Book Reviews: The Unfinished Business of Civil Service Reform. By WILLIAM SEAL CARPENTER. (Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1952. Pp. 128. $3.00.)

• Author: Ivan Hinderaker
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295200500457
• Date: 01 December 1952
• Published date: 01 December 1952
• Subject Matter: Articles

724

finds

that

it

must

co-operate

with

the

governments

of

Virginia

and

Maryland

as

well

as

with

the

county

units

and

the

municipalities

within

the

region.

By

the

nature

of

the

governmental

units

that

are

involved

it

is

evident

that

they

cannot

be

integrated

or

combined

to

any

appreciable

extent.

Therefore,

co-operation

must

be

achieved

among

them

by

the

use

of

the

several

methods

and

devices

described

by

Mr.

Geddes,

in

order

to

provide

such

public

services

as

planning,

zoning,

water

supply,

drainage

and

sewage,

streets

and

highways,

public

utilities,

police

and

fire

protec-

tion,

and

public

health

services

to

the

1,457,601

persons

who

are

living

in

the

area

on

such

a

basis

as

will

promote

or

maintain

the

interests

of

the

federal

government,

the

states,

the

counties,

and

the

municipalities

that

are

involved.

The

description,

background,

and

problems

of

the

area

are

well

presented

and

documented.

Since

the

conclusions

and

recommendations

of

the

author

pertain

specifically

to

the

national

capital

region,

the

uniqueness

of

the

area

would

prohibit

adoption

of

some

of

them

in

other

locations.

Some

of

the

problems,

however,

are

common

throughout

the

nation

and

the

methods

that

have

been

used

in

this

area

to

achieve

co-operation

among

governmental

units

might

be

of

interest

to

persons

engaged

elsewhere

in

working

with

metropolitan

problems.

Indianapolis, Indiana.

DONALD

R.

BOWLES.

The

Unfinished

Business

of

Civil

Service

Reform.

By

WILLIAM

SEAL CAR-

PENTER.

(Princeton:

Princeton

University

Press.

1952.

Pp.

128.

$3.00.)

&dquo;What

the

modern

reformers

must

undertake

is

nothing

less

than

the

reconciliation

of

the

principle

of

merit

and

fitness

for

appointment

and

promotion

in

the

civil

service

with

the

requirement

that

the

chief

executive

shall

at

all

times

be

able

to

control

the

amount

and

quality

of

the

administration

for

which

he

is

by

law

responsible.&dquo;

This

is

the

central

theme

of

Dr.

Carpenter’s

most

timely

book.

Effectively

combining

his

academic

background

and

experience

as

administrator

of

New

Jersey’s

civil

service

system,

the

author

has

produced

a

realistic

study

which

should

be

of

value

to

everyone

interested

in

the

efficient

operation

of

government.

The

primary

concern

is

not

with

his-

torical

or

procedural

detail.

The

emphasis,

instead,

is

placed

on

an

analysis

of

the

principal

shortcomings

of

civil

service

systems

as

they

operate

today,

and

what

might

be

done

to

improve

them.

Merit

systems

have

helped

recruit

better

personnel,

but

they

have

not

aided the

executive

to

gain

effective

control.

Too

much

emphasis

has

been

placed

on

job

tenure;

the

nearly

closed

&dquo;back

door&dquo;

should

be

pried