The Politician as Personnel Manager—the Cost to the Taxpayer

• Author: Leonard D. White
• Published date: 01 May 1924
• DOI: 10.1177/000271622411300141
• Date: 01 May 1924
• Subject Matter: Articles

306

The

Politician

as

Personnel

Manager—the

Cost

to

the

Taxpayer

By

LEONARD

D.

WHITE

University

of

Chicago

HE

politician

has

cherished

aspi-

rations

as

personnel

manager

almost

since

the

foundation

of

the

American

Republic;

and

it

is

pertinent

to

observe

that

during

this

long

period

his

methods

have

undergone

no

per-

ceptible

improvement.

1

The

crude

and

unscientific

methods

which

were

criticized

even

in

the

eighteenth

cen-

tury

by

intelligent

commentators,

and

which

were

roundly

scored

in

the

early

years

of

the

nineteenth,

seem

to

be

still

accepted

as

adequate

by

the

politicians

of

the

twentieth.

Unfortunately,

the

damage

which

such

methods

may

cause

has

constantly

become

greater,

until,

in

the

highly

organized

world

of

today,

their

clumsy

and

awkward

manipu-

lation

of

what

should

be

a

finely

tem-

pered

social

tool

is

nothing

short

of

intolerable.

The

cost

in

terms

of

dollars

and

cents,

in

terms

of

lowered

morale

and

downright

incompetence,

in

terms

of

thwarted

public

purposes

and

retardation

of

the

struggle

for

human

betterment

is

very

heavy.

The

politician

functions

as

&dquo;person-

nel

manager&dquo;

in

two

kinds

of

cases.

In

thirty-eight

American

states,

in

most

counties,

and

in

some

cities,

there

is

no

pretence

of

an

official

personnel

mana-

ger

and

here

the

principles

of

personnel

administration

are

replaced

for

the

most

part

by

the

higgle

and

piggle

of

the

patronage

market,

in

which

poli-

ticians

allot

appointments

and

promo-

tion

to

public

office

for

personal,

factional

and

party

reasons.

On

the other

hand,

in

the

Federal

Government,

in

ten

states,

a

few

coun-

ties

and

many

cities,

an

official

person-

nel

agency

is

established,

and

in

these

cases

the

politician

becomes

personnel

manager

either

by

securing

a

position

on,

or

by

controlling

the

action

of,

the

Civil

Service

Commission.

In

either

case

the

outcome

may

be

about

the

same,

and

in

either

case

heaps

on

the

shoulders

of

the

taxpayer

a

substantial

burden,

owing

to

the

resulting

ine~-

ciency,

waste

and

blocking

of

improved

technique

in

personnel

management.

Such

a

statement

conveys

no

novel

idea.

The

use

of

public

office

for

po-

litical

reasons

has

been

condemned

by

men

of

principle

and

vision

ever

since

Jackson,

determined

to

uproot

what

he

conceived

as

an

un-American

bureau-

cracy,

and

intent

upon

rewarding

his

friends

and

punishing

his

enemies,

introduced

into

national

politics

a

spoils

system

already

well

developed

in

some

states.

MANIPULATION

OF

CIVIL

SERVICE

FOR

PARTY

OR

FACTION

CONTROL

Although

the

methods

of

the

poli-

tician

substituting

for

the

personnel

manager

are

not

unknown,

it

is

useful

to

survey

them

again

as

a

preliminary

to

counting

the

cost.

The

motives

of

the

politician

in

the

role

of

personnel

manager,

of

course,

have

nothing

to

do

with

efficient

personal

service.

On

the

contrary,

he

seeks

to

perpetuate

the

control

of

the

party

or

faction

by

ma-

nipulation

of

the

civil

service,

and

in

spite

of

the

most

carefully

devised

legal

definition

of

the

rights

of

civil

servants

frequently

succeeds

in

his

purpose.

Examinations

are

juggled,

few

exami-

1

See

McBain

,

De

Witt

Clinton

and

the

Spoils

System;

and

the

episode

related

in

the

diary

of

Samuel

Adams

concerning

Tom

Dawes’

garret.