Public servant impartiality

Public servants should not belong to or actively support a political party. This is the opposite of the situation in a communist or fascist country where all positions of power are reserved for members of the ruling political party. This principle is given force in...

Independent agencies

It should be remembered as an axiom of eternal truth in politics, that whatever power in any government is independent, is absolute also; in theory only at first while the spirit of the people is up, but in practice as fast as that relaxes. —Thomas Jefferson. Letter...

The cure for rampant bureaucracy

The suppression of unnecessary offices, of useless establishments and expenses, enabled us to discontinue our internal taxes. These covering our land with officers, and opening our doors to their intrusions, had already begun that process of domiciliary vexation...

Bureaucracy is corrupt

How invariably officialism becomes corrupt every one knows. Exposed to no such antiseptic as free competition—not dependent for existence, as private unendowed organizations are, on the maintenance of a vigorous vitality; all law-made agencies fall into an inert,...

Bureaucracy is unresponsive

The unadaptiveness of officialism is another of its vices. Unlike private enterprise which quickly modifies its actions to meet emergencies; unlike the shopkeeper who promptly finds the wherewithal to satisfy a sudden demand; unlike the railway-company which doubles...