Political program

“ It has its constructive program by means of which it develops its power and its capacity, step by step, seizing upon every bit of vantage to advance and strengthen its position, but never for a moment mistaking reform for revolution and never losing eight of the ultimate goal. ”

“ DEFINITION OF DEMOCRACY PROGRAMS.—For purposes of funds appropriated by this Act, the term ‘‘democracy programs’’ means programs that support good governance, credible and competitive elections, freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion, human rights, labor rights, independent media, and the rule of law, and that otherwise strengthen the capacity of democratic political parties, governments, nongovernmental organizations and institutions, and citizens to support the development of democratic states and institutions that are responsive and accountable to citizens. ”

“ Now that the essentials of that program are in place, our next major undertaking must be a program— just as bold, just as innovative— to make government again accountable to the people, to make our system of federalism work again. ”

“ In one word, if you want to have a reform Administration, you must have, at least at the head of the three great “patronage” Departments, the Treasury, the Post-Office and the Interior, men who understand reform as you do, who believe in it as you do, who are willing to fight for it as you are and who will not be swerved from their purpose by any political seduction, even if they should be prospective candidates for the Presidency—the severest trial to which the political virtue of a public man can be exposed. ”

“ Any practical scheme of local institutional reform must be based on the principle of more concentrated responsibility and power, and it must be reached by successive experimental attempts to give a more consistent and efficient form to actual American political practices. ”

“ That there should be such a reform in the civil service of the national government as will remove it beyond all partisan influence, and place it in the charge and under the direction of intelligent and competent business men. ”

“ And you who desire the administrative business of the Government performed in a business-like way by honest and capable public servants, where will you go? Will you go to the Democratic party, which has no other reform idea than an eager desire to take the whole administrative machinery of the Government suddenly to pieces, and to fill it as rapidly as possible with politicians demanding offices as spoils? ”

“ It embodies the short ballot, responsiveness to public opinion, concentration of executive power and responsibility, expert administration of city affairs, and elimination of legislative control over the administrative, all essential principles of sound governmental practice. The success of the plan has been abundantly proved, although here and there expectations, because unreasonable, have not been met. Like other governmental agencies it is open to change and improvement, but it stands as the big contribution to political science of the past quarter of a century. ”

“ Political fortunes of parties will ebb and flow; top policy men in administrations will come and go; new laws will be passed and old ones amended or repealed. But those who give continuity to administration, those who contribut the basic skill and efficiency to the daily work of government, and those on whom the new as well as the old administration is dependent for smooth functioning of the complicated machinery of modern government are the core of the civil service. ”

“ Those who have either themselves remodelled the framework of State constitutions, or proposed schemes of political reform, seem mostly to have studied how to apportion the respective provinces which the nation, and any of its separate elements, should justly share in the administration,—to assign the due functions of each in the governmental plan,—and to adopt the precautions necessary for preserving the integrity of the several interests at stake. ”

“ Working together--the Congress, the President and the people-- I am confident that we can translate these proposals into an action program that can reform and revitalize American Government and, even more important, build a better life for all Americans. ”

“ And now some Democratic leaders have espoused the cause of civil service reform, with sincere purpose, no doubt, as far as they individually are concerned, and the political capital attaching to it has become a matter of competition between the two parties. ”

“ Even if he wishes to have changes and reforms made in the government, he seeks to make them "from the inside." Since, then, it is the established principle of the nation that its government shall be conducted through the agency of two major parties, it becomes scarcely less incumbent upon citizens to recognize those parties, to exercise their political activities in them and through them, and, if ever they desire changes in them, to make them "from the inside." ”

“ But the Federal government of a democracy must be advised by the constituency which is most interested in its action. Offices must be filled; protections and guaranties, both civil and military, must be furnished, according to the necessity and preferences of the people for whose benefit chiefly they are designed. In our own country at present it is comparatively easy to learn what these requirements are. Our people are accustomed to deliberate upon political measures, and know how to convey the fair result of their deliberations to the understanding of the central government. ”

“ The subject of civil service reform, which also formed a prominent feature of our platform in 1870, has attracted the attention of the people in a higher degree than ever before. That the President has adopted and promised to carry out a plan of reform proposed to him by the Civil Service Commission must by no means be taken as an indication that the cause of reform is now safe. ”

“ Or will you go to the Republican side, where you have the assurance of a civil service which, in spite of shortcomings and mistakes, has already on the whole proved itself capable to transact your business honestly and efficiently, and where you find all those elements that are faithfully and energetically working for a more thorough and permanent reform? ”

“ Being disappointed in their expectations, the minority in the administration and all worthy citizens of this State, whose minds are well informd regreting the peculiarities of their Situation place their fullest confidence in the wisdom & moderation of the national council, and indulge the warmest hopes of being favorably consider’d in their deliberations. From these deliberations they anticipate a political System which must finally be adopted & from which will result the Safety, the honour, & the happiness of the United States. ”

“ To command the necessary support, every measure of reform must be based on common right and justice, and must be compatible with the healthy existence of great parties, which are inevitable and essential in a free state.
When the people have approved a policy at a national election, confidence on the part of the officers they have selected and of the advisers who, in accordance with our political institutions, should be consulted in the policy which it is their duty to carry into effect is indispensable. ”

“ Under the benign influence of a free government, both our public institutions and private pursuits, our juries, elections, courts of justice, the liberal professions, and the mechanical arts, have each become a school of political science and of mental improvement. The federal legislature, in the annual message of the President, in reports of heads of departments, and committees of Congress, and speeches of members, pours forth a flood of intelligence which carries its waves to the remotest confines of the republic. ”

“ The Democrats and Republicans will both try to catch you. Don’t let them catch you napping. Don’t become just fodder for political cannon. Form your programme and make all the parties adopt it. Begin in your home towns, begin at once. ”

“ The net result of this reorganization effort is a government that can provide services in the field where they count most that spends less for political representatives, and more for the benefits of the people, and leads in the realization of national objectives. ”

“ There is tremendous power for a party in its control of the government of a city or a State. A multitude of offices have to be filled, franchises to be granted, valuable contracts let, and there are a thousand opportunities for public plunder and private enrichment. The party in power nationally, has untold possibilities in the control of the fabulous resources of the country. In order that a party may come into power in the National government, it is necessary for it to be in control in the State, and to control the State it tries to hold minor political divisions. ”

“ I read in Democratic papers that their party has always been in favor of civil service reform. This is news to me. I cannot forget that the principle “To the victors belong the spoils” is of Democratic origin; that they have inaugurated the system and developed the abuses under which we now suffer, and if these abuses have multiplied it is only because, in consequence of great necessities, the machinery of the civil service was made more complicated and extensive. ”

“ The scheme was rejected, and from that day to this cabinets have been composed regularly, not necessarily of men identified with a common political party, but at least of men who are in substantial agreement upon the larger questions of policy and who have expressed their willingness to co-operate in the carrying out of a given programme of action. ”

“ I count myself one of those who think it vastly more important that the Government be well administered, than that it be administered by this or that set of men; and who, while recognizing the usefulness of party as a means to a good end, support whatever appears to them of public benefit, and oppose whatever they consider bad, no matter what party label it may bear. ”

“ I intend to ask the Congress for authority to establish a new and more effective program for assisting the economic, educational and social development of other countries and continents. That program must stimulate and take more effectively into account the contributions of our allies, and provide central policy direction for all our own programs that now so often overlap, conflict or diffuse our energies and resources. ”

“ That would truly put more competition in elections and more power in the hands of individuals. And where power cannot be put directly into the hands of the individual, it should be moved closer to the people--away from Washington.
The federal government too often treats government programs as if they are of Washington, by Washington, and for Washington. Once established, federal programs seem to become immortal.
It's time for a more dynamic program life cycle. Some programs should increase. Some should decrease. ”

“ Personal pride, party principles, and an ambition for public distinction will thus naturally prompt to an abandonment of old schemes, and combine with that love of novelty so congenial to all free states, to make every new administration the founders of new systems of government. ”

“ Whatever I may believe personally, it is no part of my business to plead the cause of any political party in our Department. We have nothing to do with parties. Our object is to consider how our nation is governed and how it should be governed—national, state, county, township and city governments, under whatever names these divisions may be called in different places. ”

“ The interest which lay behind Federalism was that of well-to-do citizens in a stable political and social order, and this interest aroused them to favor and to seek some form of political organization which was capable of protecting their property and promoting its interest. ”

“ For its future success, it must depend upon the patriotism and the wisdom of the American people, and the Government of their choice. I sincerely believe that the establishment of the agencies which the bill proposes, will exert a most happy influence upon the success of our grand experiment, and that it will contribute, in no small degree, to the prosperous working of our institutions generally. The message will constitute the touchstone of political parties in this country for years to come ”

“ We have not reached a political unity as to the basic elements of just and effective political method in the division of social control between the nation and the various states. The habit of rushing to the National Congress for Federal legislation with no plan or logical aim in relation to such division, is one that may well be curbed. ”

“ It also provides for a vital partnership between political leaders, who bring with them policies and programs endorsed by the electorate, and career civil servants, who provide the expertise and continuity which are essential to the effective operation of a government as large and varied as ours. ”

“ A plan, natural in appearance, is arranged for the public, and at the right time the slated program is sprung. Senators should be elected by the people, congressmen should be elected for a longer period, and Presidents should have twice the terms they do. ”

“ Thus, the American people do not stand alone in the world in their desire for change. We seek it through tested liberal traditions, through processes which retain all of the deep essentials of that republican form of representative government first given to a troubled world by the United States.
As the various parts in the program begun in the Extraordinary Session of the 73rd Congress shape themselves in practical administration, the unity of our program reveals itself to the Nation. The outlines of the new economic order, rising from the disintegration of the old, are apparent. ”