BOOK NOTES
| Date | 01 March 1953 |
| Published date | 01 March 1953 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1953.tb01768.x |
BOOK
NOTES
Conference on Comparative Adminis-
tration, Princeton, September
1952
CONVENED by Public Administraticn Clear-
ing House, this Conference was concerned
with the improvement and expansion of
professional training in comparative public
administration. The Report is a very
American document both in approach
and in terminology. The Conference
discussed the scope and content of com-
parative administration, the personnel and
data available and present and future
organisation. The Report is too short to
give more than certain main points and
conclusions and leaves one with the
impression
that
like all such meetings it
was found easier to talk about organisation,
the listing
of
research topics, etc., than
to show how really good work could be
done. There is
an
appendix by Professors
Sayre and Kaufman outlining a suggested
method
of
study
of
comparative adminis-
tration which
is
stimulating to the right
kind
of
person, but would be deadly, one
suspects, to the person looking for a
simple mechanical method of study. To
make a true study
of
the administration
of another country requires plenty of
time; few, if any, American professors
appear to have sufficient
of
this commodity.
Executives
for
the Federal Service
By
JOHN
J.
COFSON. (Columbia Univer-
sity Press.) Pp.
91.
$1.50.
THE
successful accomplishment
of
the
r61e of being the leading country in
international affairs depends to a large
extent
on
having officials
of
high calibre
at
the top of the Federal Service. But the
anti-governmental atmosphere and the
strong counter attraction of higher salaries
in the private sector are making it im-
possible for the United States to recruit
the best Civil Service. The main purposes
of
Mr. Corson’s little book are to focus
public attention
on
this problem and to
suggest remedies. One
of
the proposals
is the creation
of
a
“
pool
”
(or class) of
career administrators, but without in-
curring the disadvantages
of
a
“
closed
”
corps.
“
This
recommendation
is
simply
an adaptation
of
the most desirable
characteristics
of
the British civil
service.
.
.
.”
Consumers Councils
Enterprise
in
Local Government
THESE
are
Nos.
155
and
156
in the Fabian
Research Series published by the Fabian
Society. Mary Stewart concludes that
though the existence of the Consumers
Councils for Gas and Electricity has been
justified by their achievements, there are
six reasons why they have not made the
impact on their public that their creators
anticipated. Three of the reasons are
concerned with the dependence of each
Council on its Area Board, e.g., the Chair-
man and Secretary are paid by the Board.
Inadequate
use
has been made of Local
Authorities and
no
research organisation
exists to advise the Council members.
The great weakness of the study is that
the author never appears to have asked
herself how far these bodies can
go
without duplicating the work of the
Ministry or of the Boards themselves.
Miss Crane’s booklet is a study of the
way in which Local Authorities exercise
their permissive powers. She uses the
word
”
permissive
”
in a very wide sense,
e.g., to include rent rebate schemes and
the use of direct labour schemes to build
houses. Over
500
Authorities replied to
her questionnaire asking whether they
acted under some thirty-five specific
Sections and their answers are analysed.
The results cannot easily be summarised,
but certain general conclusions emerge.
County Boroughs are, by her test, the
most enterprising and in general the
small authorities are the least enterprising.
From this she jumps to the conclusion
that a complete reorganisation of local
government is necessary. Her evidence
is quite insufficient
to
support such
a
conclusion-there is
no
reason to suppose,
for example, that these powers need be
exercised in every area-each function is
given equal weight and percentages
of
actual
to
total powers are calculated as
though one is dealing with a homogeneous
universe. Thus
it
is possible that control
of
smoke nuisance is more needed in a
large town than in a rural district. Surely
one of the purposes
of
having powers
permissive rather than compulsory
is
to
95
By
MARY
STEWART. Pp.
16.
9d.
By PEGGY CRANE. Pp.
41.
2s.
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