permitted under what amounts to a gift, conditioned upon certain development work; so with the use of water for irrigation, for power, and for municipal and domestic purposes.
Judicial Control of Administrative and Legislative Acts in France
Authors: Garner James W.
Published: May 2006

In recent years there has been an interesting and very remarkable extension of judicial control over the acts of the administrative authorities in France. The doctrine of recourse in annulment for excess of power, in particular, has undergone such an extraordinary development that it is probably safe to say that there is now no other country where private rights are better protected against arbitrary and illegal acts of public officers. It is an interesting fact also that this protection has not been created by legislation but is mainly the work of the council of state, and, to a less degree, of the court of cassation, the two supreme judicial tribunals of France.

The solicitude which the council of state, especially, has shown for the protection of individual rights and the independence which it has exhibited as over against the government by whom the councillors of state are appointed and by whom they may be removed at pleasure is a sufficient answer to the criticism of those English and American writers who assert that the French administrative courts are the docile and servile instruments of the government, and that in controversies between the administration and private individuals their decisions are generally in favor of the administration.
The German Presidental Election of 1932
Authors: Childs Harwood L.
Published: May 2006

The second regular presidential election held in Germany since the adoption of the present constitution was completed on April 10, following the failure of each of the five candidates to poll a majority of the popular votes at the first election on March 13. As a result of the election, President Paul von Hindenburg was reflected for another term of seven years beginning May 5. This election was important, first, because the Weimar constitutional system was threatened, and secondly, because the threatening force, Hitlerism, if victorious, not only presaged a profound change in the existing form of government in Germany, but might have been the prelude to internal strife, affecting the financial stake of the world in Germany, and possibly endangering international peace.
Relations of the United States with the Council of the League of Nations
Authors: Berdahl Clarence A.
Published: May 2006

The Council of the League of Nations being commonly considered in the United States as the League's supreme organ, as the body which represents par excellence the League system and spirit, it would seem obvious that there should have been the greater hesitation, in view of our non-membership in the League and our official anti-League declarations, to have direct relations with it. Nevertheless, the record reveals that it has been impossible for the United States government to ignore the Council consistently, and that, as a matter of fact, official relationships of one kind or another have been occasionally entered into with that body also. These relationships have, in the first place, taken the form of direct correspondence between the Council and the United States, which has been carried on at intermittent periods and on various subjects, but which has involved every Administration, and which by this time amounts to a considerable volume.
A Scale for the Measurement of Attitude toward Candidates for Elective Governmental Office
Authors: Beyle Herman C.
Published: May 2006

The approach of another presidential campaign should bring with it a renewal of plans for the study of the election process by a number of students of parties and of public opinion. An important instrument for use in any such investigation would be a scale for the measurement of attitude toward candidates for elective governmental office. The writer considers it timely, therefore, to release for possible use a candidate scale which has undergone considerable testing during the past four years. The psychophysical methods adapted to the use of scale construction by Professor Thurstone have been employed in the production of this scale.
Recent Elections in Prussia and Other German Länder
Authors: Childs Harwood L.
Published: May 2006

Since the reëlection of President von Hindenburg on April 10, eight German Länder have held parliamentary elections. Five, i.e., Prussia, Bavaria, Württemberg, Hamburg, and Anhalt, held Landtag elections on April 24; Mecklenburg-Schwerin elected a new parliament on May 4; Oldenburg reconstituted its legislative body on May 29; and on June 19 the voters of Hessen went to the polls (for the fourth time in seven months) to replace the Landtag elected on November 14 and subsequently declared illegal by the courts. These eight Länder comprise eighty-three per cent of the population of Germany, and the elections enumerated have brought into clear relief present political tendencies throughout the country: the rapidly growing strength of National Socialism; the increasing dissatisfaction with Socialistic attempts to overcome the economic crisis; the progressive disappearance of the middle parties, with the exception of the Catholic Center; and the relatively slow growth of Communistic influence. The table on the following page undertakes to present the results of the elections and to show the political status in the seventeen German Länder as it is today.
Norway Moves Toward the Right
Authors: Arneson Ben A.
Published: May 2006

Losses by the Labor party—looked upon as one of the most radical of Western European labor parties—and gains by the non-socialist groups at the Storting elections on October 20, 1930, resulted in a notable, though not a decisive, move toward the right in Norwegian parliamentary politics. The move was a remarkable one in that the Labor party lost 12 of its 59 seats in the Storting; the Conservative party added 13 to the 31 seats it already held; and the Communists, who had held three seats, were unable to elect a single representative. The move lacked decisiveness, however, because the Laborites, in spite of their losses, still constitute the largest parliamentary party. At the same time, the popular vote registered for the party was the largest ever given to any Labor or Socialist group in the history of Norway. The Conservatives did not take over the government, and the Radical government under the premiership of Mowinckel continued. While the Radicals joined with the other non-socialist parties in the fight against Labor, it advocates, nevertheless, a progressive social program. Furthermore, the present move to the right is not nearly so marked as was the move to the left in the last triennial election in 1927. The new Storting remains farther to the left than was the Storting before the 1927 elections.

The chief reason why this election deserves attention is that in it there were placed before a literate, alert, and intelligent electorate—representing a homogeneous people with a democratic background—vital issues involving the acceptance or rejection of an advanced socialistic program.
Constitutional Developments in China
Authors: Fairlie John A.
Published: May 2006

The National People's Convention held in May, 1931, and the provisional constitution adopted by it, mark a stage in the development of modern political institutions in China. But it is as yet too early to determine how successful these will be in establishing a permanently stable government.

Calling the Convention was itself an indication that a relative degree of stability had been attained, following the agreement between the Nanking government and Marshal Chang Hsueh-liang in Manchuria and the defeat of the northern opposition under Generals Feng and Yen. But the decision to call the Convention developed internal differences in Nanking, leading to the retirement of Hu Han-min, head of the Legislative Yuan, who has been kept under guard. This in turn aroused distrust in Canton, which led to the open revolt of several southern provinces on the eve of the Convention's meeting. This movement has come about by one of the curious realignments of political leaders and generals, bringing together the more conservative and more radical elements in the Kuomintang, with suggestions of possible combinations with the recently defeated northern generals and other opposition elements in the interior.
Swiss Treaty Initiative
Authors: Brooks Robert C.
Published: May 2006

Since the referendum on the League of Nations of May 16, 1920, the most important question to be dealt with by the Swiss people was the initiative on treaties, accepted January 30 of this year. The initiative was presented in the form of an amendment to Article 89 of the federal constitution (the referendum article), and may be translated as follows:

“Treaties with foreign powers which are concluded without limit of time or for a period of more than fifteen years shall also be submitted to the people for acceptance or rejection upon demand of 30,000 Swiss citizens qualified to vote, or of eight cantons.”
The Historical Approach to the New Deal
Authors: Beard Charles A.
Published: May 2006

With astounding profusion, the presses are pouring out books, pamphlets, and articles on the New Deal. Economists, publicists, politicians, statesmen, editors, and prognosticators are “describing,” “interpreting,” and “forecasting” the outcome and results of the legislative and executive actions coming within the scope of the New Deal since March 4, 1933. This is proper and natural enough. It is inevitable.

But few of the writers guilty of publication have prefaced their reflections with due notice to the readers respecting the assumptions, methods of reasoning, hopes, fears, and desires actuating their thought at the beginning of their thinking about the description, interpretation, and forecasting operations. Most of them, probably, would say that it is academic to stop to think about what one is doing when one begins to think about social phenomena such as are embraced within the field of the New Deal; but the saying would be an escape, a dodge, or a trick. Why? Because nothing can be described in itself.
Political Developments and Tendencies
Authors: Fairlie John A.
Published: May 2006

It has seemed fitting, at this second meeting of the Association in New Orleans, where it was organized a quarter of a century ago, to give some attention to significant happenings during this period, in the affairs of the Association, in the field of political action, and in the analysis and interpretation of political phenomena. At least two former presidents have discussed some phases of these topics; but there is perhaps room for a difference of approach and emphasis.

When this Association was organized, the systematic study and teaching of political problems was but slightly developed. Only a few courses in public law and government were given in some of the larger universities. Of the twenty-five persons who were present at the organization of the Association, and the 214 who became members during the first year, a large proportion were primarily interested in history, economics, and other social studies with political bearings, rather than in political problems themselves.

In the constitution of the Association, its object was stated to be: “The encouragement of the scientific study of politics, public law, administration, and diplomacy.” In the first presidential address, President Goodnow outlined the field of work of the Association as including political theory, constitutional and administrative law, comparative legislation, historical and comparative jurisprudence, and political parties. He also noted the opportunity of the Association to secure the active coöperation of teachers of these subjects, and to bring together the student and those actively engaged in political life. A further indication of the plans of those who established the Association may be seen in the appointment of a series of standing committees on different branches of the field outlined, and the reorganization of these a year later into sections.
The Constitutional Crisis in Austria
Authors: Graham Malbone W.
Published: May 2006

Constitutionalism, in Austria, is not a new slogan. It was a phrase to conjure with during the entire lifetime of Francis Joseph, though in practice the whole history of the country down to the revolution of 1918 was its virtual negation. Only in the latter days of the monarchy, when the scepter passed from the hands of Francis Joseph to the inexperienced young emperor Karl, was a modicum of popular expression allowed to supplant the personal autocracy of the sovereign. The old Austria passed out of existence in 1918 without the successful implantation of a régime of liberal legality in any of its parts.

The young Austrian Republic, coming into existence in the hour of the Empire's dissolution, thus inherited a legacy of unconstitutional government, and only the solidity of socialist and clerical party organization, bred of the stress and strain of clashing conceptions of the social order, gave support to the government in the days when social revolution swept almost to the doors of Vienna. It was under such circumstances that Austria entered, in 1918, upon the way of constitutionalism and sought, through her provisional instruments of government, to avoid the autocratic excesses of the past and avert the impending perils of a proletarian dictatorship.

In a series of revolutionary pronouncements and decisions of her provisional assembly, she discarded, under socialist leadership, the arbitrary régime attendant on the monarchy, and, establishing a unitary democratic republic with far-reaching local self-government as a stepping-stone toward union with Germany, inaugurated a régime of unquestioned parliamentary supremacy, strict ministerial responsibility, virtual executive impotence, and extensive socialization.
The Bureau of Publicity of the Democratic National Committee, 1930–32
Authors: Barclay Thomas S.
Published: May 2006

An earlier note in the Review indicated the desirability of minority party activity in the interval between campaigns and appraised the organization and functioning of the publicity bureau of the Democratic national committee from June 1, 1929, until September 1,1930. During the period from September, 1930, to the convening of the Democratic national convention on June 27, 1932, the bureau continued, as a party agency, to criticise the policies of the Hoover administration and to assume, in a limited degree, the educational function of the minority party. In addition, it was necessary during the first session of the Seventy-second Congress to explain and justify the work of the Democratic House of Representatives.
Second Session of the Seventy-third Congress, January 3, 1934, to June 18, 1934
Authors: Herring E. Pendleton
Published: May 2006

This Congress has been conducted in a crucible. The problems that demanded consideration were the most momentous since the war years. These tangible burdens, weighty and perplexing enough when taken separately, served in the aggregate and under the conditions of the time to test in most exacting fashion the very governmental system itself. The adequacy of Congress as a satisfactory political institution was at stake. Was the presidential system as such competent or even capable of meeting its responsibilities? The leadership of Congress during the special session was sustained in large measure by the impetus to action engendered by the economic crisis. But weaknesses in the congressional structure, hidden by the unifying effect of the emergency period, appeared clearly during the second session. What were the elements affecting Congress as a law-making body, and how did the presidential system withstand the strains of this second session?
Revision Clauses in Treaties since the World War
Authors: Wilson Robert R.
Published: May 2006

When the Constitution of the United States was before the states for adoption, James Iredell of North Carolina made the following observation: “The misfortune attending most constitutions which have been deliberately formed has been that those who formed them thought their wisdom equal to all possible contingencies, and that there could be no error in what they did. The gentlemen who framed this Constitution thought with much more diffidence of their capacities; and, undoubtedly, without a provision for amendment it would have been more justly liable to objection, and the character of its framers would have appeared much less meritorious. This, indeed, is one of the greatest beauties of the system, and should strongly recommend it to every candid mind.”
The Saar Plebiscite
Authors: Pollock James K.
Published: May 2006

The Treaty of Versailles provided that at the termination of a period of fifteen years from its coming into force, a plebiscite should be held in the Saar Territory to determine under what sovereignty its inhabitants desired to be placed. The following conditions were laid down for the plebiscite: “A vote will take place by communes or districts on the three following alternatives: (a) maintenance of the régime established by the present Treaty and by this Annex; (b) union with France; (c) union with Germany. All persons, without distinction of sex, more than 20 years old at the date of voting, resident in the Territory at the date of signature of the present Treaty, will have the right to vote. The other conditions, methods, and the date of voting shall be fixed by the Council of the League of Nations in such a way as to secure the freedom, secrecy,and trustworthiness of the voting.”
National Attitudes on the Far Eastern Controversy
Authors: Russell James T. , Wright Quincy
Published: May 2006

Students of international relations are concerned with the description, prediction, and control of the external behavior of states, particularly of their more violent types of behavior such as intervention, hostilities, and war. It is clear that mere description of a diplomatic or military event has little meaning by itself and that such an event can neither be predicted nor controlled unless account is taken of the circumstances which preceded it within each of the states involved. Among the internal circumstances which have been studied are the correspondence of statesmen, the declarations of legislatures, executives, foreign offices, and political parties, the prescriptions of constitutional law and procedure, the traditional policies manifested by the history of the state, and the understandings of treaty and international law accepted by the community of nations at the time and presumably by the states involved.
Higher Officials in the Philippine Civil Service
Authors: Hayden Ralston
Published: May 2006

In his instructions to the second Philippine Commission, President McKinley designated “the establishment of a system to secure an efficient civil service” as one of the first tasks that this body should undertake upon its assumption of legislative power in September, 1900. Pursuant to the direction of the president, one of the earliest statutes enacted by the Commission—the fifth—was a civil service law. Many other statements and actions reveal that virtually all of the Americans who were primarily responsible for the establishment of modernized political institutions in the Philippine Islands recognized that a civil service based upon the merit system and divorced from politics was essential to the success of the program of the United States in its great Oriental dependency. Today the character of the Philippine civil service is one of the criteria by which the results of that program may be judged.

As part of a study of this institution, the writer has made inquiry into the antecedents, the education, and the careers of the higher administrative officials of the Philippine government. Data were secured from the service records of 56 of the under-secretaries, bureau chiefs, and assistant chiefs, and in almost every instance was supplemented by a personal interview.
State Constitutional Development Through Amendment in 1932
Authors: Enslow Harold R.
Published: May 2006

Constitutional amendments were proposed in 33 states in 1932. In 23, one or more were adopted. This note attempts to outline the changes made. Footnotes indicate the sections of the respective constitutions which were affected. A topical arrangement would be of value, but it is felt that the reader's convenience is better served by an arrangement by states. Space does not permit notice of defeated proposals.
Report on House of Lords Reform in Great Britain
Authors: Rudlin W. A.
Published: May 2006

The recommendations embodied in this report are not sufficiently unlike the Curzon proposals to have any strong claim to novelty. All the arguments against upper houses in general and the 1922 Resolutions in particular are equally applicable to these proposals. They differ from previous Tory reports mainly in their livelier apprehension of the implications of a Labor majority in the Commons. Since the Labor party first came within sight of power, every large Tory majority has produced its demand for reform of the House of Lords. “Reform from the Right” has hitherto been urged as the safeguard against “dangerous innovations,” a term which has widened in significance as the Labor party has increased in strength. The Cave proposals were content to save the constitution of the reformed House of Lords from further attack by the Commons and to render the Parliament Act immune from alterations without the consent of the Lords.
Canadian Federalism: Report of the Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations
Authors: Gettys Luella
Published: May 2006

The epochal Report of the Canadian Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations represents the first comprehensive investigation of the governmental system of Canada since Confederation in 1867. Not only does the survey reflect the unique features and problems of the Canadian federation, but it also constitutes an outstanding addition to the general literature on federalism.

The Commission was appointed in August, 1937, to make a “re-examination of the economic and financial basis of Confederation and of the distribution of legislative powers in the light of the economic and social developments of the last seventy years.” In making its inquiry, the Coimmission established a research staff, directed by Alex Skelton, of the Research Department of the Bank of Canada, to make detailed studies of various aspects of the federal problem. The Commission was able to draw to its service outstanding Canadian scholars and experts in the fields of economics, political science, public finance, constitutional law, and history. The Commission, however, did not rely solely on its research staff.
Ministers of the Crown and the British Constitution
Authors: Heneman Harlow J.
Published: May 2006

Notwithstanding the vital importance of the cabinet, it has been one of the anomalies of British government that this institution has heretofore been unknown to English constitutional law. Writers have said correctly that “neither Parliament nor the courts have provided for the cabinet and the prime minister. The whole system of cabinet government is founded not on laws but on practices …” However, this view can no longer be held. In the session of Parliament concluded recently, an act was passed which laid down new principles pertaining to the executive. The cabinet, the prime minister, and the ministers of the crown have at last been recognized by statute and have been given a status in British constitutional law.
The Search for Uniformity of Law
Authors: Grant J. A. C.
Published: May 2006

It has been said that the concept of “formal perfection is in itself a thing so impressive, so fascinating, so pleasing, that it tends to camouflage a defect of content and then to deceive by a kind of agreeable dazzling of the mind.” Apparently John Fiske was basking in the light of this concept when he characterized federal government as “the sublime conception of a nation in which every citizen lives under two complete and well-rounded systems of law … moving one within the other, noiselessly and without friction.” Surely, only a childlike faith in the efficacy of mere mechanics controlled by written constitutions could have closed his ears to the clatter arising even then within our American federal system. The concept of federalism may be a lofty one; its practice seems often to be on a more mundane plane.
The Political Interpretation of History
Authors: Holcombe Arthur N.
Published: May 2006

Ever since the inquisitive age in which Voltaire wrote his Philosophic Dictionary, reflection upon the course of human events has caused scholars to persist in the search for a rational interpretation of history. They have not been discouraged by the skepticism of historians who, like Froude, have argued that the address of history must be less to the understanding than to the higher emotions. “A science of history,” according to this historian, “implies that the relation between cause and effect holds in human things as completely as in all others; that the origin of human actions is not to be looked for in mysterious properties of the mind, but in influences which are palpable and ponderable.” Froude believed that “natural causes are liable to be set aside and neutralized by what is called volition,” and that in consequence “the word Science is out of place” in connection with the study of history. If, as Froude intimated, the origin of human actions can be found only in mysterious properties of the mind, the outlook for a rational interpretation of history may well be poor.
Letters to the Editor as a Means of Measuring the Effectiveness of Propaganda
Authors: Foster H. Schuyler , Friedrich Carl J.
Published: May 2006

In spite of the enormous literature on propaganda recently surveyed by a committee of the Social Science Research Council, there has not as yet emerged a generally accepted definition of propaganda. Consequently, any discussion in this field requires at the outset some statement or general indication of what one is dealing with, in order to reduce misunderstanding. As political scientists, we are taking a strictly pragmatic view of propaganda, as completely removed as possible from the area of psychological controversies. We have, for the purposes of our studies, considered only such propaganda as is manifested in the organized activities involved in efforts to get people to take a particular step, such as to vote for Roosevelt, or to abstain from objecting to a particular step, such as the United States’ entry into the World War. These efforts, when promotional, may be denominated “a propaganda campaign.” Such a campaign proceeds by the organized dissemination of propaganda appeals. But these same appeals can, and do, operate without any organized promotion; and still they tend to influence those whom they reach. Many different kinds of individuals carry these appeals—teachers, writers, gossips, etc. From the viewpoint of propaganda analysis, they may be called “propagandizers.” In the course of a typical campaign, there appear propagandizers who indulge in various activities which are significant in spite of their unorganized nature. Different is the propagandist who participates in a propaganda campaign.
Church and State in England
Authors: Chase E. P.
Published: May 2006

In that revolutionary movement by which slowly and unobtrusively the government of England has been made over in the last twenty years, no institution has changed more perceptibly than the Church of England. Church and State: The Report of the Archbishops’ Commission on the Relations between Church and State, dated 1935 but withheld from the public by the Commission until after the general election of that year, sets forth the latest stage in a notable constitutional development.
The Lack of a Budgetary Theory
Authors: Key V. O.
Published: May 2006

On the most significant aspect of public budgeting, i.e., the allocation of expenditures among different purposes so as to achieve the greatest return, American budgetary literature is singularly arid. Toilers in the budgetary field have busied themselves primarily with the organization and procedure for budget preparation, the forms for the submission of requests for funds, the form of the budget document itself, and like questions. That these things have deserved the consideration given them cannot be denied when the unbelievable resistance to the adoption of the most rudimentary essentials of budgeting is recalled and their unsatisfactory condition in many jurisdictions even now is observed. Nevertheless, the absorption of energies in the establishment of the mechanical foundations for budgeting has diverted attention from the basic budgeting problem (on the expenditure side), namely: On what basis shall it be decided to allocate x dollars to activity A instead of activity B?

Writers on budgeting say little or nothing about the purely economic aspects of public expenditure. “Economics,” says Professor Robbins, “is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.” Whether budgetary behavior is economic or political is open to fruitless debate; nevertheless, the point of view and the mode of thought of the economic theorist are relevant, both in the study of and action concerning public expenditure.
Organization of the Executive Branch of the National Government of the United States: Changes between July 16 and November 15, 1941
Authors: Schmeckebier L. F.
Published: May 2006

As in previous lists, mention is here confined generally to units specifically authorized by law or established by the President by executive order or reorganization plans under general authority vested in him. Changes in units created by heads of departments or independent establishments are excluded unless of major importance.

Coast Guard. Transferred from the Treasury Department to the Navy Department by Executive Order 8929 of November 1, 1941, under authority of the act of January 28, 1915 (38 Stat. 800). On April 7, 1917, the Coast Guard was transferred to the Navy by Executive Order 2587, and on August 28, 1919, it was returned to the Treasury Department by Executive Order 3160.
The Resurrection of Neutrality in Europe
Authors: Morgenthau Hans J.
Published: May 2006

The collapse of the League of Nations as an instrument of collective security has called forth a series of politico-legal reactions, of which perhaps the most symptomatic of the crisis in the international order is the new neutrality policy of the small European states. This new policy was prompted by the collapse of the League of Nations sanctions against Italy. After withdrawal from the League had been seriously discussed in some of the small European states, and just before the lifting of the sanctions against Italy by the League, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland published a joint declaration, on July 1, 1936, containing in a veiled form a cancellation of the obligations under Article 16 of the Covenant of the League.
Post-War Problems in Our Latin-American Relations
Authors: Munro Dana G.
Published: May 2006

Any discussion of postwar problems in our relations with Latin America must begin with a consideration of the great changes which have taken place in hemisphere relations during the war period. Since 1939, the American Republics have achieved a degree of coöperation in international matters which would hardly have seemed possible a few years earlier, and today all but one of the nations of the Continent are helping the United States either as belligerents or as non-belligerents in the prosecution of the war.

On the military side, our neighbors have given us bases for our Naval and Air Forces and have strengthened their own armed forces, in most cases with the aid of missions from our Army and Navy. Some of them have taken an active part in anti-submarine operations, and Brazil is preparing to send forces abroad. On the political side, they have set up machinery for coöperation in dealing with fifth column and other hostile activities. The importance of their coöperation in these matters is inestimable. Of still more significance, perhaps, has been their economic aid.
Studies of Administrative Management in the Federal Government
Authors: Short Lloyd M.
Published: May 2006

The report of the President's Committee on Administrative Management, together with the President's message transmitting the report to Congress, was published as a separate document early in 1937. Several months later, nine studies of administrative management in the federal government, prepared by members of the committee's research staff, were published in a series of five separate documents. The message, the report, and the studies have now been brought together in a single volume of approximately 400 pages, conveniently indexed.
Research Facilities and Materials at The National Archives
Authors: Grover Wayne C.
Published: May 2006

The National Archives was established in 1934 as an independent agency. The primary objectives of its staff have been described by the Archivist as, first, the concentration and preservation in the National Archives Building of non-current federal archives having permanent or long-time administrative value or historical interest; and, second, “the administration of such archives so as to facilitate their use in the business of the Government and in the service of scholarship.” Operations were begun in 1935 with a survey of federal records located in and near the District of Columbia. As it drew to a conclusion in 1939, the survey had resulted in the accumulation of reports on a total of 2,729,393 cubic feet of records.

Transfer of records to the National Archives Building was begun in December, 1935, and during the next four years more than 200,000 cubic feet of paper records were received. The materials, representing accessions from all 10 executive departments, some 30 independent agencies, four federal courts, and the United States Senate, occupied at the end of 1939 about one-fourth of the available stack space in the building. Non-current materials continue to be received daily, and although there are indications that the rate of transfer is leveling off, it will probably be some years before the century and a half of record accumulations will have been completely dealt with.
Value to Students of Courses in Public Administration
Authors: Meriam Lewis
Published: May 2006

Dear Professor —: I cannot at this moment lay my hand on your original letter to Dr. Moulton [president of the Brookings Institution], but as I recall it you expressed your desire to give in the department of political science courses which would prove of value to your students. You were particularly considering extending the work in public administration.

I have at one time or another given a good bit of thought to the question of value of courses in political science, and it seems to me we should consider three types of values: (1) cultural, (2) civic, and (3) vocational.

Cultural value, I should say, lies in giving the students a broad understanding of the world in which they live. Cultural courses lay a foundation upon which they may build as they go on through life. Such courses in political science should enable them, after formal school days are over, to follow developments, to understand, evaluate, and digest the more worthwhile news reports, magazine articles, and books that appear, and to grow in knowledge and, we hope, in wisdom.
Congressional Investigations of Matters of International Import
Authors: Perkins James A.
Published: May 2006

Recent congressional debates on neutrality legislation have once more focused attention on the problem of control of American foreign policy. On the one hand, the President has demanded that leadership in formulation of foreign policy be concentrated in the hands of the executive; on the other hand, Congress has insisted that its powers be employed to provide for adequate control of that leadership on behalf of the people. This problem of executive leadership and proper control is, perhaps, the central problem of the machinery of democratic government, but in the field of foreign policy it is a particularly difficult one because constitutional construction and usage have failed to draw definite boundaries as to congressional and executive powers. If Congress is the instrument through which popular control of the executive is to be exercised, it is important to study the adequacy or inadequacy of such control.