There is no system that cannot be perverted. Eric
The Organization of State Government
Most people are not aware that Robert Moses, working for Al Smith, Governor of
New York, created the template that many states now use for their government,
not only at the Executive and Legislative levels but also in the commissions
and other structures which are directly responsible to the governor. Among his
simplifications and reforms was eliminating overlapping responsibilities and
authorities, as well as reducing patronage jobs.
Regrettably Smith failed to get reelected but won the following election. He
was able to push the reforms through a couple of years later after being
returned to office.
Also, Moses became more overtly authoritarian as he gained power, becoming the
unanswerable czar he denied could exist and eventually wielding enormous power
independent of both State and local government through the authorities and
commissions he controlled.
Among the books I am currently enjoying is Rober Caro’s “The Power Broker.” I
found this paragraph on page 105 quite interesting:
“The only serious argument advanced against . . . [the] proposed reorganization
and budget system is that it makes the governor a czar.” he [Moses] wrote.
The governor does not hold office by hereditary right. He is elected for a
fixed term by universal suffrage. He is controlled in all major appointments
by the civil service law. He cannot spend a dollar of public money which is
not authorized by the Legislature of the State. He is subject to removal by
impeachment. If he were given the powers here proposed he would stand out in
the limelight of public opinion and scrutiny. Economy in administration, if
accomplished, would redound to his credit. aste and extravagance would be
laid at his door. Those who cannot the medicine because it is too strong must
be content with waste, inefficiency and bungling—and steadily rising cost of
government. The system here proposed is more democratic, not more “royal,”
than that now in existence. Democracy does not merely mean periodic elections.
It means a government held accountable to the people between elections. In
order that the people may hold their government to account, they must have a
government they that they can understand. No citizen can hope to understand
the present collection of departments, offices, boards and commissions, or the
present methods of appropriating money. A Governor with a cabinet of
reasonable size, responsible for proposing a program in the annual budget and
for administering the program as modified by the Legislature may be brought
daily under public scrutiny, be held accountable to the Legislature and public
opinion, and be turned out of office if he fails to measure up to public
requirements. If this is not democracy then it is difficult to imagine what
is.”
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